Step into the orchid at Marina Reservoir
You are standing at the water's edge along the Marina Reservoir, looking up at tree-shaped towers with living skin. This is Gardens by the Bay, an urban park of 105 hectares in Singapore's Central Region, and it began with an ambition: to shift the country from "Garden City" to "City in a Garden," first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the 2005 National Day Rally. The park is made up of three waterfront gardens — Bay South, Bay East and Bay Central — and the largest, Bay South, opened to the public on 29 June 2012. Its master plan by Grant Associates takes its cue from an orchid, Singapore's national flower, the Vanda 'Miss Joaquim': the conservatories take root at the waterfront, paths and linkways run like shoots, and theme gardens and Supertrees bloom at the intersections. You come here to walk inside that idea.
Walk beneath the Supertrees and into the Cloud Mountain
The Supertrees are what you will see first: 18 tree-like structures between 25 and 50 metres tall, conceived by Grant Associates with Atelier One and Atelier Ten. They are vertical gardens, planted with ferns, vines, orchids and a large collection of bromeliads, and they work like trees too — photovoltaic cells harvest solar energy, rainwater is collected for irrigation and fountain displays, and the structures serve as air intake and exhaust for the conservatories' cooling systems. Between two of the larger Supertrees runs the OCBC Skyway, an elevated walkway with a panoramic view over the gardens.
Then go inside. The conservatory complex holds two cooled glasshouses along the reservoir edge. The Flower Dome replicates a cool-dry Mediterranean climate and is the world's largest columnless glasshouse; inside, a changing flower field hosts six to eight horticulturally themed shows a year — dahlias, cherry blossoms, tulips, roses, poinsettias — alongside eight other themed gardens, from The Baobabs and the Succulent Garden to the Australian, South African, South American, Olive Grove, California and Mediterranean gardens. Look also for the sculptures: 40 driftwood animals by James Doran-Webb, Bruno Catalano's La Famille De Voyageurs and Yayoi Kusama's Kei-Chan.
The Cloud Forest is the other half of the pair, a cool-moist tropical mountain environment. You take the elevator to the top of the 42-metre Cloud Mountain — a structure clad entirely in orchids, ferns, spikemosses, clubmosses, bromeliads and anthuriums — and descend by a circular path that crosses beneath the 35-metre waterfall several times. Each level has its own theme: The Lost World, The Cavern, The Waterfall View, The Crystal Mountain, the Cloud Forest Gallery, the Cloud Forest Theatre and The Secret Garden. Among the sculptures is a Māori kūwaha (meeting house) presented to Singapore by New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in April 2022, carved by master carvers from the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute.
Time your visit around the light and the glass
The gardens are large and sprawling, so give yourself a half-day, or at minimum a few hours. Pick up a complimentary map at the visitor information centre, or a self-guided trail map from the gift shop if you want a route. Wheelchairs and strollers can be rented, and a shuttle service runs through the site — free for wheelchair users, with unlimited rides for others.
The conservatories are your all-weather refuge: both are very large, around a hectare each, and the Flower Dome's changing displays shift with the seasons and festivals, so what is in bloom depends on when you come. Leave the Supertree Grove for the evening, when the Garden Rhapsody light-and-music show runs twice nightly, and the music programme changes every month or so, with themes such as "A World of Wonder" and "A Night of Musical Theatre." For a higher view, the Supertree Observatory sits inside the tallest Supertree at 50 metres, with an Observatory Space and an Open-Air Rooftop Deck reached by elevator and a flight of stairs. Photographers tend to gravitate to the Supertree Grove and the Cloud Forest; plan your day so you see both with time to spare.
Walk the waterfront to Bay East
Bay Central Garden links Bay South to Bay East with a 3-kilometre waterfront promenade running from the city centre eastward — a scenic walk rather than a sight. Bay East Garden, 32 hectares with a 2-kilometre promenade along the Marina Reservoir, is designed as a series of large tropical leaf-shaped gardens, each with its own landscaping and theme, and it gives you an unobstructed view of the city skyline. It was designated in 2018 as the future site of the Founders' Memorial, and it closed in 2023 for a major redevelopment to open in tandem with the memorial, so check before you plan a walk there.
What else is close by
The gardens sit in the Marina district, and Marina Bay Sands is right behind them — an easy onward stop if you are extending your day around the bay.
Start with a map, a half-day and a pair of comfortable shoes, and plan your evening around the Supertree Grove. The gardens reward the visitor who stays past sunset.