Singapore and somewhere else

[Lavenhamluvvie]

We are planning a trip to S'pore for my DH to revisit his childhood haunts as he grew up there. Having been there before I doubt that there will be much which will entertain my 2 DS (11 and 8) for more than 3 days. Can anyone recommend a beach holiday nearby to make up the fortnight? Bintan looks lovely and is close. Also what about Tioman?

Hi!

Things to do in Singapore that I can suggest are:

Night Safari
Zoo
Bird Gardens
Sentosa Island - quite alot you can do there - Cable Car ride over, Aquarium, Beaches, Feeding Dolphins, Monorail)
Jungle-y bit in the middle of Singapore (think it's called Nature Reserve - they've got nice walks through there)
Visit to old Changi Prison
Botanic Gardens
River boat tour
Trip round whole Island on MRT is quite a good thing to do too. Loads of different things to see as most of it's overground.
Plus eating loads of food at Hawker Centres, obviously...!

I reckon that's a good week's worth of things. Just found this website so check it out: www.singaporeforkids.com/things_see_do.php

Tioman's good, although quite resorty now (depends what you're looking for). Quite a long boat trip there too.

Cheap flights to places like Phuket and Thailand. We found that a direct flight to Singapore with Singapore Air was cheaper when we added a return flight to Phuket than flying to Singapore alone. Think it must have been to do with taxes?

Bintan and Batan are meant to be nice. Check the timings for boats as I seem to remember they weren't that regular so you'd have to see how it fitted in with your dates etc.

Hope that helps!

There's not much to do in Bintan. Part of the island is literally just resorts and tourists don't wander much out of there. So unless you play golf and want to just spa and chill out by the pool, I wouldn't recommend Bintan, it's good for a 3D/2N thing.

I would travel a bit further... Bali is fabulous! Lots to do for a small island. Volcano, rice fields, gorgeous beaches, great for diving etc. Phuket is great fun too. And it's not far from Phi Phi Island (where they film The Beach) so lots to do if you are up for travelling a bit. Actually any of the Thai beaches are really great. Have fun! I agree with Hippie though, lots to do in Singapore. A week in Singapore and a week at a beach resort is my idea of fun!

Go another 5 hours and get to Bali.

You won't regret it. The worlds friendliest people. The whole place has an unbelievable Karma and you will make lifelong friends with the locals.

I've been to Tioman and it was lovely. I was only there a few days, as part of a Malaysian tour. It was mostly boat trips and snorkelling or lying on the beach for entertainment. There may be more that I don't know about. The hydrofoil, if I recall, takes about 5 hours from Singapore, so it's nice not to have to get on a plane again.

The Snorkelling was amazing though.

More stuff to do in Singapore:

The Singapore Flyer is a fun half day out. It has gardens at its base and views over the F1 track plus all of Singapore.

A cinema trip in Gold Class (at the Great World City or Vivocity cinema) is a great experience for kids (think huge armchairs that recline, blankets and waitress service of drinks and nibbles during the film).

Funan digital mall is an ICT experience.

Wild Wild Wet water park is excellent and has a mall with restaurants attached. Bit of a drive out but only 30 mins from Orchard.

Raffles Hotel Long Bar- where you get to throw all the nut casings on the floor. There are banana trees to see as you walk through. The food is good too and the Singapore Slings unsurpassed.

Go to one of the many fish-spas and have the fish nibble the dead skin off your feet.

Tree top adventures on Sentosa- sail through the trees.

Open top buses go round Singapore plus the Duck Tour bus which is part bus part boat is good.

Look on www.sistic.com.sg to see if there are any shows/concerts on while you are in Singapore.

I wouldn't recommend Bintan- expensive but average and the ferry trip can be rough. See trip advisor for more info.

Lankawi, Koh Samui and Tioman are all nice if you are careful over hotel. Bali is wonderful if you want to go a bit further.

The is loads to do in Singapore as already stated. We spent 7 days there in 2--008 with a 9 and 11 yo. Also there i a Universal Theme park due to open shortly. Sorry didn;t have time for a beach resort as we went to Hong Kong for a week,