Singapore Tour of Museums
I’d like to share another good walking tour, this time focused on Museums. As visiting a Museum would take time, I believe 2 to 3 Museums in a day would be enough so as content would be properly absorbed. Singapore is endowed with a couple of really good museums, expected of any major tourist destination and from a nation fully supported of arts and culture most specially Singapore which is a melting pot of various cultures harmoniously living and working together.
We can start the day with a visit to the Singapore Art Museum(SAM), then cross the street behind the Singapore Management University is the National Museum, if you still have time, walk to the left, cross the Fort Canning tunnel and end the day with a visit to the Peranakan Museum.
To get to the Singapore Art Museum, take the MRT, make your way to the Circle Line(Yellow) and alight at the Bras Basah MRT station. Follow the signs to the exit nearest Singapore Art Museum. The National Museum is just across SAM. Just cross the street and your there. Do make sure to be early as you will need a lot of time to fully absorb the interactive sights and sounds experience on the history of Singapore at the National Museum. Both Museums have a open/free to all schedule but these are after 5pm on a specific day or on International Museum Day and other events, check out their websites for more information. If you still have time after that, head towards your right and cross the Fort Canning Tunnel, a couple of meters and you will be at the Peranakan Museum. After that, you can head towards the SMRT Headquarters and across that will be Raffles City and the City Hall MRT station below.
Also on this area is the St. Joseph’s Cathedral and across that is Chijmes. These are beside SAM. Across Raffles City is St. Andrews, City Hall and the Padang. If you want a good view of the City, you can also go exit from the back of the National Museum or take the escalator on the outside left of the building towards Fort Canning Park, this fort also has much history and a good walking experience, I’d say a late afternoon to early night would be a good time to visit. The Battle Box on Fort Canning is also a good adventure, the World War 2 headquarters of for the defence of Singapore, a networked underground structure used by the British and Malayan forces.
The next day, you can head on to the Peranakan Museum and a couple of meters on it’s left side is the National Archives and the Singapore Philatelic Museum. A good couple of hours can be wasted on those two. After which, head on down towards the Fire Station to their Civil Defence Heritag Gallery inside the Central Fire Station. You can then head on down towards the river and Clarke Quay, follow it down stream passing by the Parliament, Boat Quay and then Asian Civilizations Museum. Also on this site is the landing site of Sir Stamford Raffles and Cavenagh Bridge. Across the bridge is the Fullerton Hotel and on the mouth of the river is the Merlion and Esplanade. The Asian Civilizations will take half a day to digest and on your way home, you can pass through the back towards City Hall and the Padang, which are sights to behold themselves and take the train on the City Hall MRT station.