Singapore, City and Island

Four nights that split Singapore in two: the old colonial heart and its restaurants, then an island resort 10 minutes away. A private tour of a Peranakan home museum with its owner, the holding cells of the old Supreme Court, orchids named for heads of state, a hawker trail and a fast lap of the Formula One circuit, then time on Sentosa to do very little.

Length: Four nights
Pace: Two stays
Style: City, food, beach, short break
Route: Singapore to Sentosa Island
Best time: Open year-round

SingaporeTwo nights
Sentosa IslandTwo nights

An outdoor pool with blue mosaic tiles, lined with sun loungers and parasols, facing a white colonnaded pavilion. — Photo: Raffles Hotel Singapore

Days 1 to 3 · two nights

Singapore

Fast-track through immigration and a private car into town. A private tour of The Intan, a Peranakan home museum, with its owner and curator Alvin Yapp, and a morning at National Gallery Singapore, where the Building Highlights tour opens the old City Hall Chamber and the holding cells of the former Supreme Court. Early at the National Orchid Garden for the hybrids named after visiting heads of state, then a supercar drive on the Formula One street circuit, a private dinner in a capsule of the Singapore Flyer and a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar, where it was first mixed in 1915. A morning on Orchard Road with a personal shopper and an opera box can be arranged.

Where you stay

Raffles Singapore

Raffles Singapore opened on Beach Road in 1887 and is now a hotel of 115 suites, looked after by a personal butler service. The Singapore Sling was first mixed at its Long Bar in 1915, and the restaurants include 1887 by André, Tiffin Room and afternoon tea in The Grand Lobby.

A curved white sand beach fringed with tall palm trees and calm shallow water.

Days 3 to 5 · two nights

Sentosa Island

Ten minutes across to Sentosa for the spa, the pool, the beach and golf, with a superyacht charter if you would like to see the islands from the water. Capella's culturists arrange workshops with local craftsmen in The Living Room and a mahjong masterclass with a master. A transfer to Changi for the flight home.

Where you stay

Capella Singapore

Capella Singapore spreads over 30 acres of Sentosa Island, just over 10 minutes from the centre, where Norman Foster set new buildings around two restored colonial bungalows from the 1880s. There are 113 rooms, suites, villas and manors, three cascading pools, the Auriga spa and Cassia restaurant.

Arranged on request

The Intan with its owner

For Raffles guests, a private tour of The Intan, a Peranakan home museum, led by its owner and curator Alvin Yapp, with traditional Peranakan refreshments and a view of collections not otherwise shown.

The hawker trail

A self-guided three-hour trail through Singapore's multi-ethnic hawker food, drawn up for Raffles guests with Makansutra.

Mahjong with a master

At Capella, a mahjong masterclass, and workshops in The Living Room led by the hotel's culturists and local craftsmen.

The old Supreme Court holding cells

National Gallery Singapore's Building Highlights tour opens the City Hall Chamber and the holding cells of the former Supreme Court, Thursday to Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

Orchids named for heads of state

At the National Orchid Garden, the hybrids the Singapore Botanic Gardens names after visiting dignitaries as a gesture of friendship, Nelson Mandela and Pope Francis among them.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

A walk on the art side with a Capella culturist, into the city's local communities and heritage.
Dinner at 藝 yì by Jereme Leung at Raffles, a voyage around the regions of China.
A superyacht day among the southern islands.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.