Unusual

15 unusual things to do in Singapore

Edited by Jamie 15 October 2026

Singapore is tidier than most cities. It is not nearly as straightforward.

Start with 15 February 1942: the Battlebox under Fort Canning in the morning, the Former Ford Factory after, and you've seen the day Singapore fell in two buildings. That's our pick from a list of odd corners for anyone who has done the postcard version of the city (Supertrees, infinity pools, fine). Most are cheap or free and many work on a rainy day; the catch is opening days, so check before you set off, because several of these are closed on Mondays.

Scratch the surface and the city is full of strange corners: a Tiger Balm fortune spent on sculptures of hell, a hot spring where regulars arrive with cartons of eggs, a cemetery with its own Sikh guards, an airport museum with an exercise-bike race against a jumbo jet. Some of it is history you probably skimmed at school and will now find gripping. A few places are people's homes or working sites, so we've flagged where manners matter.

Almost all are best done on a weekday morning, before the heat. Two notices: Sembawang Hot Spring Park is closed for maintenance until 30 October 2026, and Haw Par Villa's gardens have been partly shut for repairs since December 2025.

Evergreen

The collection

1. The Battlebox
Civic District
Our first stop on this list. Thirty feet under Fort Canning's lawns is the bunker where Percival and his generals agreed, on the morning of 15 February 1942, that they could not go on. The basic visit is free; the enhanced one adds two 270-degree projection rooms and souvenir 3D glasses, which is worth it if you have teenagers to win over. Book ahead, because free slots are limited.
Book on Klook for The Battlebox (opens in a new tab)
2. Former Ford Factory
Bukit Timah
The afternoon half of the same day. Later on 15 February 1942, Percival met Yamashita in the boardroom of Ford's brand-new Art Deco car plant and surrendered; the room still has a clock set to the moment. Do it after the Battlebox and you have the whole day in two buildings. Free weekend tours run in English, which makes Saturday the day to do both; allow time to get between them, as they're not neighbours.
3. Bukit Brown Cemetery
Bukit Brown
The most atmospheric walk in central Singapore: around 100,000 graves under old trees, Sikh guard statues commissioned from Shanghai and a tomb compared to ten HDB flats. The volunteer-made Wayfinder trail, launched in October 2025, finally gives you the stories as you walk. Go early, wear proper shoes, and go before you leave home: there are no toilets.

4. Kampong Lorong Buangkok
Buangkok
The village that refused to leave, and the entry here where manners matter most. Wooden houses, zinc roofs and chickens with names, held together since 1956 by a landlord family that has kept the rent famously low. It is private land and people's homes, so go with a guide, keep the camera down and your voice low. A guided hour will tell you far more than a solo wander would.
5. Haw Par Villa
Pasir Panjang
The Tiger Balm brothers' hillside of sculptures is still Singapore's strangest park, though the gardens have been partly closed for repairs since December 2025. Hell's Museum, with its Ten Courts of Hell, is open on its own ticket on most days, so that's the part to plan around for now. Check the long list of closed dates first, and bring younger children only if they can take painted punishments in their stride.
Book on GetYourGuide for Haw Par Villa (opens in a new tab)
6. MINT Museum of Toys
Bugis
Around 50,000 vintage toys in a purpose-built glass block on Seah Street, from space robots to a century-old Steiff bear and the only known Mekon mask from Dan Dare. It's a museum for nostalgic grown-ups more than for children, who may not see the point of a toy they can't touch. Save it for a rainy afternoon and check hours before you go.
Book on Klook for MINT Museum of Toys (opens in a new tab)
7. The Intan
Joo Chiat
The most personal museum on this list, and the one to take a visiting parent to. It's a Peranakan museum inside a Joo Chiat terrace house where the owner, Alvin Yapp, still lives and pours the tea. Visits are by appointment only, which is part of the charm: you're a guest, not a ticket holder. Book well ahead and make a Joo Chiat afternoon of it.
Book on Klook for The Intan (opens in a new tab)
8. The Gem Museum
Jalan Besar
A free museum built from the collection of Singapore's first certified gemologist, run by his family. Think of it as a backstage tour of the gem trade rather than a jewellery showroom, which is exactly why it's on this list. Go with questions: a family-run museum is the place to ask them, and the answers are the best part. Pair it with lunch in Jalan Besar.
9. Changi Experience Studio
Changi
An airport museum where you can race a jumbo jet on an exercise bike and steer a luggage trolley for points. Only in Singapore would the airport have its own playground of logistics. It's the rainy-day pick for children who like buttons, and a good use of a spare hour on an airport run, so check its hours before you leave for Changi.
Book on Klook for Changi Experience Studio (opens in a new tab)
10. Kusu Island
Southern Islands
A small southern island of temples, hilltop shrines and tortoises. Until 8 November 2026 the annual pilgrimage brings devotees by the boatload; after that, the tortoises have the island back. Go during the season for the spectacle, dressed for a place of worship, or after it for the quiet. Check the ferries before you set out.
Book on Klook for Kusu Island (opens in a new tab)
11. Fort Siloso
Sentosa
Built to face the sea, forced to fire inland in 1942: that one fact is the reason to go. Sentosa's quietest attraction is a good corrective to its loudest ones, and a useful hour of history to set against a beach afternoon. Go in the morning, before the heat and the day-trippers, and give the tunnels more time than the guns.
12. Tampines Eco Green
Tampines
Thirty-six hectares beside the TPE, mostly left alone on purpose, with bird hides, deliberately dead trees and a toilet that makes compost. Wonderfully unglamorous, and the pick for birders and anyone tired of manicured parks. Go early, bring binoculars, water and insect repellent, and be ready to sit still in a hide for longer than feels natural.
13. Swee Choon at 3am
Jalan Besar
The unusual thing here is the hour, not the food: dim sum into the small hours on weekends, across six knocked-through shophouses. Eating har gow after midnight with half of Jalan Besar is a Singapore rite of passage. Check the late hours before you set out, and bring a group; dim sum for one at that hour is a lonely business.
14. Changi Chapel and Museum
Changi
The war at Changi told through what internees kept: a hidden camera, a matchbox Morse set and a 400-page diary of letters home. Quietly devastating, and the one entry on this list we'd tell everyone to see. Give it more time than you planned, read the letters rather than skimming them, and don't schedule anything loud straight after. It's out at Changi, so make it the morning's only stop.
15. Sembawang Hot Spring Park
Sembawang
Temporarily closed. Not a current recommendation; see its page for the latest.
NParks has closed it for maintenance until 30 October 2026; check before you go. Once it reopens, it's the oddest free hour in the north: the water comes out at about 70°C, which is why regulars bring eggs to cook in it. Its back story takes in bottled mineral water, wartime thermal baths and a 1944 bomb. Bring your own eggs and a little patience at the collection point.