Live the High Life: Top 5 Luxury Activities in Singapore

There’s so much to love about Singapore; it’s scenic and lush, and the people enjoy an enhanced quality of life. Tourists flock to Singapore all year round to enjoy the balmy climate that keeps Singapore green and fresh. Singapore is ranked fifth in Asia for quality of life, and with that ranking comes a host of other titles, including cleanest, best-planned city, and safest city for nightlife.

Luxury in Singapore

You can get to the ‘Lion City’ in style when you book private jet travel. Visit the place with the largest and most impressive rooftop infinity pool, the world’s first nocturnal animal park, sitting comfortably beside historic temples and culture, complemented by some of the best food in the world.

You’ll also find impressive architecture, extraordinary gardens, world-class performance and art venues, and miles of shopping opportunities. This city-state offers a fascinating fusion of the old and new while merging the historic and the modern.

If you’re considering visiting for a short or even an extended vacation, you need to know where you should spend your time. With so much to see and do, we have condensed our favourite luxury activities into ten not-to-be-missed experiences, starting with the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

1. The Singapore Botanic Gardens

The gardens are Singapore’s first UNESCO Heritage site. The garden is the first tropical botanic garden on UNESCO’s World Heritage Register. It is the first in Asia and the third botanic garden to join the list after the Orto Botanico di Padova and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

The garden pays homage to the days when Singapore’s main export was rubber, and it does this by celebrating Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of colonial Singapore and a keen amateur naturalist. In 1859, the English Landscape Movement re-styled the garden. In 1874, the British government, led by Kew-trained botanists, took over the garden and developed into the spectacular park we know today.

2. Gardens by the Bay

The Gardens by the Bay are famous for their futuristic planting and architectural feats. Invigorate your senses by visiting the towering supertrees, enjoying the spectacular indoor waterfall, and cooling off in the serene conservatories.

The Gardens by the Bay offers engineering and architectural marvels that enable plants worldwide to thrive in the tropics. Moreover, the Gardens by the Bay has more than 200 sculptures from the global community. Featuring unique pieces, intriguing stonework, and craft art, these sculptures complement the beauty of the planting and add a thrilling dimension to the landscape.

3. National Gallery Singapore

The National Gallery owns Southeast Asia’s most significant national collection of modern art, spread across the City Hall and the old Supreme Court. The National Gallery focuses on Singaporean and Southeast Asian art from the 19th century to now.

A permanent exhibition covers the history and architecture of the National Gallery’s transformation from a municipal building to a world-class art museum. Partnering with the National Archives of Singapore and the National Library Board, the museum explores Singapore’s constitution and culture between 1819 and 1965.

The museum is as impressive as the Museum of Modern Art in New York or the Tate Modern in London. It offers gallery space for many temporary exhibitions, from Impressionism to Chinese calligraphy and Vietnamese lacquer painting.

4. The Intan

The Intan is a private home turned gallery to one of Singapore’s most prestigious Peranakan art and artifacts collections. The owner and curator, Alvin Yapp, lives in the building and has spent over 30 years collecting more than 1,500 objects from Peranakan culture, including kasut manek (ornate beaded slippers worn by Straits Chinese women) and hand-painted enamel tiffin tins adorned with delicate floral patterns.

Yapp’s post-war home is a personal obsession and a must for visitors who want to explore the cultural side of Singapore; meticulous displays present a living history of an old Singapore that no longer exists. Unlike the National Gallery or the Gardens by the Bay, you must book and pay a fee to visit.

5. Haw Par Villa

Haw Par Villa is a feast for the eyes. It was established by philanthropist Aw Boon Haw (The Tiger Balm King) as a home for over 1,000 detailed sculptures and dioramas (three-dimensional exhibit, often miniature in scale) to teach traditional Chinese values.

The villa attracts those who want to see Chinese culture at its most graphic and uncensored. This is the avant-garde cultural theme park for those who like their culture obscure and minimalist.

Singapore is a beautiful mix of East and West, futuristic and traditional, that creates a safe, fascinating, and profoundly enchanting visitor experience. Singapore is an art enthusiast’s paradise, the perfect getaway for a culture aficionado, and any shopper’s dream. When quality downtime is required, Singapore fits the bill. Still, don’t take our word for it; book a vacation in Singapore and experience these pleasures for yourself. Visit this unique country and take advantage of what’s on offer – you won’t be disappointed.