Singapore is a bustling city-state, international travel hub, and urban metropolis crammed into a roughly 700 square kilometre island, leaving it demographically diverse, densely packed, and demonstrably urban.
But gleaming skyscrapers and colourful shophouses are not all that the city has to offer. It’s long-worked to establish itself as a Garden City — or, as the latest version of this motto reads, City in a Garden — with an ever-growing network of greenery filled paths and trails connecting built-up areas of Singapore to neighbourhood parks, nature reserves, mangroves, coastal walks, and other bucolic delights.
The most famous biophilic attractions in Singapore, the historic Singapore Botanic Gardens and its newer cousin, the Gardens by the Bay, exemplify this motto to a tee — doubling up as man-made horticultural destinations within a dense city centre, while championing conservation, sustainability, and the love for nature.
Read on for an all-in-one guide on exploring the best Singapore has to offer for the ardent nature lover.
EXPLORE
Everyone has their own way of appreciating nature. Some prefer to explore the wilds, guidebook in hand, while others would rather head for the safety of a zoo or safari tour. Thankfully, you can get plenty of both in Singapore — if you know where to look.
Mandai Wildlife Reserve
Uncover Biodiversity
Despite Singapore’s diminutive size, an estimated 35,000 to 45,000 plant and animal species call the island home. In other words, it’s open season for nature lover, which means you’d best head to biodiversity hotspots like the city’s four nature reserves — encompassing around 3,347 hectares of preserved forest and marshland — to stand any chance of making decent headway.
Nature lovers should also make a stop at the recently refurbished Mandai Wildlife Reserve, an all-in-one animal destination complete with zoo, river wildlife park, night safari, and aviary.
The Top Hill of Bukit Puaka at Pulau Ubin
Go Island Hopping
Need an escape from urbanity? Hop onto a boat or ferry for a quick jaunt to one of the smaller islands near Singapore, where you’ll find pristine beaches, untouched mangroves, and, of course, lots of wildlife.
For nature lovers, Pulau Ubin can’t be missed, as the Chek Jawa Wetlands on its eastern end boast one of Singapore’s richest ecosystems. Take your time as you observe the intertidal areas from the boardwalk, and you’ll be duly rewarded with sea hares, mudskippers, starfishes, and more.
The Orchid Garden at the Singapore Botanic Gardens
Flower Power
While beautiful flowers can easily be found at any of the over 300 parks around Singapore, do carve out some time from your schedule for horticultural havens like the historic Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and longstanding icon of the Garden City, featuring colonial buildings, a grand orchestral stage, and a dedicated orchid garden housing over 450 species of the flower.
Not to be outdone is its modern cousin in the heart of downtown, the Gardens by the Bay (pictured in the header image), which often showcases blooms imported from all around the world and stored for weeks at a time in magnificent, air-conditioned domes.
Photo: JAG
EAT
With sightseeing done, it’s time to appreciate nature’s bounty in a different form — namely, culinary. These are MICHELIN-rated restaurants flying the flag high for nature, whether by sustainable practices or a penchant for all things green.
JAG
One MICHELIN StarMICHELIN Guide Singapore 2023
Expect vegetable-forward, contemporary French savoir faire at MICHELIN-starred JAG, which consistently delivers tasting menus tightly woven around seasonality and regional terroir. Though fine meats and seafood remain on the menu, they enhance — rather than overshadow — the greens they’re served alongside, which include radish, broccolini, sweet cabbage, and green asparagus for the spring season.
JAG is located at Singapore Tyler Print Institute, #02-02, 41 Robertson Quay, 238236, Singapore. Make your booking here.
Photo: Marguerite
Marguerite
One MICHELIN StarMICHELIN Guide Singapore 2023
Tucked amidst the lush blooms of the Gardens by the Bay’s Flower Dome is Marguerite — Australian chef Michael Wilson’s ode to provenance and produce. He complements modern European plates brimming with seasonal ingredients as beautiful as the garden-scape outside with an equally weighty beverage programme, featuring clarified juices and fermented teas, along with rare wine labels.
Marguerite is located at Flower Dome, #01-09, Gardens by The Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Drive, 018953, Singapore. Make your booking here.
Photo: Seroja
Seroja
One MICHELIN Star & MICHELIN Green StarMICHELIN Guide Singapore 2023
Seroja, meaning lotus flower in Malay, celebrates the diverse culinary history of the Malay Archipelago while championing sustainability in all it does. That’s how it earned both a MICHELIN Star and a Green Star — the first ever given to a restaurant in Singapore — when it debuted in the Guide in 2023. Expect locally sourced seafood and sustainable produce prepared with contemporary flair, yet informed with deep-set regional traditions.
Seroja is located at Duo Galleria, #01-30/31/32/33, 7 Fraser Street, 189356, Singapore. Book your table here.
Photo: Min Jiang at Dempsey
Min Jiang at Dempsey
Selected RestaurantMICHELIN Guide 2023
Continuing in the theme of dining within bucolic surrounds is Min Jiang at Dempsey. The MICHELIN Selected restaurant uses a colonial bungalow refurbished with floor-to-ceiling windows, woodsy accents, and rattan furniture to set the stage for a contemporary Cantonese-Sichuan meal amid greenery.
Min Jiang at Dempsey is located at 7A & 7B Dempsey Road, 249684, Singapore. Book your table here.
Photo: Pangium
Panguim
NEW EntryMICHELIN Guide 2024
Owner-chef Malcolm Lee, also of MICHELIN-Starred Candlenut, is no stranger to wielding Peranakan cuisine and the culinary influences of his mother and grandmother to devastatingly delicious effect. But his newly minted fine-dining outfit, located in the Gallop Extension at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, is something else. It pushes his signature Straits cuisine even further into fine-dining territory, all while paying homage to the Pangium plant responsible for producing buah keluak seeds — a key ingredient in Peranakan cuisine.
Pangium is located at Gallop Entrance, Singapore Botanic Gardens, 11 Gallop Road, 259015, Singapore. Book your table here.
Photo: Capella Singapore
STAY
Now that you’re done with exploration and eating, it’s only right that you find a meditative retreat to rest and recuperate — before doing it all again tomorrow.
Capella Singapore
Capella Singapore offers a very compelling package to nature lovers with a partiality for luxury — think 112 well-manicured rooms, suites, and villas, hidden on the island escape of Sentosa and therefore providing unfettered views of the South China Sea. What’s more, guests have 30 acres of private greenery to play with, not to mention direct access to the beautiful Palawan Beach.
Cost of Stay: Prices start at S$1,439 for its lead-in Premier Garden Room category. Book your stay here.
Photo: Oasia Hotel Downtown
Oasia Hotel Downtown
A big part of Singapore’s City in a Garden planning has always involved vertical greenery — meaning sprawling rooftop gardens, or in this case, foliage draped across Oasia Hotel Downtown’s red metal exterior, making for a striking sight for miles all around. The 314 rooms offer comfort and convenience par excellence, with good connectivity to most of the attractions we’ve mentioned on this list.
Cost of Stay: Prices start at S$367 for its lead-in Superior Double Room category. Book your stay here.
Photo: PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering
PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering
A biophilic “hotel-in-a-garden” through-and-through, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering stands out from the shiny skyscrapers in its vicinity with numerous sky gardens punctuating its own gleaming facade. These greenery filled facilities are said to be maintained sustainably with solar panels, harvested rainwater and other eco-friendly practices — an ethos that’s reflected in its well-appointed, but sustainability-forward, rooms.
Cost of Stay: Prices start at S$594 for its lead-in Urban Deluxe King category. Book your stay here.
Photo: PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay
PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay
Another PARKROYAL COLLECTION property that bears mentioning for its climate-friendly sensibilities is its 583-room property in Marina Bay — home to Southeast Asia’s largest indoor skylit atrium, a massive 1,400 square metre space with room for over 2,400 plants, trees, shrubs, and ground-covers.
Eco-conscious travellers will appreciate that this attitude stretches to the rest of the hotel, too, both in its use of renewable energy and intelligent motion sensors to reduce its carbon footprint, as well as a rooftop urban farm supplying its restaurants and bars.
Cost of Stay: Prices start at S$673 for its lead-in Urban Deluxe King category. Book your stay here.
