Almost in the center of the modern metropolis there is a green oasis - Singapore Botanic Garden And national orchid garden on its territory. I’ve already talked about two huge ones next to the popular one, and today I’ll tell you about the botanical garden and the orchid garden in Singapore. Read about the main attractions of Singapore, and about optimal routes around the city.
Singapore Botanic Garden - a green oasis almost in the center of the metropolis
The Singapore Botanic Garden is simply huge, covering an area of about 70 hectares. The garden is more than 150 years old and not so long ago, in 2015, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Singapore Botanic Garden has been included in the UNESCO list since July 2015 On the huge well-groomed territory you can see a tropical forest, a palm alley, a ginger garden, a beautiful orchid garden, and many other types of plants. If you set out to explore all the corners of this truly huge botanical garden, it may take five hours, and for those who are especially curious, all day. We did not set out to visit all possible exhibits of the botanical garden in Singapore, our goal was to get to the orchid garden, so we ran through the botanical garden itself quite quickly :)
Local residents like to come to the botanical garden not only for walks, but also for jogging :) In most parts of the park, dogs are allowed to walk, and Singaporeans walk fashionable, expensive dogs here :) On Sunday, crowds of Filipinos and other Asian maids gather in the botanical garden for a picnic - Sunday at Their only day off a week.
Scheme map of a huge botanical garden 
Paths for walking and jogging 
Green glades 
Local residents love to come to the botanical garden for a walk 
On weekends, local residents come to relax in the garden 
Sunday picnic without barbecue :) 
Stage in the park, sometimes concerts are held here 
Orchid garden in Singapore
The Singapore Orchid Garden covers an area of about 3 hectares and is home to more than 1,000 different species of orchids and 2,000 orchid hybrids. This is the largest collection of orchids in the world.
The National Orchid Garden in the Botanic Garden is the pride of Singapore 
On Sunday, the entrance to the orchid garden is very crowded. If possible, it is better to choose a weekday to visit the garden The beauty in the orchid garden is simply indescribable! There are so many orchids here! Orchid bushes grow along the paths, but most of the flowers are in a special pavilion.
Orchids grow along the paths 
Tropical greenery and numerous flowers 
Arch of yellow orchids 
These yellow flowers are also a type of orchid. I've never seen these before... I had never even seen some types of orchids before, although we have repeatedly visited greenhouses and parks with orchids near, for example, a very large collection of these flowers in, and there is also something to admire!
In addition to the orchids, in the garden there is one very pleasant greenhouse, the temperature in which is just over 20 degrees - just what you need on a hot summer day :) Ferns and other mossy plants are grown in this greenhouse.
Look at the photo and enjoy!
Video from the orchid garden
Near the entrance to the orchid garden there is a large souvenir shop where you can buy interesting products - earrings or a neck pendant with an orchid flower.
The cost of earrings is from 30 SGD, the cost of a neck pendant is from 70 SGD.
Working hours
The Singapore Botanic Garden is open year-round and daily from 5 am to 12 midnight.
The National Orchid Garden Singapore is open from 8:30 am to 7:00 pm, with the ticket office closing at 6:00 pm.
Cost of visit
The Singapore Botanic Gardens are completely free to visit!
Cost of visiting the orchid garden: 5 SGD for adults, free for children under 12 years old!
Opening hours and cost of visiting the orchid gardens How to get to the Botanic and Orchid Gardens in Singapore
The Singapore Botanic Garden has several entrances/exits. If you decide to use metro(and the metro in Singapore is a super convenient and comfortable form of transport, I wrote in detail about the Singapore metro), then you need to get to the Botanic Gardens MRT station (yellow and blue lines), and then follow the signs straight to the entrance to the botanical garden.
Near the entrance to the garden is the Botanic Gardens MRT station From this Bukit Timah Gate to the orchid garden you will have to walk a little over a kilometer, 1.3 km to be exact. It's not a very pleasant walk in the heat...
There are 950 meters left to the orchid garden, we have already walked 350 meters! 🙂 If you are planning to visit only the National Orchid Garden in Singapore and have very little time, then I recommend using Taxi. Tell the taxi driver you want The National Orchid Garden and he will take you to Tyersall Gate, which is a much closer walk to the orchids than Bukit Timah Gate, which is near the metro.
conclusions
If you have very little time to explore Singapore, then you can skip the botanical and orchid gardens. If you have at least three days in Singapore and/or you really love flowers, then at least visit the Singapore Orchid Garden.
You will need:
- To explore the entire botanical garden and orchid garden – 6 hours
- To explore the orchid garden alone – an hour and a half
What I really love about Singapore is the Botanical Garden. Every time I come here, and every time I am surprised - how beautiful it is! Just imagine: 74 hectares of tropical greenery literally in the very center of Singapore. This is a place where you can wander for hours, looking at sculptures hidden in the bushes, or admiring Swan Lake, where fish, turtles and beautiful swan geese live.
The territory of the Botanical Garden is covered with a network of paths, walking along which is a pleasure (what’s especially nice is that cyclists are not allowed here):
The garden is more than 150 years old. This tree is very old, its branches hang over the water:
The swans were delivered to Singapore specially from Amsterdam:
A stage in the middle of the lake where concerts are held. But, alas, I never caught the concert:
Sculpture of a girl on a swing among giant water lilies:
Another girl on a swing:
Here's a girl on a bike:
By the way, I almost forgot to say that in addition to turtles and swans, monkeys and monitor lizards live in the Singapore Botanical Garden. I had never seen a monitor lizard swim before:
This is where I’ll probably end my short photo report. I hope you will have the opportunity and desire to visit this beautiful Botanical Garden in person :)
Background information about the Singapore Botanic Gardens:
- How to get there: Botanic Gardens metro station ()
- Schedule: daily from 5:00 to 00:00, Orchid Garden from 8:30 to 19:00
- Entrance: free to the Botanical Garden, free to the Orchid Garden: adults – S$5, children and people over 60 years old – free
- Official site(in English):
Singapore Botanic Garden- a large and well-kept park, which is located a little away from the center. In Singapore, all attractions and parks can be reached on your own. The Botanical Garden can be easily reached by metro from the center in 10-15 minutes.
In the photo we are not very happy, since we chose too hot a day for the gardens
Walk through the Botanic Gardens in Singapore
The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a public park. Local residents come here to walk their dogs, go jogging, sit with friends on the lawn, and take their children for a walk in the fresh air. Entrance to the garden is free.
This photo shows a garden with tropical plants, through which paths are laid
Where can I order a transfer from the airport?
We use the service - KiwiTaxi
We ordered a taxi online and paid by card. We were met at the airport with a sign with our name on it. We were taken to the hotel in a comfortable car. You've already talked about your experience In this article.
Singapore Botanic Gardens is quite large. It will take several hours to walk around it all slowly. We didn't have such a task. An hour and a half was enough, since it was hot and we had more interesting plans.
Hiding from the heat in a cave 
The botanical park has free drinking water from fountains. You can drink or fill a bottle
Evolution garden park
Singapore Botanic Gardens are divided into several thematic areas. We went to Evolution Garden. There are many plants, trees, flowers, including orchids. We noted that it is better to come to this park in the late afternoon or in cloudy weather. To soak in nature, and not droplets flowing down your body under your clothes
Photo of the path at the beginning of Evolution park 
What I remember most were these trees, but they turned out to be fake 
It looks natural in the photo, but the trees are made of concrete
The emergence of Singapore's main botanical garden is inextricably linked with the history of the emergence of the city-state itself. The founding father of Singapore and my fellow naturalist Stamford Raffles founded an experimental botanical garden back in 1822, but mainly agricultural crops were grown there: cloves, nutmeg, cocoa, fruits. After Raffles' death, the garden was closed, but in 1859 a new one was founded, based on ornamental plants.
The garden was built right in the primary equatorial forest, harmoniously intertwining the natural and the artificial. In the second half of the 20th century, botanical garden experts actively participated in the government program to transform Singapore into a garden city. And I think they succeeded: today Singapore is one of the cleanest and greenest cities in the world. The botanical garden itself covers an area of 74 hectares and is divided into several thematic sections. If you have little idea how much it is - 74 hectares, and even the fact that this botanical garden is almost twice the size of the Vatican doesn’t tell you anything, then it’s better to go in the morning - you’ll be out by lunchtime...
I visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens the day after arriving at Banana Lemon. First of all, of course, I wanted to go to, but the gloomy sky and drizzling rain made their own adjustments. I went to the botanical garden, hoping for good weather for photographing at the zoo in the following days.
I arrived by metro. I got off at the station of the same name, from which it’s a stone’s throw to the park. The weather in the morning left much to be desired, the sky was tightly wrapped in gray clouds and sometimes drizzled... Only the inhabitants of Eco Lake liked this situation.
It’s good that there are many gazebos and always plenty of opportunities to hide from the rain. As elsewhere in Singapore, the infrastructure in the park is excellent: comfortable asphalt paths,
signs,
drinking fountains,
toilets on every corner... The toilets are perfectly clean and tidy.
The thickets got close to the toilet.
Well, I’m heading to the main, in my opinion, exhibition – the garden of evolution. On the way I meet one of the shepherds. These birds don’t let you get close to them, they run fast – the photo shoot turned into an energetic morning exercise. It didn’t work out to take a photo from the front - the bird was constantly running away from me.
The flowers in the Fragrant Garden have not yet dried out after the rain - very beautiful!
They smell good too...
And here is the Evolution Garden - a place stylized to resemble the change of flora in the course of evolution.
Wonderful exhibition - I made a couple of circles to celebrate. I have already seen tree ferns, ancient genera of conifers and dipterocarpus in the mountainous regions of Flores and Sumatra, but here everything is collected in one place and planted according to funshui. It looks very believable and atmospheric.
Through Heliconia Walk
I’m approaching Symphony Lake.
What are we playing, Mr. Chopin?
I sit down on a bench to rest: the landscapes here are conducive to relaxation. One of the many here jumps up to me Malay aplonis. He picks up some fallen fruit and simultaneously looks at me with one eye.
Then to others...
After saying goodbye to the friendly starling, I walk towards the National Orchid Garden.
Entrance fee is 5 Singapore dollars. Since I was in strict economy mode and even in connection with this, Marina Bay Sands Mall decided to refuse to visit. In principle, you can climb over the fence, but somehow I was lazy - I’m getting old, I guess...
And orchids can be found in the public domain.
Not far from Symphonic Lake there is a track in a section of primary equatorial forest in the form of a plank path with barriers.
Boring. Is it somewhere in...
Next to the Ginger Garden there is a pond with huge water lilies. Yacanas are just not enough to complete the picture...
Another most charismatic place in the Singapore Botanic Garden is the Bandstand garden pavilion.
The Victorian-style gazebo and yellow-topped trees create the perfect backdrop for wedding photo shoots. I even wanted to get married urgently. What? The hand and heart are in place, the camera too... I looked around in hope, but did not find a worthy candidate for a marriage proposal in sight... Eh, it’s not fate - let’s move on.
Nearby is the Sun Garden with an exhibition of succulents.
Cool, cacti grow at the equator!
What doesn't grow here? A nerd (in the good sense of the word) will be shocked! Here, fellow botanists, is a clear example of cauliflory.
Plant anatomy can be studied here using live examples, and not from herbariums and pictures.
Overall a very nice place. With many interesting bonuses. For example, sculptures hidden in the most unexpected places...
Some of them are quite unusual.
But the most important thing, of course, is simply the opportunity to wander around a huge green oasis in the center of the metropolis.
Opening hours
The Singapore Botanic Gardens is open daily from 5am to 12pm. The entrance is free. The National Orchid Garden is open from 8:30 am to 7 pm, the ticket office closes an hour earlier. Ticket price: 5 Singapore dollars.
How to get there
The easiest way is the metro station of the same name.
By bus No. 7, 75, 77, 105, 106, 174, 174e you can approach the Singapore Botanic Garden from Napier Road.
By bus No. 48, 66, 67, 151, 153, 154, 156, 170, 171, 186 from Bukit Timah Road.
You can also walk from the popular Orchard shopping street following the signs.
To visit Singapore in transit for up to 96 hours, you do not need a visa, but if you plan to stay there for more than 4 days, you will need to apply for a visa. Easier, faster and cheaper than anything else
With a visa, you can travel to Singapore quickly and comfortably.
Flights to Singapore can be found for less than 30 thousand rubles all year round.
Where to live
In Singapore you can go shopping at Marina Bay Mall. If this option doesn't suit you, Singapore offers a wide range of accommodation options. But there is one thing... EXPENSIVE!
All available accommodation in banana-lemon is presented on the Internet. And often booking a guesthouse, hostel or hotel is easier and cheaper than looking elsewhere.
.A great alternative to hotels, Airbnb, is doing great in Singapore! By the way, if you are not yet registered in this super useful system, then by following my link during registration you will receive a gift bonus of $20, which can be used when booking your first accommodation. A great gift in a couple of clicks!
.Another service that allows you to book accommodation in the private sector is. Several thousand offers of a wide variety of housing are available through homeway. And the price tag for a separate room starts from 1000 rubles! On the other hand, there are also elite multi-room apartments in central skyscrapers for up to 100 thousand rubles per day!
