Christmas in Singapore

By Dom Bewley
Christmas in Singapore

It's the same every year. Horned animals, jolly red fellows, and gifts wrapped in paper start appearing on TV. Those songs clog up your favorite radio stations - you know the ones. And you hear the distant scream of your bank account as it prepares to be drained of all its savings. Yes, that's right. It's Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year.

So if you're considering visiting Singapore this winter, you might want to know what Christmas is like in the city. Well, don't worry; we've got all answers down below, as well as suggestions to amplify your merriment! Read on, and discover Christmas in Singapore.

Including:

  • How do they celebrate Christmas in Singapore?
  • Is Christmas in Singapore good?
  • Is Christmas a big holiday in Singapore?
  • Christmas cheer at Gardens of the Bay
  • Christmas at Universal Studios
  • and more!
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How do they celebrate Christmas in Singapore?

In such a multicultural city, it's no surprise that Christmas is handled in a rather traditional sense. Shopping malls are wrapped in tinsel and fairy lights, Christmas trees spring up from nowhere, and stockings adorn many a shop window. So, really, it's probably just like your home town. Only in Singapore, so the weather's much better!

Is Christmas in Singapore good?

It is! You'll find plenty of Christmas activities to enjoy in and around the city, as well as Christmas shopping savings, markets, and plenty more. But we'll get to that.

Is Christmas a big holiday in Singapore?

Even though there's a relatively small Christian population in Singapore - around 19% identify as Christians - Christmas is still a big holiday in the city. Much like many of the other religious holidays and festivals celebrated in Singapore, Christmas gets a similar treatment.

Now that we've got your burning questions out of the way, let's talk about the best things to do over Christmas in Singapore!

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Christmas cheer at Gardens of the Bay

If you're visiting Singapore, you've probably already heard of Gardens of the Bay. Thanks to its beautiful SuperTrees, it's one of the most recognizable green spaces on the planet. With millions of plants, multiple biomes, and even an Avatar movie crossover found within, there's plenty to do and see for every visitor.

But what of Christmas? Well, you've got a few choices.

First is Christmas Wonderland. Arguably Singapore's biggest Christmas extravaganza, visitors will be treated to the kind of light show one expects at Garden Rhapsody - just extra Christmasy. But that's not all; you can also meet Santa and snap a pic, play carnival games, explore the Mistletoe Alley Christmas market, and even hop on some rides. All-round yuletide fun for one and all, just like Santa always wanted. This one runs throughout December, so if you're visiting Singapore over Christmas, you should be just fine.

The other is Poinsetta Wishes, a massive display of delightful Andalucian flora that gets a Christmas glow-up every winter. Every year, a different Christmas theme takes over the Flower Dome. Last year it was Nordic-inspired Christmas treats like gingerbread reindeer and a giant hollowed-out apple adorning Santa's sleigh. 2022/23's display hasn't been announced yet, but keep an eye out online to find out. Typically, the Christmas display at the Flower Dome runs from the end of November to the beginning of January.

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Joy to the world at Universal Studios

Universal Studios is every cinephile's ideal theme park. With tons of rides dedicated to some of the planet's biggest film franchises, it's fun for kids and bigger kids alike. One moment, visitors will be dodging dinos at the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure; the next, they'll be riding alongside Optimus Prime as the Transformers battle the Decepticons.

But over Christmas, it transforms into a winter wonderland. The halls are firmly decked with boughs of holly, carols bellow out around the park courtesy of your favorite universal characters, and you can hop on the Universal Rocking Railway to catch a glimpse of trees inspired by Shrek, Minions, and plenty of others. You can also post a letter to Santa and watch as the Postmaster Elf drops it off at the North Pole Postal Service. And when you're overcome with hunger from all the Christmasy activity, head to the Festive Market to pick up some Christmas twists on Singapore favorites.

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Pick up some cheer at a traditional Christmas market

We've already talked about Gardens by the Bay's Mistletoe Market and Universal's Festive Market. But what other markety delights can you find in Singapore?

Well, there's the Chinatown Christmas Market, which appears at the end of December, from Dec 19-20th, and then again from Dec 26-27. See Chinatown adorned in decorations, and prepare to pick up some great bargains on food, knickknacks, and decorations if you're behind on your Christmas schedule.

Then there's the Christmas Fair at Crane Club. From Dec 4-5, you can pick up some great gift ideas, all made by local businesses. From clothes to homeware and plenty of chocolate to boot, you'll find something for everyone at this brilliant Christmas spot.

Or, try I'mable Gift Market, a conscientious Christmas Market that not only offers sustainably-made products, but they're also made by people with disabilities. And no matter what you pick up, you'll know that your purchases help the community and disability services. Does it get much more Christmasy than that? Not in our book.

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Let loose at a Christmas Village

And finally, we'll end our exploration of Christmas in Singapore with a visit to Changi Festive Village. From November 4 - Jan 2, you'll be able to attend one of Singapore's best-kept winter secrets. Located onsite at Changi Airport, this wonderful village provides with a myriad of activities on offer.

Hop on a go-kart and race around a circuit, jump into the dino-themed bouncy castle, lay your eyes upon a huge 50+ foot Christmas tree, and top it all off with some Christmas bites. Brilliant.

And there ends our guide to Christmas in Singapore! Wherever you choose to spend your winter holiday, have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year! If you're wondering what else to get up to on your Singapore vacation, check out Go City. With our Explorer Pass and All-Inclusive Pass, you can pick and choose the best of Singapore for one low price. That way, you can get your fix of Christmas cheer and make the most of the rest of your stay!

Dom Bewley
Go City Travel Expert

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Things to do in Singapore in September

While much of the world is winding down after the August hijinks, Singapore in September is anything but ordinary. Not only is the weather playing ball, but a whole series of events ensure Singapore claims the limelight. Intrigued? Here’s all you need to know about the top things to do in Singapore in September! Grab a set of wheels Mid-September’s Singapore Grand Prix is certainly a night to remember. One of the biggest days of the Formula One calendar, it became the first night circuit when inaugurated in 1966. Two generations on, it’s lost none of its sparkle. For one thing, this street circuit comes with an extraordinary backdrop of Marina Bay. For another, the surrounding event has previously included performances by huge international acts including Black Eyed Peas, Green Day, and Westlife. Put simply, this is no ordinary motor race! However, if petrol engines aren’t your thing, September in Singapore promises a whole lot more besides. For instance, you can let the rubber hit the roads of Marina Bay on a Night Bicycle Tour. Highlights include Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay, alongside many of the city’s most iconic buildings. The route is designed to delve into Singapore’s full 200-year history, from colonial-era buildings to the calm waters of the Kallang River. Celebrate Singapore’s diversity Singapore’s September weather doesn’t really hint at anything except tropical splendor. Temperatures average 31.6°C, while humidity levels remain at a steamy 82%, equivalent to annual averages. When it comes to Singapore’s September rain, the equally good news is that the month is one of the driest of the year. Heavy thundery showers are to be expected. Few will affect your plans in any significant way. This is great news, since the end of the month is marked by one of the biggest cultural celebrations of the year – the mid-Autumn festival. As popular as Lunar New Year, the festival is a key date in the calendar for Singapore’s Chinese descendants. Chinatown is the obvious place to head, with celebrations hitting full swing after dark. Then, decorative paper lanterns line streets and public spaces, providing ample lighting to get your pick of the party food. Also known as the Mooncake Festival, it doesn’t take a genius to realize mooncakes are a big drawer. These pastries are traditionally filled with sesame seed paste, although chocolate and even champagne versions can also be sought out. Get a taste for the good life The Raffles Hotel Long Bar has been an unmissable part of any visit to Singapore since the early 1900s. Combining a sense of history with majestic surrounds, there’s nothing quite like sipping a Singapore Sling cocktail in this hallowed space. So grab your glad rags, the clink of ice on cocktail shakers awaits... Alternatively, make the secular pilgrimage to the city’s Tiger beer brewery, where no dressing up is necessary. Tiger Brewery Tours offer a behind the scenes look at how the beer is made. Then discover for yourself just how refreshing a glass can be with a complementary drink at the bar. Those sworn off alcohol don’t have to miss out, thanks to this Authentic Tea Appreciation Experience. Relax in Singapore’s oldest teahouse as your senses are serenaded with magical blends sipped by kings, queens, and presidents. Check out Singapore’s epic museums Visit Singapore in September and you shouldn’t forget about the city’s fantastic array of museums. The National Museum of Singapore is the place to head for a dose of history. Its galleries do a great job of detailing the development of Singapore from its origins to the present day. Meanwhile, The Battlebox in Fort Canning Park underlines the role of Singapore during the Second World War. An underground bunker with a difference, it was here that the defense of Singapore was planned by British military leaders. Their failure led to three years of Japanese occupation – a period of huge hardship. The displays at Changi Chapel and Museum, the site of a civilian prison camp, testify to the harsh conditions. The ArtScience Museum is altogether different. Located within the lotus flower-like structure of Marina Bay Sands, its ever-changing displays blend between art, science, technology, and culture. Dedicated solely to temporary exhibitions, there’s always another reason to enter its 21 galleries. As a guide, previous shows have spanned Harry Potter, Lego, Andy Warhol, and the photography of Annie Leibovitz. Enjoy the garden city’s green spaces Singapore isn’t called the garden city for nothing. Despite its population density, it has an array of green spaces you miss at your peril when visiting Singapore in September. The earliest dedicated public green space has to be Singapore Botanic Gardens, which trace their origins back to 1859. That’s just 43 years after the modern city was founded by Stamford Raffles. The only tropical garden declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the gardens span 82 hectares. Within this area you’ll find Symphony Lake, the National Orchid Garden’s 2,300 plants, and a small area of tropical rainforest. Singapore’s largest stretch of surviving rainforest is located within Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Various short walks guide visitors around the summit of the hill, while mountain biking and rock climbing are additional options. Elsewhere in Singapore, MacRitchie Reservoir in the center of the island is perfect for a tranquil afternoon stroll. It’s also one of the only places outside of Singapore Zoo to see monkeys occupying the trees. You won’t need binoculars though, thanks to the 250-meter-long Treetop Walk. Visit Singapore in September with Go City September is widely considered one of the best months to visit Singapore. The city’s weather makes exploration really easy, while a string of September Singapore events only add to the atmosphere. If there’s a way of making your trip to Singapore in September even better, it’s with Go City. Grab one of our passes for savings on entry to many of Singapore’s top attractions. Don’t believe us? Take a look at all the fun people are having with Go City on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Alex Birungi
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Overnight Stopover in Singapore

If your vacation includes an overnight stop in Singapore, there’s a fair chance you’ll have enough time on your hands to venture out and see a little of the Garden City, you lucky thing. This is one of the world’s most-visited cities, so it stands to reason that there are oodles of things to keep tourists entertained. Our advice is to plan your layover carefully: pick one or two things you’d really like to do and book tickets up front if required. With only a few hours to spare, you’ll want to maximize your time enjoying the attractions rather than waiting in ticket booth queues or frantically googling for fun things to do on the hop. Read on for our guide to the perfect Singapore stopover... Singapore Stopover Hints and Tips Singapore’s immigration policies are fairly accommodating for layovers, with many nationalities qualifying for the 96-hour visa free transit facility (VFTF) and others requiring proof of onward travel or easily acquired short-term visas. You can browse a fairly comprehensive summary of requirements here. Avoid sweating your way around downtown Singapore with trolley cases and backpacks in tow by taking advantage of 24-hour left luggage facilities in any one of Changi Airport’s four terminals. Trust us: you don’t want to be carrying a week’s worth of clothes and toiletries around with you in the afternoon heat! Heading downtown? Your best bet from the airport is to take a cab. Sure it’s more expensive than the otherwise super-efficient MRT (Singapore’s mass rapid transit system), but it’s also your fastest way of getting to the heart of the action and, on a layover, every minute you can save on transport and admin is an extra minute being wowed by Singapore’s superlative sights. Note that once you’re actually downtown, the MRT comes into its own and is by far the better method of getting from A to B at speed, while cabs can spend what feels like hours laboring through the often dense city center traffic. Singapore Stopover Highlights for Sightseers Sightseers can have it all on a whirlwind visit to Marina Bay. This is where you’ll find one of Singapore’s most iconic landmarks: the towering tree-like structures that make up Supertree Grove in the Gardens by the Bay. Get up close to the lush vertical gardens that cling to these manmade steel monsters on a stroll around the elevated OCBC Skyway platform. Or explore all manner of tropical plantlife (as well as one of the tallest indoor waterfalls in town) in the huge durian-shaped hothouses. Further vertiginous exploits await around the bay,in the shape of the colossal Singapore Flyer observation wheel, inevitably one of the world’s tallest, and the 57th-floor SkyPark atop the futuristic Marina Bay Sands Resort, another instantly recognizable star of the Singapore skyline. If you prefer your entertainment a little more, shall we say, down to earth, you can hit the massive shopping complex on the resort’s ground level, complete with bank balance-sapping luxury brands and cute Venetian-style waterways where you can take a sampan boat ride. Step outside to meet the island’s mascot in statue form. Part mermaid and part lion, the famous Merlion stands sentinel, splashing water into the bay from its roaring mouth. Singapore Stopover Highlights for Families Kids are notorious for their itchy feet, so it’s a good thing Singapore has plenty of great stuff for families to do on a layover. Chief among these is the island playground of Sentosa, where the cable car ride to get there is just the beginning of the fun. We’re not kidding when we say this tiny landmass is absolutely packed with activities and attractions. Universal Studios theme park with white-knuckle and child-friendly rides? Check. Water park? Check. Massive aquarium? You betcha. This is also where you’ll find some of Singapore’s best beaches, complete with Insta-perfect golden sands, emerald-green lagoons and swaying coconut palms. A handy shuttle service serves the sunny Palawan, Tanjong and Siloso beaches, saving you yet more precious time. If you don’t quite have the time required to make the most of a trip to Sentosa, fear not! Help is at hand in the form of Jewel, a cavernous entertainment complex connected (landside) to Changi Airport itself. If anything this is even more ideal than Sentosa, especially if you’re traveling with difficult-to-please teenagers, thanks to its rich mix of high-end shopping, hip restaurants and super-cool attractions that will appeal to any selfie addict worth their salt. We’re talking (another) sky high waterfall or, more accurately, ‘Rain Vortex’ (pictured above), a four-story slide, an indoor forest garden that spans five floors, cinemas, mesmerizing kinetic sculptures, a butterfly garden and, yep, even a Pokémon Center. Just imagine: all that fun without even leaving the airport! Singapore Stopover Highlights for Foodies Foodies rejoice! Singapore’s delicious hotch-potch of Asian cuisines – Indian, Chinese, Malay, Indonesian and more – means you’ll never go short of a new dish (or six) to try. A swift foray into Chinatown or Little India oshould be considered essential on all but the very shortest of layovers. We’re talking steaming grills, heady with the aromas of kung pao chicken and Peking duck and spicy fish head curry served up in the kind of picturesque labyrinthine lanes of which Instagram dreams are made. Want more? Kampong Glam, Singapore’s buzzing Muslim district and bona fide foodie mecca, promises sticky peanut satay, traditional nasi padang and zingy lamb rendang that’s almost as delicious as the neighbourhoods edible-looking Peranakan shop fronts in lime greens, mustard yellows and chili reds. The legendary Old Airport Road Food Centre is a short cab ride from Changi Airport and offers more of the same, with a dizzying array of street food stalls all condensed under one unspeakably tempting roof. Nighttime Singapore Stopover Highlights Staying overnight? Singapore’s flurry of fun nighttime activities will have no trouble enticing you away from an evening spent flicking through cable channels at your airport hotel. Hawker centers like the aforementioned Old Airport Road are great places to wander, soak up the vivid Singaporean culture, take memorable snaps and stuff yourself silly. There are over 100 of these spread out right across the city, meaning whichever part of town you visit you’re never far from a delicious (and surprisingly affordable) feast. Feasts of the visual variety are free to enjoy back down in Marina Bay, where nightly light-and-sound shows are held at both Supertree Grove and in front of Marina Bay Sands. The resort’s Spectra spectacular combines dancing fountains with huge visual projections, mist effects and lasers, backed by a booming orchestral soundtrack. Watch both shows from the SkyPark, 57 floors up, or catch a ride on the Singapore Flyer for sensational nighttime views of the sparkling city skyline. Animal lovers can even take a night safari inside the world’s first park dedicated solely to nocturnal beasts. Meet a cavalcade of crepuscular creatures from the Asian tropics and African savannah, including oddball favorites like fishing cats, slow lorises, giant anteaters and barking deer. Save on attractions and activities in Singapore Save on admission to Singapore attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
SkyHelix
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