Where to go in Singapore

Once a historic spice port at the crossroads of Asia, the Singapore of today is a gleaming, futuristic city of sci-fi skylines and robot waiters – with some incense-filled temples and heritage shophouses thrown in for good measure. Down at Marina Bay, lotus-petalled museums and gravity-defying bridges glow against the water, while the Supertrees of Gardens by the Bay stage that iconic nightly light show. But the real soul of the Lion City is on the ground. Follow your nose to the hawker centres where woks crackle, satay smokes and aunties size you up before dishing out laksa, dollops of Hainanese chicken rice and chilli crab. During the day, ride the spotless MRT train and temple-hop in Chinatown, breathe in the spices in Little India and wander past the pretty, pastel Peranakan shophouses. And how will it make you feel? Comfortably out of your depth in the best way. This is a city that is safe enough to wander at midnight, wired on sugar cane juice and curiosity, and giddy on the sheer ease of it all – with something delicious around every corner...