It felt like I suddenly landed on a different planet. A mix of the living green straight from the jungle and the gigantic man-made sculptures, called Supertrees, towering over my head. Gardens by the Bay in Singapore is a place, that you can’t just go past.
Singapore – Garden city or a city in a Garden?
I really tried to squeeze a lot into my Singapore in 24 hours trip. There is so much to see and do in Singapore. However, among all the places worth visiting – one definitely stands out. Gardens by the Bay, the large public garden situated near the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore, is a place that you can’t miss.
Walk through kilometres of the windy paths, admire the green exotic plants and colourful flowers, watch the night light and sound show and access two huge cooled conservatories – the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest.
The Singaporean government has a new strategy to transform Singapore from a Garden City to the City in a Garden. The idea is to enhance the natural environment and the greenery even more in order to improve the quality of life. The Gardens by the Bay fall perfectly in that vision, providing the environmentally friendly technology in the development.
Gardens by the Bay
Gardens by the Bay, cover 101 hectares (!) and consist of three parts – the main Bay South, opened in 2012, Bay East and Bay Central, which are still under construction. I can’t even imagine how it will all look when finished, yay.
The entrance to the Gardens is free. However, some parts of it, such as OCBC Skywalk, Cloud Forest or Flower Dome are ticketed. It’s totally worth to enter to all of them though and experience everything that the place has to offer. Just remember – you would probably need the whole day! I definitely didn’t have enough time for everything, so I was running from one place to another. And then I spent at least two hours around the Supertree Grove watching the magical night show.
Bay South
Bay South is the largest part of the Gardens, covering 54 hectares. Did you know that it was designed by the landscape architecture firm based in the UK? It’s a true connection between East and West : )
Bay South is where my favourite Supertrees are located. It’s divided into the Outdoor Gardens, open to the public with Supertree Grove, Sun Pavillion, Heritage Gardens, World of Plants and Dragonfly and Kingfisher Lakes. There are also Flower Dome, Cloud Forest and OCBC Skyway connecting supertrees together.
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Supertrees
The tall, tree-like sculptures covered with living plants and flowers made the biggest impression on me. You can find 18 of them in the whole gardens, with the biggest ones located in the Supertree Grove in the park centre. They tower over your head with a height ranging from 25 to 50 meters. The inspiration for the structures comes from the emergent trees in the rainforest. With their environmentally sustainable features, they mimic the ecological functions of actual trees and support the living skin of plants. How cool is that?!
It’s worth to see them both during a day and at night, especially for the light & sound show happening in the Supertree Grove. I first watched it from the Skyway, looking at the trees slowly coming to life, sparkling with colours and moving gently with the music. It was such a beautiful experience, that I stayed until the next show an hour later and watched it again from the bottom of the trees. The evening was warm and many people brought their picnics along watching the show from the grass. Such a great way of spending a night out.
OCBC Skyway
The OCBC Skyway is an aerial walkway linking some of the Supertrees in the Gardens. From the top, you’ll have an amazing view of the Gardens, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Wheel and the whole city around. The Skyway is located 22 meters above the ground and especially in the evening there can be quite a long queue to go up. There is a limited number of people, who can stay on the top at once, therefore sometimes you would need a bit of patience before getting there. Definitely worth it though and the best place for the aerial pictures. If you want to avoid the most popular hours, go during the day or generally before 6 pm.
Cooled Conservatories in the Gardens by the Bay
Two massive glass domes – Cloud Forest and Flower Dome offer a bit different climate (literally!). They replicate the cool-moist tropical region, a cool-dry climate of Mediterranean and semi-arid sub-tropical regions. On a hot day, it’s a perfect place to be.
The conservatories show the most threatened habitats on the planet. With the climate change and the human activities destroying the place for plants to grow, it’s an important topic to remember and it’s good to see all those plants inside the Gardens. Another cool thing is, that the cooling of the domes is very energy efficient and was built using sustainable and environmentally friendly engineering.
Cloud Forest
You literally feel like coming into the cloud when entering the Cloud Forest. It’s humid and cool, so you can feel the water drops hanging in the air. At the entrance, you will be greeted by huge waterfall falling off the massive rock. It’s hard to believe this was all man-made, and it’s actually inside the building. On top of the dome, there is a staircase, that allows you to have a great view of the forest, the waterfall and everything below. Unfortunately, when I was visiting the queue was too long and I didn’t have time to waste it waiting, so I skipped it. Let me know your experience if you manage to go up there! 😉
Flower Dome
Full of different types of flowers and plants, the Flower Dome also has seasonal exhibitions. During my visit, the Flower Dome has been transferred into an Autumn Garden with shiny orange pumpkins all around. Next to it, there is also an area with my favourite baobab trees from Madagascar.
Themed Gardens and a lake
Apart from those main places above, the Gardens also have many other smaller features worth visiting. The Horticultural Themed gardens, the Children’s Garden, the Sun Pavilion, the Canyon and Dragonfly and Kingfisher Lakes, are all full of colours, sounds and interesting plants.
There’s so much to see and discover in the Gardens by the Bay, both during the day and at night, for a person of every age. That’s a place, where the nature blends into the city and the city becomes a part of nature. It all falls into a place when the environment is supported and the people’s lives enriched with its beauty. I wish that every city would put more emphasis on the greenery. To sum up: visiting Gardens by the Bay during your stay in Singapore is a must!
Useful information
Gardens by the Bay admission ticket prices and opening hours
Outdoor gardens
Entrance free.
Open every day from 5am-2am.
The access to the Supertree Grove is also free, as well as the light & sound night show. The show timing is every day at 7:45m and 8:45 pm.
OCBC Skyway, Cloud Forest, Flower Dome
Ticketed – Skyway $8 SGD, two conservatories $28 SGD. Local residents get discounts.
Opened daily 9am-9pm.
Cloud forest misting time – 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00
Where to stay in Singapore?
Have you been to Gardens by the Bay? What did you like the most? If you are going and have questions – let me know in the comments!
Disclaimer: I was a guest of Gardens by the Bay, but, as always, all the opinions are my own.
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I would love to visit Singapore <3
Carmelatte
I hope you will manage to get there soon 🙂
I was here earlier this year and LOVED it. Gardens by the Bay is so pretty! I literally was there all day haha. I would love to go back, Singapore is such a cool city!
Yeah, that’s so true 🙂 I could spend the whole day in Gardens by the Bay easily – such a cool place 🙂
I am in absolute awe of the Gardens by the Bay! The super trees and the cloud gardens are too beautiful for words! Great post!!
They really are 🙂 Thank you!