{"id":913,"date":"2017-04-26T01:15:27","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T01:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/singapore-family-holidays-6-reasons-why-singapore-should-be-on-your-list\/"},"modified":"2022-08-08T23:24:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T23:24:02","slug":"singapore-family-holidays-6-reasons-why-singapore-should-be-on-your-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/singapore-family-holidays-6-reasons-why-singapore-should-be-on-your-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Singapore Family Holidays: 6 Reasons Why Singapore Should Be On Your List"},"content":{"rendered":"

Expedia Expert Al and his family\u00a0head to Singapore for a family holiday…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Singapore. Everyone has heard of it, most know it as one of Asia\u2019s massive financial hubs, as a spot for stopovers and business trips. .But I suspect most wouldn\u2019t have considered it as being a family friendly holiday destination.<\/p>\n

That all changed after I recently visited Singapore for a few days with my wife Claire and two children Hugo (8, nearly 9 if you ask him) and Evie (6). I\u2019d now wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for an amazing family holiday!<\/p>\n

Why? Let me tell you. Here are six reasons I think you should take your family to Singapore and why you\u2019re going to love it as much as I did.<\/p>\n

Reason 1: It\u2019s closer than you think<\/h2>\n

From Darwin and Perth you can hop on a plane and be touching down in as little as 4 hours 30 minutes and 5 hours 30 minutes respectively. If you\u2019re living down the east coast of Australia, major cities Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide can reach Changi Airport between 7 hours 30 minutes and 8 hours 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

Right now you\u2019re probably thinking that 7 or 8 hours on a plane with children is hard work, honestly it isn\u2019t that hard. We left Brisbane mid morning, it was Hugo and Evie\u2019s first time on a plane, so they were super excited about everything. In no time at all, they settled in with a movie or three, some music, a little gaming action on an iPad and before they knew it, we were landing late afternoon local time.<\/p>\n

Returning home, we left in the evening at 9PM local time so both Hugo and Evie were tired, not only because it was well after their normal bedtime but we\u2019d had a full week of fun activities in Singapore. Within half an hour of taking off, both of them were snuggling down for a sleep and probably made it three quarters of the way home before they woke up, landing at breakfast time in Brisbane \u2013 a cinch!<\/p>\n

TIP: Air Sickness<\/strong>
\nMake sure you have and use air sickness tablets with your children. We had them but didn\u2019t use them as Hugo is normally fine with motion sickness. We thought we were in the clear, but the flight got bumpy and then the motion sickness started \u2013 it was too late! As a precautionary measure, grab a couple air sickness bags when you leave the plane \u2013 just in case!<\/p>\n

Reason 2: Good weather nearly year round<\/h2>\n

As Singapore is situated very close to the equator, the weather is pretty stable all year round. You can expect temperatures between 25c and 30c most of the year. Unless you\u2019re living in North Queensland, you\u2019ll definitely notice the increase in humidity as it sits over 70% most of the time.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re into the outdoors, you probably want to steer clear of late October through January as they are the wet season months where rainfall increases from around 150mm per month to over 250mm or an average of 25 days per month are wet in some way.<\/p>\n

TIP: Keep Hydrated<\/strong>
\nThe all year warm weather and much higher humidity that most are accustomed means it\u2019s important to stay hydrated. We stayed at the Swissotel Merchant Court<\/a> and they were happy to provide us bottles and bottles of cold drinking water each time we left the hotel \u2013 you just need to ask!<\/p>\n

Reason 3: Everything is close by<\/h2>\n

Singapore as a country has approximately the same sized land area as the Gold Coast, but with a population of around 5.5 million. The relatively small land area and higher population means Singapore delivers great public transport \u2013 there are a lot of different train lines, plenty of buses and the taxis are cheap as well.<\/p>\n

While visiting Singapore, I was expecting to see huge volumes of traffic and congestion similar to Australia\u2019s capital cities. I was pleasantly surprised. It turns out motor vehicles are extremely expensive. How expensive you ask, a VW Polo could set you back north of SG$85,000 (which is approximately the same dollar value in Australian dollars!) wowzer!<\/p>\n

In the week we visited Singapore, we tracked across most corners of the city and I don\u2019t think it took more than 20 minutes to get anywhere \u2013 heavenly compared to Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne traffic!<\/p>\n

Reason 4: Lots of great food<\/h2>\n

Singapore is a melting pot of cultures, so like most developed cities you can eat virtually all cuisines without having to travel too far for it. In our time in Singapore, we ate outstanding food for dinner and visited China Town for what might be the best Asian food I\u2019ve ever eaten.<\/p>\n

Most of the food we ate was western cuisine, as Hugo and Evie aren\u2019t that adventurous from a food stand point (the battle continues, hah!). Despite that, we landed at some exquisite cafes and restaurants. One morning we ate at Common Man Coffee Roasters<\/a> and without a doubt, had the best pancakes I\u2019ve ever eaten. Don\u2019t believe me, check out this description and see if it changes your mind:<\/p>\n

Common Man Fluffy Pancakes with caramelised bananas & walnuts, salted caramel sauce, nutty crumble & berry coulis:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A post shared by Alistair Lattimore (@alistairlattimore)<\/a> on