Handpicked experience · Singapore
Singapore, Singapore
An observation wheel reversed on feng shui advice, a mascot designed by a tourist board, a bay that was sea, and neighbourhoods drawn on a colonial plan in 1822.
A capsule rotation high enough to put the whole bay in one frame
A stop at the waterfront statue everyone photographs
A pass through two districts with completely different street life
A driver and commentary, so the geography arrives in order
A three-hour circuit of central Singapore with a rotation on the Singapore Flyer included, taking in Marina Bay, the Merlion, Chinatown and Little India, with a driver and commentary.
Short stops and a fair amount of driving between them, which is how three hours covers this much ground. The wheel takes about half an hour for one full turn, and the rest is photographs and neighbourhood walk-throughs rather than sit-down visits. It works best as a first-day orientation, before you decide where to go back to.
The Flyer opened in 2008 turning one way, and within weeks it was stopped, rewired and set going in the opposite direction. The reason given was feng shui: advisers held that the original rotation was carrying fortune away from the island rather than drawing it inland. It is one of the few observation wheels in the world to have reversed its direction for reasons that have nothing to do with engineering.
The lion-fish statue you stop at was designed in 1964 for the tourist board and carved in 1972. The lion half refers to the city's name, which comes from a Sanskrit phrase meaning lion city — bestowed, according to the chronicle, by a prince who landed here and saw an animal he took for a lion, in a place where lions have never lived. The fish half refers to the fishing village that was actually here. It is a national symbol that is roughly sixty years old and openly a piece of branding.
Marina Bay did not exist within living memory. The whole district is reclaimed, and the country has grown its land area by around a quarter since 1960, importing so much sand along the way that several neighbours have banned exports to it. The Merlion has been moved once already to keep it on the waterfront.
Chinatown and Little India are where they are because a colonial town plan assigned separate quarters to different communities two hundred years ago. The grid, the shophouse plots and the distances between the districts all date from that document. What began as an administrative division is now the thing the tour is built around.
The data device is collected at the airport rather than handed over on the tour, and returning it late or losing it is charged separately. It is humid, the walking is short but exposed, and afternoon rain is normal. This booking cannot be cancelled once made.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
Three hours in total, built from short stops with driving between them, plus roughly half an hour for one full rotation of the wheel.
Yes. It opened in 2008, ran one way for a matter of weeks, then was stopped and restarted turning the other way on feng shui advice — the original rotation was held to be carrying fortune away from the island.
No. It was designed in 1964 for the tourist board and carved in 1972. The lion refers to the city's Sanskrit-derived name; the fish refers to the fishing village that preceded it.
No. The bay was open water, closed off and filled in during the modern era, and the statue on its edge has already been relocated once to keep it facing the water.
A colonial town plan of 1822 assigned separate quarters to different communities. The street grid and the plot sizes still follow that document two centuries later.
It is collected at Changi Airport rather than handed over during the tour. Late return or loss is charged separately by the operator.
No. This booking cannot be cancelled once made, so the date needs to be settled first.