Singapore

[bob1985]

Hi

Looking into holidays for 2027 and considering Singapore.

Never been so looking for some general advice and family friendly hotel options.

Will likely be easter time and child will be 9.

Thanks!

It's easy, it's safe, it's clean. It's also rather pricey! The classic tourist stuff is recommended for a reason - the zoo (with the exception of the miserable polar bear) is brilliant, gardens by the bay also well worth it. If you are buying food most supermarkets do excellent yellow ticket discount foods at the end of the day.

Not sure I’d only go to Singapore. You need somewhere else. It’s got great things to see and do but days as opposed to 7 days plus - in my view.

A lot of people go as a stopover to somewhere else because it’s pretty small, but I would still recommend it, I really enjoyed it.
I loved Gardens by the Bay, spent a lot of time in there. You need to pre-book some elements to make sure you get to do them in busy times, but no booking needed just to go into complex and the nighttime light show is also free. It has two showings and I recommend you stay for both.
I also loved the botanical gardens, the Chinese/indian quarters, and I enjoyed a trip to the Raffles bar.
I don’t have kids but all of the families I met were including a trip to Universal Studios so I’d guess that’s the main attraction for kids.
I also have no interest in shopping but the shopping area seemed really popular with tourists.
It’s on the expensive side but if you’re expecting it then that’s not a shock. It’s very humid!
Definitely a good trip.

p.s. allow yourself some extra time for the airport because Changi Airport is brilliant! You can enjoy a lovely couple of hours just hanging out watching the epic waterfall, it’s stunning! Tallest indoor waterfall in the world apparently.

Singapore is good fun but I’m not sure I’d go all that way just go to to Singapore

not with dc but we once did a few days in Singapore and a week on Penang. The latter was good fun, loads to do. Beaches weren’t particularly nice though. Lots of jungle and wildlife.

Agreed...it's a fascinating place to wander around and Sentosa is child friendly but IMO it's a handful of days place rather than somewhere to go for a week plus.

I spent a week there when I was backpacking, and we use it as a regular stopover enroute to Australia with the kids. It's hot temperature wise all year round. The night markets are brilliant for food, Singapore chilli crab is devine, a bit spicy and a bit messy, but delicious. You'll have lots of fun. If you are travelling all that way, I would tag on some beach time in Langkawi or Phuket perhaps.

Singapore is one of the best places we ever went to for a child friendly holiday. We booked an apartment with a pool so the kids could swim in the mornings and then we’d go out later on. The botanical gardens, Universal studios, the fountains, the children’s play areas. It’s fab. So much to do and see. Even the airport is like a tourist attraction.

It’s pricey which is the only downside but that obviously depends on your own income as whether that’s an issue or not.

We did Singapore and then a 3 day cruise seeing Malaysia and Thailand which was perfect. Loved Singapore, so clean and safe.

I absolutely love Singapore and have been a few times, both combined with another destinations or in its own. It’s a super easy, clean and stress free destination. There is loads more to it than the most well known attractions. Food wise, it is only expensive if you eat in restaurants, the hawker centres are cheap and fabulous. There are local, authentic ones everywhere, but there are also more touristy ones which are also fantastic and usually have a bar (Newton, Satay by the Bay, Gluttons by the Bay, Maxwell, La Pau Sat etc). Highly recommend the twice nightly free light show at Supertree Grove, and other must sees include Chinatown, Little India (esp the many storey Mustafa Centre that sells EVERYTHING), Botanical Gardens Including Orchid Garden, Fort Canning Park, walk along the river and have a beer with fabulous views, museums etc. You can get the monorail or walk to Sentosa to enjoy the 3 lovely clean beaches with peacocks roaming around and tourist activities such as the luge (chairlift up and little carts down winding hill). Food on sentosa is expensive and touristy so go the the food court at Vivocity shopping Mall just across the river instead. Outside of the central area, you can get the bus or taxi a short distance to Katong, a more traditional neighbourhood, and hire bikes to cycle along the coast the East Coast Park (East Coast Lagoon did village at the end), or go to Changi Village and get a 10 minute bum boat to Palau Ubin, a small jungle island, again cycle around for a few hours, see the monkeys and then go the the Million Star Fried Banana Stall at the Changi Village Hawker Centre afterwards. There are numerous hiking and nature trails around the island, including the easy Mount Faber trail that starts opposite VivoCity that has great city views plus award winning public loos at the top! I also loved getting random buses and just seeing where we ended up, fully confident that it was completely safe. You will need a local SIM for taxis, download the Grab app, the Singapore version of uber. Go!

Ps if you want to combine with another destination I would not recommend Langkawi, I was there only last week in both Kuah and Chenang, both very disappointing, definitely lots of better places.

Thank you all for the tips!

Work takes me to Singapore a number of times a year. It is lovely, vibrant and particularly friendly. It is a city of contrasts and as others have said, it is not cheap. But with a little research you can avoid it being prohibitively expensive.

Yes, you can pop in for a fun few days, do all the main tourist things and then move on to somewhere else, you’ll enjoy that. But that is merely scratching the surface.

Or you can stay for much longer, go beyond the tourist “must dos” and live and feel the place and enjoy lesser known discoveries at a slower (and cheaper) pace. Personally l think this is the one to go for.

Expect high humidity combined with freezing air conditioning in buildings so you need to carry a cardigan as well as an umbrella at all times.