Miss Clinique

Hi

I will be in Singapore next March for a week, I have to stay in Singapore for that week for a conference, but would like to arrive a week before the conference starts, and perhaps see more of that part of the world. I thought about visiting one of the islands. Any advice and experiences anyone can share with me would be appreciated.

ex reg

There really aren't any islands around Singapore worth visiting unless you mean Sentosa.

RedT

Singapore is a great place to spend a week, we stopped over for four days on our way here and only scratched the surface of things to do! I would recommend:

Night safari at the zoo - not just for kids, it's really good fun and sucha novel way to experience a zoo.

Marina Bay Sands in a must, the view from the top is amazing, especially at sunset and there's a music and lightshow once the sun goes down.

Asian Civilisations Museum

Fort Canning we found very interesting and a lovely place to spend an afternoon after you've had a tour of the bunker.

Merlion park - coz you have to see the Merlion!

The new Gardens By The Bay were just being built when we were there. My colleague was there two weeks ago and said they are incredible

There are tons of temples that are worth a visit, any good guide book will list the best/most interesting.

Orchard Road for the most insane number of malls you can get into one road!

Raffles Hotel - a lovely old building worth a look. We were too bedraggled to dare go in for a Singapore Sling

A boat trip under all the bridges is a bit touristy but nice if you've walked the legs off yourself and just want to sit and relax for half an hour. Also a nice way to see some of the city.

Have a fab time! We're potentially moving there so I've been doing my research!!

Therese

Dorothy

I agree with RedT's suggestions and would add Little India. There are some really neat little shops and you won't find better food anywhere.

Miss Clinique

Thanks for your suggestions. I really appreciate it. I have copied to a word doc, so I can print off and take with me.

bakedbean

Re islands: it would be easy enough to get short flights to Penang or Langkawi (Malaysia) or Phuket or Samui (Thailand) from Singapore but, quite honestly, unless you're on a tight budget (Singapore quite expensive these days) there's plenty to see and do in Singapore. Good post from RedT above

Miss Clinique

Thanks bakedbean. I was considering these islands. I think I may give Phuket a miss, I heard it was very commercialized?

bakedbean

Some of Phuket commercial, but some parts not. Check out the Thailand section on here if you are interested.

Is this your first time in south east Asia? Think I would do the easy thing and explore Singapore myself. Plenty to see.

LanternsB

I would drop everything and go to Lombok (Indonesia) anytime if I can.

Gunung Rinjani, Gili Islands, hhhmmmm...

A local Indonesian told me about this little island; I cancelled my Bali trip and went to Lombok instead. never regretted it !!.!
It has been my pet island ever since.

Beauty of Singapore is that you could just about jet around other parts of Asia easily within a small budget.

ex reg

It's all personal though innit.

We went 22 years ago and it's one place in the region I wouldn't re visit even if the trip was free.
And I'm a tight git.

LanternsB

Defo... And I know many others who love Bali and still Do !

Miss Clinique

Yes it my first time, I am so excited to be going that I want to cram as much in as I can. I might do an Island first for a couple of days, then go back to Singapore, use the rest of the time to explore Singapore.

Yorkieabroad

When we lived there we used to head over to bintan on the ferry. There was everything from Banyan Tree style spa resorts, to A frames on the beach. It was so easy to get to that we would pop over for the day for a round of golf....or was that Bataam...? I'm about 12 years out of date, so will defer to current locals as to whether those islands are still worth visiting or not, but back then they would have been close to the top of my list.