Singapore Sightseeing Beyond the Merlion
Singapore Sightseeing Beyond the Merlion
Everyone photographs the half-lion, half-fish statue at Merlion Park, and it costs nothing to do so, open around the clock. The harder part of sightseeing here isn’t finding the landmarks; it’s knowing which ones you’re about to pay for and which ones you aren’t.
The Free Ones
Merlion Park never charges admission. Neither does Gardens by the Bay’s outdoor half: the Supertree Grove, general garden access, and the nightly Garden Rhapsody light show are all walk-up and unticketed. What costs money inside the same park is the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome conservatory combo (around SGD 46 for a tourist adult) and the separate OCBC Skyway (SGD 14 adult), not the gardens around them.
The Ones Actually Worth a Ticket
Marina Bay Sands SkyPark: public adult admission sits somewhere between SGD 32 and 39 depending on the day and booking platform, a genuine spread rather than one fixed number, so check the total at checkout. Hotel guests bypass the queue entirely and reach the observation deck free via the guest elevators with a room key card.
Singapore Flyer: SGD 40 adult, running 10am to 10pm with last admission at 9:30pm. It opened as the world’s tallest observation wheel in 2008, but both the Las Vegas High Roller and Dubai’s Ain Dubai have since built taller ones; it’s still a solid, currently-operating ride, just not a record holder anymore. Search Flyer tickets on GetYourGuide .
Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, costs nothing to enter, though the National Orchid Garden inside it is a separate SGD 15 foreign-adult ticket. National Gallery Singapore runs SGD 20 standard admission, SGD 15 concession. ArtScience Museum starts from SGD 18, with a single-exhibition ticket closer to SGD 28; a SGD 99 Museum Ticket covers every exhibition running at once, which only pays off if you’re doing three or more galleries. Browse ArtScience and Gardens combo tickets on Viator .
Official pricing and hours are kept current on Gardens by the Bay’s site and National Gallery Singapore’s site .
For a guided version of the same landmarks, from the river or a bus seat, see attraction tours ; for the family-specific side of Sentosa and Mandai, see family-friendly activities .
Tip: Buy the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome combo online before you arrive. Walk-up queues at the counter run longer than the online booking window, and the ticket works the same either way.