Civic District and the River: Seven centuries in a stroll
A forbidden hill, a Tang shipwreck, two national monuments and a bowl of peppery soup, all within an easy walk of each other.
Neighbourhood guides
Twenty-one parts of Singapore worth knowing properly: how they came to be, what locals rate, and a walk that strings the best of them together.
Central
Marina Bay: The showpiece that works for a living
Worth a late afternoon if you do it properly: one conservatory, one view from the Supertrees and the free light show at the end. Skip the urge to buy everything.
Chinatown to Keong Saik: Old markets and late rounds
Lunch at a Glasgow-made market hall or a food centre on an old burial ground, a skybridge 50 floors up at dusk, then Keong Saik for dinner and a drink.
Tiong Bahru to Robertson Quay: Breakfast queue to river bend
Eat your way from Tiong Bahru Market to the river bend: breakfast in a 1930s estate, an afternoon on the water past a bridge painted in 55 colours, dinner on the quay.
Kampong Glam and Bugis: Shophouse supper, proper nightcap
A nasi lemak with its own coconut milk, a cocktail list in Singlish and a hotel lobby the taxi drivers call Gotham.
Little India and Jalan Besar: Buffalo pens to banana leaves
Give it an afternoon and an appetite: banana-leaf lunch at Tekka, a gem lab that's free if you book, and Serangoon Road once the lights come on.
Orchard to Dempsey: Nutmeg, orchids and old barracks
A shopping street named after nutmeg, a UNESCO-listed garden that's free to wander and an old colonial barracks turned long-lunch district.
Bukit Timah: Old forest, a quarry lake and some famous otters
The best half-day hike you can do without leaving town: Singapore's highest hill, a quarry gone to the birds, an old railway line turned trail and a former storm drain where otters became celebrities.
Holland Village: Wine bars, claypot rice and a second wind
Old army quarters, the lanes that started Singapore's wine-bar habit, a long-running dessert bar and charcoal claypot rice round the corner.
Geylang: Market by day, frog porridge by night
Malay Singapore's spice market by day and the island's supper district by night, with crab bee hoon and claypot frog worth crossing town for.
Balestier and Novena: Sugar cane, revolutionaries and bak kut teh
Temples in the morning, bak kut teh at noon: an old plantation road with a revolutionary villa, a ten-tonne marble Buddha and Art Deco shophouses above the lighting shops.
Toa Payoh: Carrot cake, a terrazzo dragon and a royal visit
HDB's first satellite town, with a 1979 dragon playground, a shrine to a stubborn tree and hawker breakfasts worth setting an alarm for.
Queenstown: The estate that came before the estates
Come for a morning walk rather than a meal: Singapore's oldest public library, ten-storey Chap Lau blocks and a market with a coffin-shaped roof, in an estate busy rebuilding itself.
Kallang and Tanjong Rhu: Runways, shipyards and sunsets
Singapore's first airport, a shipbuilding shore turned condo row, a footbridge that glows after dark and dinner on the road named after the runway.
East
Katong, Joo Chiat and Siglap: Tiles, laksa and a buried fort
Peranakan tiles, a century-old kopitiam, two laksa shops facing off across one road and a colonial fort hiding under a park.
East Coast, Changi and Ubin: Sea breezes and a bumboat
A park on reclaimed land, a boardwalk on stilts, a bumboat to Pulau Ubin's village and an indoor waterfall for when the sky opens.
North-East
Serangoon Gardens: Red roofs, one roundabout and Chomp Chomp
Worth crossing town for dinner: a 1950s estate laid out around a roundabout, with a hawker centre at the hub that has fed the neighbourhood after dark since 1972.
Punggol and Seletar: Bikes, boardwalks and RAF bungalows
Hire a bike and give it the day: Coney Island in the cool of the morning, a quiet minute at Punggol Point, then lunch in an old RAF bungalow across the river.
North
Mandai and the North: Pandas, mudflats and a hot-spring egg
Pick one corner and give it the day: Mandai's parks for families, Sungei Buloh's mudflats for birders, and a hot spring for anyone who has always wanted to boil an egg in a park.
West
Jurong and the West: Pagodas, playgardens and not a single hill
Ninety hectares of lake gardens, a swamp-forest playground and the Science Centre, in an old factory town that has learnt to relax.
South & islands
Sentosa and the Southern Ridges: Beaches, forts and high bridges
Choose a side, not both: Sentosa for a lazy beach day with the children, or the Southern Ridges for a half-day walk over treetop bridges that ends at Bukit Chandu.