Singapore
Supertrees and cooled glasshouses at Marina Bay, a botanic garden on the UNESCO list, three-star tables beside hawker stalls, and a second airport kept for business jets.
- Arrival
- Singapore Changi · SIN
- To the city
- About 25 minutes downtown by car
- Private jets
- Business aviation centre at Seletar
- Best time
- February · June to August
The city
Gardens, a bay and the old quarters.
In Singapore the old buildings stand close to the towers. Raffles Hotel has stood on Beach Road since 1887, the Malay quarter of Kampong Glam still gathers around the Sultan Mosque, and the Botanic Gardens have grown on the same Tanglin site since 1859. Around Marina Bay the city is newer: eighteen Supertrees and two cooled glasshouses opened in 2012 on the water’s edge.
Dining runs from a pork noodle stall with a MICHELIN star to three kitchens with three. The weather barely changes: highs of 29 to 31 °C in every month, a warm sea, and rain all year. February is usually the sunniest month, and June to August the least wet.
Arriving
Changi for airlines, Seletar for jets.
Changi takes the airlines. Most private flights use Seletar, a smaller airport in the north of the island, about twenty minutes from the centre by car.
- Jakarta 1 h 30
- Bangkok 2 h 10
- Kathmandu 4 h 55
- Nairobi 9 h 55 long-range jet
- London 14 h 20 long-range jet
When to go
February, and June to August.
Hot, humid and wet in every month, with highs between 29 and 31 °C and no dry season. The Northeast Monsoon brings heavy showers from November to January, and December is the wettest month. February is usually the sunniest, and June to August see the least rain.
- 29° J 200 27°
- 30° F 177 28°
- 31° M 198 28°
- 31° A 201 30°
- 31° M 176 30°
- 31° J 157 30°
- 31° J 156 29°
- 30° A 166 29°
- 30° S 172 29°
- 31° O 198 29°
- 30° N 246 29°
- 29° D 272 28°
What to see and do
Days in and around Singapore.
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Landmark
Gardens by the Bay
A hundred hectares beside the reservoir, with Supertrees up to fifty metres tall and a cloud forest under glass.
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Landmark
Singapore Botanic Gardens
On the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2015, with an orchid garden of more than a thousand species.
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Landmark
Kampong Glam
The old Malay quarter north of the river, where the Sultan Mosque still draws the city’s Muslims to prayer.
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Opera & music
Esplanade Theatres on the Bay
Concerts, dance and theatre fill the Concert Hall and Annexe Studio on Marina Bay, with touring bands and orchestral galas throughout 2026.
Official site -
Culture
National Gallery Singapore
Housed in the former City Hall and Supreme Court, it holds more than 8,000 works of Southeast Asian art from the 19th century onwards.
Official site -
Wildlife
Night Safari
Opened in 1994 as the first nocturnal zoo, it keeps over 900 animals in 35 hectares of rainforest, seen by tram or on four walking trails.
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Wildlife
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
Singapore's first ASEAN Heritage Park covers 202 hectares of mangrove and mudflat where shorebirds such as whimbrels and plovers winter.
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Nature
TreeTop Walk
Strung between the two highest points of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, the 250 metre suspension bridge lies on a 7 km forest loop.
Official site -
Golf
Sentosa Golf Club
Views of the Singapore Strait line the Serapong Course, a par 72 of 7,432 yards that staged the Singapore Open in April 2026.
On the calendar
Dates to plan around.
Dates as published by the organisers. Runways, hotels and slots fill early around these weeks: the sooner we know, the more choice you have.
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18–20 Nov 2026
Finance
Singapore FinTech Festival
Annual financial technology festival organised with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, held at Singapore EXPO.
Singapore EXPO
In 3 weeks
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21–24 Jan 2027
Art
ART SG
Fifth edition of Singapore's international art fair during Singapore Art Week, with a VIP preview on 21 January.
Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre
In 3 months
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15–18 Apr 2027
Yachting
Singapore Yachting Festival
In-water yacht show at ONE°15 Marina in Sentosa Cove, presenting superyachts and motor and sailing yachts.
ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove, Singapore, about 5 km away
In 6 months
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20–23 Sep 2027
Finance
Sibos
Annual conference and exhibition of Swift for banks, payments and securities firms, held in Singapore in 2027.
Marina Bay Sands
In 11 months
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8–10 Oct 2027
Formula 1
Singapore Grand Prix
Round 18 of the 24-round 2027 Formula 1 World Championship, held at Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Marina Bay Street Circuit
In 11 months
Where to stay
On the bay, off Orchard Road, on Sentosa.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Raffles Hotel Singapore Open since 1887, with its suites, verandas and courtyards restored, and the only hotel in Singapore with three MICHELIN Keys.
- Capella Singapore Restored colonial buildings joined to new wings by Foster + Partners, with a pool that falls in three tiers through the trees.
- The Singapore EDITION New to the MICHELIN Keys in 2026, with 204 rooms off Orchard Road and Tanica as its main restaurant.
- The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore A heritage hotel near City Hall, where 15 Stamford is both the restaurant and the bar.
- The Fullerton Hotel Singapore Four hundred rooms in the 1928 Fullerton Building, once the General Post Office and a National Monument since 2015.
- Shangri-La Singapore Three wings, Tower, Garden and Valley, set in fifteen acres of gardens near the top of Orchard Road.
- Goodwood Park Hotel A heritage hotel of 233 rooms and suites, home to Min Jiang and the Gordon Grill.
- Pan Pacific Orchard Opened in June 2023: a 23-storey tower by WOHA with 347 rooms and four open-air terraces stacked up its height.
- Fairmont Singapore All 778 rooms have a balcony, and two MRT stations sit beneath the hotel and its Willow Stream Spa.
- JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach Akira Back and Madame Fan among seven places to eat, and the Court Martial Bar in a conserved heritage building.
- InterContinental Singapore Set in a historic precinct, with Heritage Wing rooms modelled on the shophouse homes of old Singapore.
- Sofitel Singapore City Centre Directly above Tanjong Pagar station, with Racines for French and Chinese dishes and a Champagne bar by the pool.
- Artyzen Singapore A hundred and forty-two rooms in light wood, and a rooftop pool looking north towards Bukit Timah Hill.
- Four Seasons Hotel Singapore Just off Orchard Road, and calm for somewhere so central.
- The Fullerton Bay Hotel On the waterfront of the bay, with Art Deco interiors by André Fu.
- Mandarin Oriental, Singapore Recently renovated, with wide views across Marina Bay from the rooms.
- Marina Bay Sands An infinity pool on the roof, and contemporary rooms looking over Gardens by the Bay.
- METT Singapore A restored 1920s building beside Fort Canning Park, with landscaped grounds and pools.
- PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering A hotel in a garden, with rooms in wood and an infinity pool with cabanas on the wellness floor.
- Raffles Sentosa Singapore Sixty-two villas on a hillside of the island, each with a private pool and a garden cabana.
Where to dine
Three stars, three times.
From the MICHELIN Guide 2026, shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these restaurants.
- Odette Three Michelin stars French contemporary $$$$ National Gallery Singapore
- Zén Three Michelin stars European contemporary $$$$ Bukit Pasoh Road
- Les Amis Three Michelin stars French $$$$ Shaw Centre, Scotts Road
- 1887 by André Two Michelin stars French contemporary $$$$ Raffles Hotel
- Cloudstreet Two Michelin stars Innovative $$$$ Amoy Street
- Jaan by Kirk Westaway Two Michelin stars British contemporary $$$ Swissôtel The Stamford, level 70
- Meta Two Michelin stars Innovative $$$ Mohamed Sultan Road
- Saint Pierre Two Michelin stars French contemporary $$$$ One Fullerton
- Seroja Two Michelin stars Malaysian $$$ Duo Galleria, Fraser Street
Elsewhere in Singapore
More reasons to come.
Flying to Singapore?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.