Central Region
Museums, temples, heritage quarters and the Southern Ridges hill parks
The Central Region of Singapore is the largest of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's five planning regions by number of planning areas, with 22, including the Downtown Core, Orchard, Rochor, Outram, Bukit Merah, Queenstown, Tanglin and the Southern Islands, which take in Sentosa. It holds most of the island's national museums and its oldest temples, mosques and conserved districts: Chinatown, Little India, Kampong Gelam and Katong.
Beyond the city centre, the region includes the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015, and the Southern Ridges, about 10 km of linked hill parks from Mount Faber to Kent Ridge Park, where the stairs and slopes make a useful practice walk before a trek. Thekchen Choling in Little India is a Tibetan Buddhist temple named after the Dalai Lama's monastery.
Categories
Points of Interest
66 places
Attraction
Marina Bay Sands
Three hotel towers joined by a rooftop SkyPark some 200 metres above Marina Bay
Natural Wonder
Gardens by the Bay
Free outdoor gardens and Supertrees, with ticketed cooled conservatories
Attraction
Merlion Park
The 8.6 metre Merlion statue spouting water into Marina Bay
Museum
ArtScience Museum
Moshe Safdie's lotus-shaped museum of art, science and technology
Attraction
Esplanade Theatres on the Bay
Singapore's performing arts centre under two spiky domes on Marina Bay
Viewpoint
Singapore Flyer
A 165 metre observation wheel with 30 minute rides over Marina Bay
Museum
National Gallery Singapore
Modern Singapore and Southeast Asian art in the old City Hall and Supreme Court
Museum
National Museum of Singapore
Singapore's oldest museum, with a history gallery reopened in October 2026
Museum
Asian Civilisations Museum
Pan-Asian art and the Tang Shipwreck in a riverside colonial building
Museum
Peranakan Museum
Peranakan culture in the former Tao Nan School on Armenian Street
Natural Wonder
Fort Canning Park
Hilltop park of nine historical gardens, a colonial Fort Gate and a WWII bunker
Attraction
Raffles Hotel
The 1887 colonial hotel on Beach Road, home of the Long Bar
Attraction
Clarke Quay
Conserved riverside godowns holding restaurants, bars and clubs
Attraction
Boat Quay
Restored shophouses on the south bank of the Singapore River
Attraction
Chinatown
Singapore's largest conserved historic district, south of the river
Temple / Religious Site
Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
Tang dynasty style Buddhist temple and museum on South Bridge Road
Temple / Religious Site
Sri Mariamman Temple
Singapore's oldest Hindu temple, on South Bridge Road since 1827
Temple / Religious Site
Thian Hock Keng Temple
Hokkien temple to the sea goddess Mazu on Telok Ayer Street, built 1839 to 1842
Restaurant / Café
Maxwell Food Centre
NEA hawker centre on the edge of Chinatown, on a market site from 1928
Attraction
Little India
Historic heart of Singapore's Indian community along Serangoon Road
Temple / Religious Site
Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple
Temple to the goddess Kali on Serangoon Road, with roots in an 1855 shrine
Temple / Religious Site
Thekchen Choling
Tibetan Buddhist temple at Beatty Lane, named after the Dalai Lama's monastery
Temple / Religious Site
Sultan Mosque
Golden-domed mosque of Kampong Gelam, completed in 1932
Market / Shopping
Haji Lane
Narrow Kampong Gelam lane of shophouse boutiques, bars and murals
Market / Shopping
Orchard Road
Singapore's main shopping street, once a lane of nutmeg plantations
Restaurant / Café
Lau Pa Sat
Hawker centre in an 1894 cast-iron market hall, a national monument
Attraction
Tiong Bahru
Conserved 1930s Art Deco housing estate with a heritage trail and market
Attraction
Dempsey Hill
Dining enclave in the 1860s Tanglin Barracks, built on a nutmeg estate
Natural Wonder
Singapore Botanic Gardens
82-hectare garden founded in 1859, Singapore's first UNESCO World Heritage Site
Temple / Religious Site
Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery
Buddhist monastery founded in 1921 on Bright Hill Road, Bishan
Natural Wonder
Southern Ridges
10 km of linked hill parks from Mount Faber to Kent Ridge
Natural Wonder
Mount Faber
106 m hill park above HarbourFront with the cable car to Sentosa
Attraction
Henderson Waves
Singapore's tallest pedestrian bridge, 36 m above Henderson Road
Natural Wonder
Kent Ridge Park
WWII battle site at the western end of the Southern Ridges
Natural Wonder
Labrador Nature Reserve
Coastal headland reserve with the mainland's only public rocky sea cliff
Attraction
Haw Par Villa
Tiger Balm brothers' folklore park, home to Hell's Museum
Attraction
Sentosa
500-hectare resort island off HarbourFront, free to enter on foot
Attraction
Universal Studios Singapore
Seven movie-themed zones at Resorts World Sentosa, including Minion Land
Attraction
Marina Barrage
PUB dam across Marina Channel with a 24-hour Green Roof facing the city
Attraction
Singapore Oceanarium
Formerly S.E.A. Aquarium, rebuilt as a 22-zone oceanarium on Sentosa
Natural Wonder
Siloso Beach
Sentosa's west-side beach, with lifeguards daily and bars into the night
Attraction
The Helix Bridge
280-metre DNA-shaped footbridge linking Marina Centre and Bayfront
Museum
Fort Siloso
Free WWII coastal fort and national monument at Sentosa's western tip
Attraction
Singapore River
The river that built the colonial port, crossed by bridges dating from 1869
Attraction
Katong & Joo Chiat
Conserved Peranakan shophouse district on Joo Chiat Road and East Coast Road
Attraction
The Padang
Historic open field of the Civic District, a national monument since 2022
Attraction
Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall
Twin colonial performance halls joined by a 54-metre clock tower
Natural Wonder
West Coast Park
50-hectare seaside park along West Coast Highway with a marsh garden and dog run
Temple / Religious Site
St Andrew's Cathedral
Singapore's oldest site of Anglican worship, beside City Hall MRT
Temple / Religious Site
Armenian Church
Singapore's oldest Christian church, consecrated in 1836 on Hill Street
Attraction
CHIJMES
Former convent school turned dining complex around a Gothic chapel
Attraction
The Istana
President's official residence, open to visitors only on Open House days
Temple / Religious Site
Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple
Vishnu temple on Serangoon Road where the Thaipusam procession begins
Temple / Religious Site
Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple
Guanyin temple on Waterloo Street, built in 1884
Temple / Religious Site
Sri Thendayuthapani Temple
Chettiar temple to Lord Murugan on Tank Road, where Thaipusam ends
Museum
Indian Heritage Centre
National Heritage Board museum of Singapore's Indian community, in Little India
Restaurant / Café
Tekka Centre
Little India's hawker centre and wet market on Buffalo Road
Market / Shopping
Mustafa Centre
24-hour department store on Syed Alwi Road in Little India
Museum
Chinatown Heritage Centre
Recreated 1950s shophouse homes in three Pagoda Street shophouses
Market / Shopping
Bugis Street
Covered street market of about 600 shops opposite Bugis Junction
Restaurant / Café
Geylang Serai Market
Malay market and food centre in a kampong-style building
Restaurant / Café
Newton Food Centre
Open-air hawker centre at Newton Circus, opened in 1971
Activity / Adventure
Singapore Cable Car
Harbour cable car linking Mount Faber, HarbourFront and Sentosa since 1974
Attraction
Kusu Island
Turtle Island, with a 1923 Tua Pek Kong temple and hilltop Malay keramat
Natural Wonder
Rail Corridor
A 24 km green trail on the old railway line, centred on Bukit Timah station
Museum
Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
NUS natural history museum with three sauropods and a sperm whale skeleton
Other Districts in Singapore
Stories from Central Region
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