Orchard Road walking tour & city guide

The boulevard

Malls like ION Orchard, with its futuristic facade, and Ngee Ann City line the road. Emerald Hill, a quiet street of preserved Peranakan terrace houses, is a step back in time. In December, the whole street is decorated with Christmas lights.

Botanic Gardens

The Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, have a rainforest, lakes and the National Orchid Garden, with more than 1,000 species of orchids.

Beyond the shopping

Orchard Road began as a road lined with nutmeg and pepper plantations, and it is now Singapore's most famous shopping street, with dozens of malls under a canopy of trees. ION Orchard and Ngee Ann City are among the biggest, and many malls have food courts in their basements serving everything from local hawker dishes to Japanese food.

Just off the main road, Emerald Hill has beautiful Peranakan terrace houses, now home to bars. A short walk west leads to the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO site, where the National Orchid Garden displays more than a thousand species. At Christmas, the whole of Orchard Road is lit up with decorations.