One Day in Singapore Itinerary: Chinatown to Marina Bay

Kaya Toast Under Chinatown Point

Start the way the neighbourhood does, with charcoal-toasted bread, kaya, a slab of cold butter and two soft-boiled eggs. Ya Kun sits in the basement of Chinatown Point, directly above Chinatown MRT, so you can eat before you have walked anywhere.

Order kopi if you want the full version. Kopi is coffee with condensed milk, kopi o is black with sugar, and kopi c uses evaporated milk. Dip the toast in the egg rather than eating them separately.

Before you go

• Ya Kun Kaya Toast, Chinatown Point: 7.30am to 9pm daily, last order half an hour before closing.
• Unit #B2-14/15/16, 133 New Bridge Road.

Next leg: up to street level and into Temple Street.

The Murals on Temple Street

Chinatown’s painted walls are easy to walk past and better in the early light, before the shophouse shutters go up and the crowds arrive. The murals along Temple Street and Trengganu Street show the trades and the tenement life that filled these blocks a century ago.

Take the side lanes rather than the main pedestrian stretch. That is where most of the painting is.

Before you go

• Outdoors, free, and there at any hour.
• Temple Street and Trengganu Street, a few minutes on foot from Chinatown Point.

Next leg: walk down Temple Street to South Bridge Road.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

The temple opened on Vesak Day, 31 May 2007, and its design borrows from both the Buddhist mandala and Tang dynasty architecture. It is the most demanding building on this route to photograph and the easiest to rush.

Go up before you go in. The Buddhas of the World Museum sits on the third floor and the orchid garden is on the roof, and both are quieter than the main hall on the ground floor.

Dress for it or you will not get in. The temple asks for covered shoulders and knees, and it names short skirts, shorts, low cut, off-the-shoulder, open-back, spaghetti strap and tube tops as attire that may be refused entry. Carry a light layer in your day bag and you avoid the problem.

Before you go

• Temple: 7am to 5pm daily. Buddhas of the World Museum: 7am to 5pm daily.
• 288 South Bridge Road, Singapore 058840.
• Pets and non-vegetarian food are not allowed inside.

Next leg: walk down Maxwell Road to the URA Centre.

Singapore City Gallery

A free museum that most people on this street walk past, and the best thirty minutes on the route for understanding why Singapore looks the way it does. The centrepiece is a room-sized architectural model of the central area, accurate enough to find the buildings you walked past this morning.

It is run by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which is to say the people who actually drew the city. That is why the exhibits are about land use and reclamation.

Before you go

• Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm. Closed Sundays and public holidays.
• Partially closed from 1 December 2026 to 30 April 2027. Fully closed from 1 May 2027, reopening in the last quarter of 2027.
• Free admission. Groups of more than 20 need to book a slot in advance.
• 45 Maxwell Road, The URA Centre.

Next leg: cross Maxwell Road to the hawker centre.

Lunch at Maxwell Food Centre

Maxwell has roots going back to 1935 and now holds 103 cooked food stalls under one roof, which makes it one of the best places in the city to eat well for very little. It is directly opposite the City Gallery.

Our pick is Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice at #01-07, poached chicken with rice cooked in the stock, chilli and dark soy on the side. Stall hours and rest days are set by each stall rather than published centrally, so treat any single stall as a plan that might need a second choice.

Eat before the office lunch rush if you can. From about 12.30pm the queues double.

Before you go

• Maxwell Food Centre, 1 Kadayanallur Street, Singapore 069184.
• Ah Tai, stall #01-07: 11am to 7.30pm, closed Tuesdays.
• The centre closes for cleaning on 14 December 2026. NEA had not published 2027 dates at the time of writing.
• Carry some cash. Not every stall takes cards.

Next leg: walk up Telok Ayer Street.

Coffee on Telok Ayer Street

The afternoon is the hard part of this route, and the fix is an hour of air conditioning before the walk east. Sarnies on Telok Ayer Street is our stop for it: a flagship cafe in a restored shophouse, with coffee roasted by the same company.

It costs more than kopi and it is worth it once. The sign on its door reads open daily, 7.30am to 5.30pm, and the street has several alternatives if it is shut.

Before you go

• Sarnies, 136 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore 068601.
• Open daily, 7.30am to 5.30pm.

Next leg: walk north to Merlion Park at the river mouth.

Merlion Park and the Jubilee Bridge

This is the photograph everyone comes for, and the trick is knowing there are two statues. The large Merlion faces the bay, and the cub stands a few metres behind it, which is the better shot when a tour group has the front.

Then take the Jubilee Bridge. It opened in 2015, is six metres wide, and links Merlion Park to the promenade in front of the Esplanade, which saves you the long way round by road.

Before you go

• Free, outdoors.
• Check before you travel: the main statue goes under scaffolding for maintenance from time to time and the Singapore Tourism Board publishes notices in advance.

Next leg: cross the Jubilee Bridge to the Esplanade waterfront.

The Esplanade Waterfront

The waterfront in front of the Esplanade runs for 300 metres and carries the DBS Foundation Outdoor Theatre, where the programme is free every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday. Music, dance, theatre and sometimes circus.

The programme rotates, so check the Esplanade listings for your date rather than turning up hopeful. If nothing is on, the steps are still the best place on this side of the bay to sit and look across the water.

Before you go

• Free. Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
• Performance times sit on each event’s own page.

Next leg: walk the promenade to the Helix Bridge.

The Helix Bridge

The Helix was completed in 2010 and it is the walk that makes the bay make sense: a curved pedestrian crossing from Marina Centre over to the Bayfront side, with the whole skyline in view as you cross.

Before you go

• Free, outdoors.

Next leg: come off the bridge on the Bayfront side and walk into Gardens by the Bay.

Gardens by the Bay

The outdoor gardens are free and open from 5am to 2am, which is far longer than the conservatories. Supertree Grove, the Heritage Gardens and the waterfront are all open air and cost nothing. The Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, Floral Fantasy, OCBC Skyway and Supertree Observatory are the ticketed parts.

Arriving at 5.15pm leaves time for the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest before the lights. Both are cooled conservatories, and Gardens by the Bay suggests two hours for the pair, which has you out in time for Garden Rhapsody at 7.45pm. Skip them and the free gardens fill the same two hours.

Before you go

• Outdoor Gardens, including Supertree Grove: 5am to 2am daily, free.
• Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, ticketed: 9am to 9pm daily. Last admission is 8.30pm at the Flower Dome and 8pm at the Cloud Forest. Each dome closes for maintenance on set days, so check your date.
• OCBC Skyway and Supertree Observatory, ticketed: 9am to 9pm.

Next leg: walk to Supertree Grove and find a spot on the lawn.

Two Light Shows, Then Satay

Garden Rhapsody runs at Supertree Grove at 7.45pm and 8.45pm, free, with the theme changing through the year. Lie on the lawn under the trees rather than standing at the edge.

Then walk over for Spectra at the Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza. It runs 8pm and 9pm from Sunday to Thursday, with a third show at 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, lasts fifteen minutes and is also free. Taking the 7.45pm Rhapsody and the 9pm Spectra gives you a comfortable walk between them.

Finish at Lau Pa Sat. Take the Downtown Line from Bayfront to Telok Ayer and walk from there. The Victorian cast iron market has been a national monument since 1973 and is open around the clock, and in the evening Boon Tat Street beside it closes to traffic and the satay carts set up. Satay Street serves from 7pm on weekdays and from 3pm at weekends, until 3am either way.

Before you go

• Garden Rhapsody: 7.45pm and 8.45pm daily, Supertree Grove, free.
• Spectra: 8pm and 9pm Sunday to Thursday, plus 10pm Friday and Saturday. Fifteen minutes, Event Plaza, free.
• Lau Pa Sat: 18 Raffles Quay, open 24 hours. Satay Street 7pm to 3am on weekdays, 3pm to 3am at weekends.