Gardens by the Bay
The outdoor gardens and Supertree Grove are free to walk and the Garden Rhapsody light show runs nightly on the lawn; the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome conservatories are the ticketed part.
Singapore in pictures
Singapore
No nonstop from Toronto; easiest arrival in Asia
Destinations › Asia › Singapore
Singapore is the smoothest arrival in Asia for a Canadian: English is an official language, immigration is largely automated, and the MRT takes the same contactless card you already tap on the TTC. The complication sits entirely at the Toronto end, because there is no nonstop and the routing you choose decides whether this is a long trip or a very long one.
There is no nonstop between Toronto Pearson and Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) — this route always needs a connection. Air Canada does fly Vancouver–Singapore nonstop, and is the only airline that does, which makes YYZ–YVR–SIN the tidiest single-airline routing; otherwise you are picking a one-stop through an Asian or Gulf hub such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei, Seoul, Doha, Dubai or Istanbul. At the Singapore end, Changi Airport MRT station sits directly beneath Terminals 2 and 3 and is the end of a shuttle branch of the East West Line: you ride to Tanah Merah and change there for the city. The free Skytrain links Terminals 1, 2 and 3, and a shuttle bus serves Terminal 4.
The MRT — North South, East West, North East, Circle, Downtown and Thomson–East Coast lines — plus LRT feeders and a genuinely dense bus network, all running on the SimplyGo fare system. You can tap a foreign contactless Visa, Mastercard or American Express card, or a phone wallet, straight at the gate and be billed to your card; alternatively buy an EZ-Link stored-value card, or the Singapore Tourist Pass, which is a special EZ-Link card giving unlimited travel over a set number of days. Grab is the default app for private-hire rides and for hailing a metered taxi. Everything is signed in English and the network map is honestly readable, which is not true everywhere in the region.
The outdoor gardens and Supertree Grove are free to walk and the Garden Rhapsody light show runs nightly on the lawn; the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome conservatories are the ticketed part.
Maxwell, Tekka or Old Airport Road — Singapore's hawker culture is on the UNESCO intangible heritage list, and it lives in these halls rather than in restaurants.
The old Supreme Court and City Hall buildings stitched together to hold the largest public collection of Southeast Asian art anywhere, and the best answer to an afternoon thunderstorm.
Rows of Peranakan shophouses out east, and the katong laksa that takes its name from the neighbourhood — a short bus or MRT ride off the tourist spine.
The easy option, and there's no shame in it. Everything is flat, step-free and connected by underground malls and covered walkways, so you can cross half the city centre without going outside in the heat. Best for a short first trip or anyone travelling with a parent who tires quickly. Downside: it's the priciest area, and it empties out at night — there's no neighbourhood life once the office crowd goes home.
The Malay-Arab quarter around Sultan Mosque, with textile shops on Arab Street and bars and murals down Haji Lane. Mid-range hotels, flat streets, and halal food on every corner — genuinely useful if you're travelling with family who need it. Lively into the evening without being rowdy. Good for most people; skip it if you want quiet late at night.
Restored shophouses, the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, and Maxwell Food Centre on the doorstep, with an MRT interchange in the middle of it. This is where to stay if eating is the point of the trip. Be careful with the boutique shophouse hotels — many are conversions with narrow stairs, small lifts or none at all. Ring and ask before booking for anyone with a walker or a stroller.
Peranakan terrace houses, old-Singapore coffee shops and the East Coast a short walk away. More room for your money than downtown, and it feels residential rather than staged. The Thomson-East Coast Line now runs out this way — Tanjong Katong and Marine Parade are the useful stations — which fixed the old problem of it being awkward to reach. Suits repeat visitors and families who want a base with a bit of breathing space.
Poached chicken, rice cooked in the stock, chilli-ginger sauce on the side. The national dish and the cheapest good meal you'll eat. Any hawker centre has a stall with a queue — Maxwell Food Centre in Chinatown, Tiong Bahru Market and Chinatown Complex are the reliable hunting grounds. Aim for either side of the office lunch rush; it is very real.
Whole mud crab in a thick sweet-savoury chilli-tomato gravy, with fried mantou buns for mopping. Messy, communal, and the one meal here worth spending on. The seafood restaurant cluster at East Coast Seafood Centre is the traditional setting; there are riverside versions around Boat Quay and Clarke Quay. Order ahead if you're a big group — crabs take time.
Coconut-curry noodle soup with cockles and prawns, the noodles cut short so you eat it with a spoon alone. The East Coast Road stretch through Katong is where the style comes from, and several long-standing rivals sit within a few hundred metres of each other. While you're there, look for ayam buah keluak and kueh — Peranakan cooking is Singapore's most distinctive food and it's harder to find than it should be.
Flaky griddled flatbread with curry for dipping, or stuffed with spiced mutton as murtabak. Also nasi lemak, mee goreng and teh tarik pulled from a height. Tekka Centre in Little India, Adam Road Food Centre near the Botanic Gardens, and the stalls around Kampong Glam. The Indian-Muslim and Malay stalls are halal, and they serve from breakfast until very late — but check the sign at each stall rather than assuming, since hawker centres mix halal and non-halal.
Start in Kampong Glam with kopi and kaya toast, then Sultan Mosque and the shophouse lanes off Arab Street and Haji Lane. It's flat and entirely walkable, and you finish about five minutes from Bugis MRT.
Two stops on the Downtown Line from Bugis to Little India, via Rochor. Tekka Centre for lunch, then Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple and the painted shophouses on Kerbau Road. Mustafa Centre if you need to buy anything at all — it's enormous and famously keeps very long hours.
Stay on the Downtown Line to Bayfront. Walk the Gardens by the Bay boardwalk, wait for the Supertree light show after dark, then loop back along the waterfront past Marina Bay Sands and over the Helix Bridge to the Esplanade. The whole circuit is step-free and lit.
Chinatown MRT: Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Sri Mariamman Temple, then Maxwell Food Centre before the lunch rush. Walk up through Ann Siang Hill and Club Street into the Duxton and Tanjong Pagar shophouse rows — the only real hill you'll climb all trip.
Circle or Downtown Line to Botanic Gardens for the National Orchid Garden and the rain trees. Shady, flat paths, and the one genuine break from the city. If a thunderstorm rolls in, swap it for the National Gallery or the National Museum near City Hall instead.
Thomson-East Coast Line east to Marine Parade or Tanjong Katong for Katong and Joo Chiat — laksa and the Peranakan terrace houses on Koon Seng Road — then walk down to East Coast Park for the sea breeze and a seafood dinner.
A bumboat from Changi Point Ferry Terminal to an island that still looks like Singapore did decades ago. Boats leave once they have enough passengers rather than to a timetable. Carry cash for the crossing — cashless payment has been appearing but is not universal on every boat. Rent a bike at the jetty and ride out to the Chek Jawa boardwalk over the mudflats. Half a day, and bring insect repellent.
Straight over the Causeway. Cross-border buses run from Kranji MRT and from the Queen Street terminal near Bugis, and a shuttle train also crosses from Woodlands to JB Sentral — check the current arrangement close to your trip, as the new Johor Bahru–Singapore RTS Link is set to reshape cross-border rail. Bring passports for two sets of immigration and expect queues that turn genuinely brutal on Friday evenings, weekends and public holidays. Worth it for the markets, the food and the shopping.
Ferries from HarbourFront Centre and Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, roughly an hour on the water. Beaches and resorts rather than sights, and an easy overnight if you'd rather not rush. Check the Indonesian visa rules for your own passport before you book — they are not the same as Singapore's entry rules.
This is the single easiest big city in Asia to bring parents or grandparents to, and the easiest to push a stroller around. The MRT network is fully barrier-free — every station has lift access from street to platform — and effectively the whole public bus fleet is wheelchair-accessible. Hawker centres, temples and malls are ground level with wide doorways. Signage is in English, staff will help without being asked, and Changi is a genuinely pleasant airport to arrive at tired: wheelchair assistance is well organised and the terminals are flat. The real enemy is the climate, not the infrastructure. It sits around 30C with heavy humidity every single day of the year, and a thunderstorm can arrive in ten minutes. Anyone with heart or breathing trouble will feel it. Plan around it rather than through it: outdoors in the early morning and the late afternoon, air-conditioned museums, malls and the underground walkway network in between, and carry water — you can refill from any tap. Roughly between August and October, regional forest fires can push haze over the island; if that matters medically, check the daily air quality reading before you commit to a walking day. One more thing worth knowing from Toronto: there is no nonstop from Pearson, so you're connecting through a hub and looking at a very long day door to door, plus a time difference of twelve hours in summer and thirteen in winter. Build a slow first day in and don't book anything that matters before mid-afternoon.
Singapore dollar. Cards and phone wallets work almost everywhere, including tapping a foreign-issued contactless Visa or Mastercard straight on the MRT and bus gates, so you don't need a separate transit card for a short trip. The exception is older hawker stalls, some of which are still cash or local QR only, so keep small notes on you for food.
Not expected, and in some places actively discouraged. Restaurants and hotels add a service charge and GST to the bill and that's the end of it. Taxi and ride-hail drivers don't expect a tip; hawker stalls certainly don't. Rounding up for a hotel porter is fine but nobody will think less of you for skipping it.
Type G — the chunky three rectangular pins, same as the UK. 230 volts, 50 hertz. A Canadian plug will not physically fit, so you need an adapter and you'll want more than one. Phone and laptop chargers are dual-voltage and fine, but a Canadian hair dryer, curling iron or travel kettle built for 120V will burn out even with an adapter.
Safe to drink straight from the tap, no filter needed. PUB, the national water agency, treats and tests it against WHO drinking-water guidelines. Bring a refillable bottle and top it up anywhere — you'll drink a lot more than you expect in that humidity.
English is an official language and the working language of the whole country. Every sign, transit announcement, menu and government form is in English. Malay is the national language, and Mandarin and Tamil are the other official ones; you'll hear Singlish everywhere, but you will never be stuck.
Crime is very low; normal precautions cover it. The laws are what to watch. Vapes and e-cigarettes are flatly illegal to bring in, possess or use, penalties have been tightened, and travellers do get caught at the airport with one in a bag — leave it in Toronto. Drug offences can carry the death penalty. Drinking alcohol in public places overnight is an offence under the Liquor Control Act, and littering and jaywalking are fined. Chewing gum can't be imported.
One degree north of the equator, so it is hot and humid in every month and the only real variable is rain. The Northeast Monsoon runs December to early March and is the wetter half of the year, with November to January the rainiest stretch and February usually the driest month. The Southwest Monsoon, June to September, is comparatively drier but is also when smoke haze from regional fires can drift across. The inter-monsoon months — April, May, October and November — bring sharp afternoon and evening thunderstorms that arrive fast and pass. The Formula 1 night race, usually held in late September or early October, fills hotels and closes roads around Marina Bay for the better part of a week.
Compare the ways to get there, then build a day-by-day plan.
There is no nonstop between Toronto Pearson and Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) — this route always needs a connection. Air Canada does fly Vancouver–Singapore nonstop, and is the only airline that does, which makes YYZ–YVR–SIN the tidiest single-airline routing; otherwise you are picking a one-stop through an Asian or Gulf hub such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei, Seoul, Doha, Dubai or Istanbul. At the Singapore end, Changi Airport MRT station sits directly beneath Terminals 2 and 3 and is the end of a shuttle branch of the East West Line: you ride to Tanah Merah and change there for the city. The free Skytrain links Terminals 1, 2 and 3, and a shuttle bus serves Terminal 4.
The MRT — North South, East West, North East, Circle, Downtown and Thomson–East Coast lines — plus LRT feeders and a genuinely dense bus network, all running on the SimplyGo fare system. You can tap a foreign contactless Visa, Mastercard or American Express card, or a phone wallet, straight at the gate and be billed to your card; alternatively buy an EZ-Link stored-value card, or the Singapore Tourist Pass, which is a special EZ-Link card giving unlimited travel over a set number of days. Grab is the default app for private-hire rides and for hailing a metered taxi. Everything is signed in English and the network map is honestly readable, which is not true everywhere in the region.
One degree north of the equator, so it is hot and humid in every month and the only real variable is rain. The Northeast Monsoon runs December to early March and is the wetter half of the year, with November to January the rainiest stretch and February usually the driest month. The Southwest Monsoon, June to September, is comparatively drier but is also when smoke haze from regional fires can drift across. The inter-monsoon months — April, May, October and November — bring sharp afternoon and evening thunderstorms that arrive fast and pass. The Formula 1 night race, usually held in late September or early October, fills hotels and closes roads around Marina Bay for the better part of a week.