Things to Do on a Singapore Layover

One heading per place, with the thing that actually decides whether it fits: the time it takes. Nothing below is more than forty minutes from Changi, most of it is free, and a Singapore airport layover tour will reach three or four of them in an afternoon.

Marina Bay and the Merlion

What it is: the waterfront the whole modern city was built around, with the lion-headed statue spouting into the water at its north end and the three towers of the hotel across the bay. Time: 45 minutes to walk the promenade, longer if you stop. Cost: nothing. Open: always — it is open ground.

It is the single most-listed stop in this set of tours, and the one place a first visit should not skip. Go at dusk if you can choose your hour: the towers light, and the skyline behind you comes on at the same time. If you only reach one thing, reach this one.

Gardens by the Bay

What it is: the Supertree Grove, two climate-controlled conservatories and a stretch of outdoor garden along the bay. Time: an hour outdoors, two if you go inside. Cost: the outdoor gardens are free; the Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, OCBC Skyway and Supertree Observatory are ticketed. Open: outdoor gardens 05:00 to 02:00 daily; the conservatories, Skyway and Observatory 09:00 to 21:00, last admission 20:00 for the Cloud Forest and 20:30 for the rest.

Garden Rhapsody, the free light show at the Supertree Grove, runs at 19:45 and 20:45 every night. It costs you nothing, lasts about a quarter of an hour, and is the reason the evening tour exists. If your window covers either time, plan around it rather than hoping to catch it.

Marina Bay Sands and the SkyPark

What it is: the three-tower hotel with a boat-shaped deck laid across the top, a shopping mall underneath and the lotus-shaped ArtScience Museum beside it. Time: 30 minutes for the deck, an hour with the mall. Cost: the observation deck is ticketed; walking the Event Plaza is not. Open: deck hours vary by season.

Spectra, the free light and water show, plays over the water at the Event Plaza for fifteen minutes at 20:00 and 21:00 from Sunday to Thursday, with a third show at 22:00 on Friday and Saturday. You need no ticket and no booking — only to be standing there when it starts.

Chinatown

What it is: five streets of restored shophouses around the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, with a covered market and one of the city's best hawker centres. Time: 45 minutes to an hour. Cost: nothing to walk; a meal is a few dollars. Open: the streets are always open, the temple has its own hours.

It appears in five of the captured itineraries, more than any other district. If you would rather eat than look, this is where you should spend your hour: it is the easiest place in the city to eat well in twenty minutes.

Little India

What it is: Serangoon Road and the lanes off it — the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, wet-market stalls, gold shops and the flower sellers. Time: 30 to 45 minutes. Cost: nothing. Open: lively from mid-morning, and loud on a Sunday evening.

The colour is the point. If you land in the middle of the afternoon, when flat light washes everywhere else out, this is the district that will still photograph for you.

Kampong Glam

What it is: the Malay-Arab quarter around the golden dome of the Sultan Mosque, with the painted shophouses of Haji Lane a street away. Time: 30 to 45 minutes. Cost: nothing. Open: the mosque has visitor hours; the lanes do not.

It is the shortest walk of the three cultural districts and the one to take when your window is narrow, because everything worth seeing sits inside four streets. You will finish it rather than run out of time in the middle.

The civic district and the river

What it is: the colonial core — St Andrew's Cathedral, City Hall, the National Gallery and the clock tower of Victoria Theatre — running down to Boat Quay and Clarke Quay along the water. Time: an hour on foot, and it is a genuinely walkable hour. Cost: nothing outdoors; the gallery is ticketed. Open: the streets are always open.

This is the stretch the walking tours are built on, because the distances are short and the shade is better than anywhere else in the centre. If you are on foot, you will spend most of your hour here.

Sentosa

What it is: the island off the south coast, with Universal Studios, beaches, the cable car from Mount Faber and a boardwalk across from the mainland. Time: half a day, minimum. Cost: the island charges for entry by some routes, and the attractions are ticketed individually. Open: attraction by attraction.

It only fits a layover of twelve hours or more, and it will eat the whole of one. If you want a look without committing your day, Changi Airport's own free tour runs a Sentosa Discovery route at 15:00.

Jewel, before you go back

What it is: the glass dome attached to the airport, with a forty-metre indoor waterfall — the tallest in the world — falling through the middle of it. Time: 30 to 45 minutes. Cost: nothing to look at. Open: Rain Vortex 10:00 to 22:00; the light and music showcase at 19:30, 20:00 and 21:00, with a fourth at 22:00 on Fridays, weekends and public holiday eves.

It connects straight into the Terminal 1 arrival hall and is a five to ten minute walk from Terminals 2 and 3, which makes it your natural last stop. It is landside, so leave yourself time to clear security again.

Eating on a layover

Hawker centres are the answer, and the only real question is which one you end up in. Lau Pa Sat sits in the middle of the financial district and stays open late, which is why the evening tour stops there. Maxwell Food Centre is three streets from the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, and Tekka Centre is inside Little India. All three will serve you a plate in minutes for a few dollars, which is exactly what a connection needs.

How long each one costs you