[Poughkeepsie]

Hit me with everything I need to know about an awesome family holiday to Singapore....accommodation, sights, meals.
Much appreciated as am confused by google results!

[Fabulous]

I love Singapore. We took our kids there in 2011 for a week and our favourite places were the zoo, Universal studios and the Botanical gardens. Accomodation is quite expensive, we stayed at the Intercontinental. Food is pretty cheap.

[2bundles]

We just got back from 5 night there. We did Universal Studios, new aquarium, Sentosa water park, Legoland, Gardens by the bay, massages in Chinatown, and some time by the pool.

Singapore is not particularly cheap. You can eat cheaply if you eat at hawker centres otherwise meals were close to Aus prices. Taxis are cheap.

We stayed at Sentosa Island, but we had been to Singapore before so this time mostly wanted to just do theme park stuff. It was ok, but we wouldn't do it again.

Marina bay sands is amazing if the budget stretches that far, although the bedding setup is not great for kids.

[Poughkeepsie]

Thanks for the replies. I have heard good things about staying on Sentosa, but wondered if it was necessary or if it was a better option to stay elsewhere and travel across. I haven't been in 20 years so am sure things have changed massively!
Any more ideas most welcomed

[baddmammajamma]

Former Singapore resident here.

The above suggestions are great. My favourite spot in Singapore is the Botanic Gardens -- but the zoo, Universal Studios, Sentosa Water park & aquarium are all fabulous fun, too. Depending on the ages on your kids, they might enjoy strolling around Chinatown or Little India (Mustafa Department store is a real treat). http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/trave...afa-centre.html

The Jurong Bird Park is also very cool: http://www.birdpark.com.sg/, and the Zoo's night safari is awesome: http://www.nightsafari.com.sg/

Singapore is a great place for a family trip! How old are your kids?

Re accommodation...because cabs are so reasonable & because the MRT is so clean/cheap, if you are looking to save money, that's a natural place to cut back. All you need are decent rooms, a decent pool & access to transport.

[baddmammajamma]

Former Singapore resident here.

The above suggestions are great. My favourite spot in Singapore is the Botanic Gardens -- but the zoo, Universal Studios, Sentosa Water park & aquarium are all fabulous fun, too. Depending on the ages on your kids, they might enjoy strolling around Chinatown or Little India (Mustafa Department store is a real treat). http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/trave...afa-centre.html

The Jurong Bird Park is also very cool: http://www.birdpark.com.sg/, and the Zoo's night safari is awesome: http://www.nightsafari.com.sg/

Singapore is a great place for a family trip! How old are your kids?

Re accommodation...because cabs are so reasonable & because the MRT is so clean/cheap, if you are looking to save money, that's a natural place to cut back. All you need are decent rooms, a decent pool & access to transport.

[~Tranquillity~]

We're also planning a family trip to Singapore in the July school holidays, with 2 kids aged 7 and 5.

Badmammajamma, is it worth staying on Sentosa Island or just visit for a day? And would you recommend any of the nearby resort islands for a stay (Bintan and Tioman have been mentioned to us).

My head is being done in by reading Tripadvisor reviews of hotels- no matter which hotel it is or how many stars there will be multiple reviews stating do not stay in this hotel- it was horrendous and was dirty, smelled bad etc etc !!

[runnybabbit]

I'm from Singapore but have lived in Australia for 10 years, although I've been back for a visit at least once every two years.

The ZOO! Not just the day zoo (which has an awesome water park, too -- don't go there with the kids until you've seen all the animals that you want to see, as it's quite possible that they won't want to leave the water play ground -- and bring bathers for everyone), but the Night Safari as well. There's also the new River Safari, which has PANDAS! I adore pandas. It only opened last year. So that's three aspects of the zoo right there. With the Night Safari, definitely pay the extra to get the tram rides, as some trails are only open to the trams and you won't get to see certain animals if you're only on foot.

Food. It's fantastic for a wide variety. Get to Crystal Jade for some fantastic dim sum (especially the Shanghai pork soupy dumplings, also known as xiao long bao). Hawker centres are also great for cheaper fare, although if you're Caucasian you will likely be borderline harassed by hawkers to buy their food -- just say no politely and keep going.

If you're walking down Orchard Road, you'll see some old men selling ice creams from their push cart -- usually $1 for a big wedge of ice cream stuffed in some rainbow bread, and it's delicious in the tropical heat.

If you want to splash out on accommodation, we stayed at Treetops apartments two years ago and they were fantastic, great location. Nice to have an apartment rather than just a hotel room, too.

And yes, taxis are cheap, but it can be a bit of a wait to get one if it's a rainy day, etc.

I'm personally not a fan of Sentosa because I think it's overall a little contrived (imported sand and all) but some people love it. I haven't been to any of the integrated resorts, either, but it's supposed to be great. If you google "National Parks Singapore" I think there's also a treetop walk (free) at one of the nature reserves, which I've been dying to do.

Singapore is fantastic, wish it was cheaper. We're going in May and I can't wait. My then two-year-old's head is going to explode when he goes to the zoo!

[2bundles]

With Sentosa - only stay there if you plan on doing multiple theme parks there. Otherwise don't bother.

We stayed at the Festive Hotel. It was ok, but very overpriced.

We found it hard to find accom that would take 2 adults and 2 kids.

[Hufflepuff]

We are going next year. Going to stay at the Swissotel. They take 4 in one room & seem to be in a good spot.

Hope to do the Zoo, Hawker Markets & lots of shopping!!!!