THE SILK CITY - SINGAPORE
With its fascinating history and cultural mix, Singapore has evolved into a vibrant Western-style city with an Asian heart.
Singapore revels in the huge variety of its people and the unique culture they have created. Tree-lined boulevards, glass skyscrapers and stately mansions, as well as some of Asia’s best cuisine all make up Singapore. It’s ideal for first-time visitors to the Far East – different enough to be fascinating, but with enough Western influence to be comfortably familiar. The main thoroughfare is Orchard Road , with shops galore! It links the northern residential quarter with the modern Marina Square area: here you’ll find large shopping malls and hotels offering great harbour views. Getting around is easy – the underground (MRT) and bus systems are quick, cheap and simple to use. Visit Little India, Chinatown and Arab Street , or take the cross-harbour cable car to the beaches and theme parks of Sentosa Island – the variety of attractions is amazing. The entire state is compact enough to be explored exhaustively in just a few days.
Singapore is just 136km north of the equator, which means that you should be prepared for a hot and sticky time whenever you go; temperatures hover around 30°C throughout the year. November, December and January are usually the coolest and the wettest months, but rain can fall all year round. July usually records the lowest annual rainfall.
Make sure you see the following: Chinatown, and the terraces of traditional shop-houses, red temples and venerable restaurants. Little India offers ornate temples, manic markets and fine restaurants making it possibly Singapore’s most atmospheric quarter. And for shopping the glitzy malls of Orchard Road are the prime territory to indulge in the national obsession.
Singapore’s central geographical location means short flying times to most of the Asian destinations: Hong Kong is 3 hours 45 minutes away; Phuket and Koh Samui 1 hour 45 minutes and Penang just over an hour’s flight away.