Singapore's most famous attractions are famous for good reason — Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, and the Sentosa beaches are all genuinely extraordinary. But Singapore rewards curiosity beyond its headline acts. The city contains a last surviving kampong (traditional village) where roosters still crow at dawn, one of Asia's most eccentric theme parks built by the founders of Tiger Balm, a pristine offshore island accessible by a short ferry that most visitors never discover, and a neighbourhood of colonial black-and-white bungalows that feels like stepping into 1950s Malaya. These are the hidden gems — places that reveal a different Singapore, one that most tourists never find.

Book your flights to Singapore and plan time for discovery beyond the standard itinerary. Find a hotel in a neighbourhood that gives you a different perspective on the city.

Kampong Lorong Buangkok is the last remaining traditional Malay kampong (village) on Singapore's main island — a cluster of wooden houses on a plot of land surrounded by modern HDB housing estates in the north of the island. Chickens roam freely between the houses. Fruit trees grow in the gardens. Neighbours know each other and chat across the lane. While the rest of Singapore was demolishing its kampongs to build the public housing that transformed the country, this small community — on private land — survived. Walking through it is genuinely like stepping back fifty years. The contrast between the kampong and the HDB blocks visible over its fence is one of the most quietly dramatic juxtapositions in Singapore.

Getting there: Bus from Hougang MRT. The kampong is off Yio Chu Kang Road. Respect residents' privacy — this is a functioning home, not a tourist attraction.

Built in 1937 by the brothers who founded the Tiger Balm medicinal ointment brand, Haw Par Villa is an eccentric open-air theme park filled with over 1,000 statues and dioramas depicting scenes from Chinese mythology, folklore, and moral lessons. The centrepiece is the "Ten Courts of Hell" — a series of cave dioramas depicting in graphic detail the various punishments awaiting sinners in the afterlife, organised by crime and calibrated to the severity of the transgression. It is bizarre, genuinely fascinating, and like nothing else in Singapore. Free entry was restored in 2021, making it one of Singapore's most interesting free attractions.

Thirty minutes by ferry from Marina South Pier, Lazarus Island is the most pristine and least crowded beach in Singapore — turquoise water, powdery white sand, no commercial development, and on most days almost nobody. It is accessible via the Southern Islands ferry service that also serves St John's Island. There is no food, no water, and no shade infrastructure on the island — bring everything you need and be prepared for a genuinely remote beach experience that is extraordinary in its closeness to one of the world's great cities.

A former British military barracks dating from the 1930s, Gillman Barracks was converted into Singapore's contemporary art precinct in 2012. The colonial black-and-white bungalows that once housed British officers now contain experimental galleries, artist studios, and independent cafés in a leafy, genuinely atmospheric setting near Alexandra. It is one of the few places in Singapore where the colonial-era architecture is experienced in a slow, unhurried context — most visitors arrive specifically for the galleries and stay to walk the shaded streets between the bungalows.

A 15-minute bumboat ride from Changi Point Ferry Terminal (the boats depart when full rather than on a schedule — usually a short wait), Pulau Ubin is Singapore as it was before modernisation: a rustic island of cycling trails through secondary jungle, granite quarry lakes, mangrove forests, a traditional village, and wildlife including wild boars, hornbills, and otters. The Chek Jawa Wetlands on the island's east end is a 100-hectare area of intertidal wetlands accessible via a boardwalk. Pulau Ubin feels entirely different from the Singapore of Marina Bay and Orchard Road — it is one of the few remaining places in the country where development has been deliberately held back.

At the geographical centre of Singapore, MacRitchie Reservoir Park surrounds one of the city's main water reservoirs with 12 hectares of secondary rainforest and a network of walking trails. The headline attraction is the TreeTop Walk — a 250-metre free-standing suspension bridge at 25 metres above the forest floor, accessible via a 3-hour return hike through the jungle. Long-tailed macaques, monitor lizards, and flying lemurs are frequently spotted on the trails. One of the best places in Singapore to feel genuinely immersed in nature without leaving the island.

A hidden cluster of 1930s black-and-white colonial bungalows in the Queenstown area, Wessex Estate feels like a film set for a Somerset Maugham story. The estate houses art studios, a small community of artists and creatives, and the legendary Colbar Café — which has been serving simple Western food in its colonial-era setting since the 1950s. The café, with its time-warp décor and loyal local following, is one of the most atmospheric places in Singapore to have a beer on a weekday afternoon.

Discover more of Singapore's extraordinary depth with the best things to do across the city. Arrange an airport transfer from Changi. Check the latest Traveloka promos for deals, and plan your complete Singapore experience at Traveloka.