Singapore Hotels

The best way to see Singapore is on foot. So put on some comfortable shoes and step out of your Singapore hotel to experience a world that you may never experience anywhere else on the planet. Begin at Collyer Quay and Clifford Pier, where European colonizers first came to the island. Make your way up the river to the old General Post Office, which now houses the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore. Continue on to the Parliament House, Victoria Memorial Hall and the Supreme Court. Follow St. Andrews Road, which runs along the Padang, up to the beautiful lawns of St. Andrew's Cathedral. Just to the northeast you will find the Raffles City area, home to the most famous hotel in Singapore, the Raffles (birthplace of the Singapore Sling).

From there you will find the museums of Singapore. Stamp collectors will be fascinated by the Singapore Philatelic Museum. Lovers of culture will find that time passes quickly at the Asian Civilisations Museum. The Singapore History Museum, with its remarkable jade collection, is also in this area. If you still feel like walking, you may wish to stroll through Fort Canning Park, pausing at the European Cemetery and the Tomb of Iskander Shah.

Singapore has a great deal more to offer than colonial history. There is the sparkling new Esplanade arts center, the National Orchid Garden at the Botanic Gardens, the spectacular views from atop Mount Faber (especially at night!), the Hindu temples and sari shops of Little India; and the Sri Mariamman Temple in Chinatown. Make sure you schedule a visit to the zoo and experience the Night Safari.

Singapore is a wonderful mix of cultures from near and far. Have your fortune told in Chinatown, buy fragrant spices of India, and visit the shops of Arab St. in the shadow of the Sultan Mosque. Of course, just a few blocks away you will step back into the glass and steel world of modern Asia.

Singapore is country that is wrestling with its identity. Struggling to maintain the familiarity and tradition of the past, it is a city determined to make a place for itself in the future. And by all accounts it is succeeding nicely.