It is one of the safest cities on earth — violent crime is vanishingly rare and solo travelers are comfortable at any hour. Watch the rulebook rather than other people: jaywalking, eating on the MRT, and importing chewing gum all carry fines.

What's the best way to get around?

The MRT is fast, spotless, and reaches nearly everything — just tap a contactless bank card, no ticket needed. Taxis and Grab are honest and metered, but the MRT beats them at rush hour; walking between downtown districts works if you respect the humidity.

Do I tip in Singapore, and how much cash do I need?

No tipping — a 10 percent service charge plus GST is added to most restaurant bills, and hawkers price to the dollar. The city is largely cashless, but keep S$10–20 in cash for older hawker stalls and small shops.

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City guide · Singapore

Singapore

Hawker stalls and supertrees in one tidy island

Hawker foodGardens by the BayMarina Bay skylineMulticultural districtsShopping

Best time to visit

February–April

Currency

Singapore Dollar (SGD)

Language

English, Mandarin, Malay & Tamil

Region

Asia

The guides

The best of Singapore, by category

Singapore compresses four official languages, three great cuisines, and a UNESCO-listed hawker culture into a city-state you can cross in an hour. Michelin stars share blocks with four-dollar chicken rice, and the skyline doubles as a botanical experiment — half the city is genuinely green.

Best Hotels

Where to stay, from icons to boutiques

6 curated places

Best Restaurants

Fine dining and beloved institutions

6 curated places

Best Bars

Cocktail rooms, rooftops and locals’ favorites

6 curated places

Best Attractions

The sights actually worth your time

6 curated places

The shortlist

If you only have time for the best

The single highest-rated picks across every category in Singapore.

Hotels

See all 6

1
Raffles Singapore
City Hall
4.6★10,000+ reviews
2
Marina Bay Sands
Marina Bay
4.6★50,000+ reviews
3
The Fullerton Hotel
Marina Bay
4.6★10,000+ reviews

Restaurants

See all 6

1
Odette
City Hall
4.6★1,500+ reviews
2
Burnt Ends
Dempsey Hill
4.5★2,000+ reviews
3
Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice
Maxwell Food Centre, Chinatown
4.5★10,000+ reviews

Bars

See all 6

1
Atlas
Bugis
4.6★5,000+ reviews
2
Long Bar
City Hall (Raffles Hotel)
4.5★5,000+ reviews
3
Jigger & Pony
Tanjong Pagar
4.6★2,000+ reviews

Attractions

See all 6

1
Gardens by the Bay
Marina Bay
4.7★150,000+ reviews
2
Universal Studios Singapore
Sentosa
4.6★75,000+ reviews
3
Singapore Zoo
Mandai
4.6★50,000+ reviews

Where to base yourself

Singapore neighborhoods, decoded

Pick your area first — it shapes everything else about the trip.

Chinatown & Tanjong Pagar

Heritage shophouses, modern bars

Temple-and-clan-house streets that now hold some of Asia's best cocktail bars and Michelin counters alongside Maxwell's hawkers. The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple anchors the old core.

FoodBarsHeritage

Kampong Glam

Malay heritage meets streetwear

The golden-domed Sultan Mosque presides over Arab Street's textile traders, Haji Lane's murals and indie boutiques, and murtabak institutions like Zam Zam. Liveliest in the evening.

Street artBoutiquesMalay food

Little India

Technicolor, garlands, spice

Singapore at its most sensory: flower-garland stalls, banana-leaf curry houses, gold shops, and the kaleidoscopic Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple. The 24-hour Mustafa Centre barely sleeps.

FoodTemplesLate-night shopping

Tiong Bahru

Art Deco cafe quarter

Singapore's oldest public housing estate, its 1930s Streamline Moderne walk-ups now home to indie bookstores, bakeries, and a famous wet market with a hawker centre upstairs. Quietly the city's best brunch district.

CafesArchitectureLocal market

Beyond the city

Day trips worth the ride

Pulau Ubin

1 hr via bumboat from Changi Point

A time-capsule island of kampong villages, the Chek Jawa wetlands boardwalk, and rentable bikes — Singapore as it looked in the 1960s.

Johor Bahru, Malaysia

1–2 hr via the Causeway

Cross into Malaysia for street food at half Singapore prices and serious mall bargains — bring your passport and patience for immigration.

Bintan Island, Indonesia

1 hr by ferry from Tanah Merah

Indonesian beach resorts, sea-view pools, and seafood kelongs one passport stamp away — the quickest white-sand fix from the city.

Eat like a local

What to order in Singapore

Hainanese chicken rice

Poached chicken over rice cooked in chicken stock and fat, with chili-ginger sauce — the de facto national dish.

Try it at: Tian Tian, Maxwell Food Centre

Chilli crab

Mud crab wok-tossed in a sweet, eggy tomato-chili gravy; the sauce matters even more than the crab.

Try it at: Jumbo Seafood, Riverside Point

Laksa

Rice noodles in a rich coconut-curry gravy with dried shrimp and cockles; the Katong version cuts the noodles short enough to eat with a spoon alone.

Try it at: 328 Katong Laksa, Katong

Kaya toast

Charcoal-grilled toast with coconut-pandan jam and cold butter, dipped into soft-boiled eggs with dark soy — the national breakfast.

Try it at: Ya Kun Kaya Toast, Far East Square (since 1944)

Good to know

Singapore essentials, answered

Three to four days covers Marina Bay, the heritage districts, Sentosa, and serious hawker eating without rushing. It also makes an ideal two-to-three-day stopover between long-haul flights — Changi Airport itself is worth arriving early for.

Keep exploring

More of Asia

Tokyo

Osaka

Kyoto

Bangkok

Hong Kong

Shanghai