Singapore

Southernmost Point of Continental Asia

A wooden suspension bridge to a tiny islet with two towers and a sign claiming the southernmost point of continental Asia. The claim does not really survive scrutiny, which is most of the charm.

Former House of Tan Teng Niah

A sweet-factory owner built it in 1900 and it is the only Chinese villa left in Little India. You look at the outside, which takes about four minutes and is worth them.

Koon Seng Road

Fifty metres of 1920s Peranakan terraces in turquoise, coral and green, with European art-nouveau floor tiles and no two houses using the same pattern. People still live in them.

Fort Canning Tree Tunnel

A spiral staircase in a Fort Canning underpass, framing a yellow rain tree overhead. There is a queue, and knowing that in advance is most of enjoying it.

Singapore Flyer

A 165-metre observation wheel over Marina Bay, with the Strait and, on a clear day, Indonesia beyond.

Singapore Zoo

Moated enclosures instead of bars, and an orangutan colony you walk beneath rather than past.

Singapore Oceanarium

The rebuilt and much-enlarged successor to the S.E.A. Aquarium, with a viewing panel the size of a cinema screen.

Bird Paradise

Eight walk-through aviaries at Mandai, successor to the old Jurong Bird Park.

National Gallery Singapore

The world's largest collection of modern Southeast Asian art, in the former Supreme Court and City Hall.

National Museum of Singapore

The country's oldest museum, and the best single account of how a trading post became this.

Asian Civilisations Museum

Trade, faith and material culture across Asia, in a riverside colonial block.

ArtScience Museum

The lotus-shaped building at Marina Bay, home to the long-running teamLab digital installation.

Chinatown Heritage Centre

Three shophouses restored to their 1950s state, room by cramped room.

Sri Mariamman Temple

Singapore's oldest Hindu temple, built 1827, and the venue for the Theemithi firewalking festival since 1840.

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay

The durian-shaded concert halls on the waterfront, with free performances most evenings.

Fort Canning Park

The hill Singapore was governed from, with a spice garden, a Gothic gate and the much-photographed tree tunnel.

Southern Ridges

Ten kilometres of connected parks and elevated walkways, including the Henderson Waves bridge.

MacRitchie Reservoir Park

Rainforest trails around a reservoir, with a suspension bridge through the canopy at the far end.

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

Mangrove boardwalks with migratory waders, mudskippers and the occasional estuarine crocodile.

Labrador Nature Reserve

Boardwalks over the sea, a surviving machine-gun pillbox and 1880s ammunition tunnels that open only on NParks tours.

Tiong Bahru Estate

The oldest surviving public housing estate in Singapore, curved white balconies and spiral stairs, still entirely lived in.

Old Airport Road Food Centre

The hawker centre Singaporeans send other Singaporeans to, on the site of the country's first civil airport.

Japanese Cemetery Park

The largest Japanese cemetery in Southeast Asia, quiet and green, holding karayuki-san graves and a war memorial.

Singapore City Gallery

The URA's own gallery, built around an enormous scale model of the entire island and how it plans to keep growing.

Kampong Glam

Sultan Mosque, Haji Lane's street art and a district of textile shops, all walkable in an afternoon.

Singapore Musical Box Museum

Over three hundred antique musical boxes, some two centuries old, in a UNESCO-award-winning shophouse. One of them was destined for the Titanic.

Civil Defence Heritage Gallery

Antique fire engines and a 34-metre lookout tower inside the 1909 Central Fire Station — Singapore's oldest, and still an operational one. Free.

Fuk Tak Chi Museum

Cantonese and Hakka immigrants built this shrine in 1820 to give thanks for surviving the crossing. It is now a free museum, conserved in place on the street where they landed.