Cloud forests, indoor waterfalls, brutalist architecture, strong coffee, plentiful delicious street food, rooftop gardens, and modernist hotels. What’s not to love about spending a day in Singapore? Here’s a look at our top recommendations for a day spent in the urban city-state, cloud forest explanation included.


Photography: Salt in Our Hair


Must See: The Cloud Forest

There’s a cloud forest in Singapore. “What the what,” you say. We’ll explain. At Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, there’s a towering conservatory on the edge of the bay with tons of living walls and plants of all shapes and sizes. There’s a galley where you can walk up along beside the living walls until you reach the top of the conservatory, where misty clouds hover in the atmosphere above and an indoor waterfall flows along the plants below.


Photography: Salt in Our Hair | _tiisa_ | Dane Broughton


But First, Coffee.

No busy day of touristing is complete without a stop for fuel. When in Singapore, we head to Punch for a hit of caffeine and a stack of earl grey tea infused pancakes with poached pear. A visit to this stunner of a coffee haunt always kicks the day into high speed.


Photography: heydavina | n.eighborhood | Alvina Atmadja | Punch


Where to Rest 

Skylights, patios, gardens and big bathtubs make the slumber spaces at Lloyd’s Inn feel almost as cozy as home. In a city that’s known more for its creative incorporation of greenery and green spaces than for its wide open parks or tree-lined streets, the nature-meets-city approach to design here is palpable in the ivy that crawls along concrete walls and small surprise gardens throughout the hotel. Minimalist with a hint of overgrown greenery makes this spot right up our travel alley.


Photography: heydavina | Lloyd's Inn | Rebecca Toh