20 Insane Photo Spots in Singapore

With such varied neighbourhoods and architectural designs Singapore is a photographer’s paradise. I’m here to make sure you don’t miss out on capturing this country’s finest wonders with my guide to the best photo spots in Singapore.

I absolutely loved my time in Singapore. Many only visit as part of a stop-over so only get a few hours, perhaps 24 at best, to explore one of the most unique countries in the world. We spent three nights (including one at the epic Marina Bay Sands Hotel) here and managed to chalk off most of the main attractions with time to wander off the beaten track and explore at our leisure with camera in hand.

As a photographer you’ll be spoilt for choice; there’s no end of great photography opportunities whether you’re looking to capture the quirks of daily life for the locals, architectural masterpieces, iconic hawker markets, cool back streets or epic backdrops for selfies.

However long you’re spending in Singapore, as long as you have your camera ready, this guide will showcase the most insane photo spots in Singapore.

THE MOST INSANE PHOTO SPOTS IN SINGAPORE

MARINA BAY SANDS

The most iconic and instantly recognisable of all of Singapore’s architectural wonders, Marina Bay Sands is an obvious choice for one of Singapore’s best photography locations.

Whether you’re on the ground looking up, marvelling at the three 55-storey curved towers connected by an elevated platform or in the infinity pool gazing out over Singapore’s city skyline, there are no bad angles here. You’ll have to be a hotel guest to gain access to the famed infinity pool (yes, I splurged to stay at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel) though you can visit the Skypark just along the platform for equally stunning views.

Tip – Wide angle lenses (such as the Fujifilm 10-24mm f/4) are great for capturing the scale of Marina Bay Sands from ground-level. If you’re in the infinity pool, be extremely careful if you’re taking your prized camera in with you – nothing spoils the fun like a sodden camera.

GARDENS BY THE BAY – SUPERTREE GROVE

Behind Marina Bay Sands, on land ambitiously reclaimed from the sea, lies Gardens By The Bay; another of Singapore’s most famous landmarks. There are three key photography locations here (four if you want to count Satay By The Bay but only if you manage to take a photo before scoffing the best satay I’ve ever tasted) – Supertree Grove, Cloud Forest and Flower Dome.

We’ll focus on the Supertree Grove first and, oh my god, it’s a good one. If you ever fancied wandering through a real-life Pandora from Avatar, well you’re in luck because these futuristic ‘trees’ are out of this world. You can’t help but stare in awe at these unique giants towering up to 50 metres above you.

Whilst you can have an unbelievable experience at the Supertree Grove during the day and get some beautiful photos, it’s when the sun sets that things are taken up a notch. Each of the giant trees are lit up in all manner of colours before a spectacular light and sound show gets underway. Honestly, you’ll get some incredible shots here that will remain some of your favourites forever.

Tip – Bring a tripod along with you for the night shots!

GARDENS BY THE BAY – CLOUD FOREST

Alongside the Supertree Grove, you’ll see two oddly shaped but ultra modern (and extremely large) glass greenhouses one of which recreates the environment of a Cloud Forest.

Within the Cloud Forest is unlike you’ve seen before and makes for perfect photo opportunities especially on misting hour (every 2 hours from 10am). Featuring one of the world’s tallest indoor waterfalls and exotic plants from across the globe, there are plenty of cool angles to capture as you head along the aerial walkways.

Entry to the Cloud Forest & Flower Dome is S$32 and you can get tickets here.

Tip – Remember to take a lens cloth as there is a lot of condensation and mist.

GARDENS BY THE BAY – FLOWER DOME

Another great spot for photography is within the Flower Dome just next door to the Cloud Forest. No two visits here will be the same as exhibitions change regularly so your photos will be pretty unique!

THE SINGAPORE FLYER

The Singapore Flyer is one of the world’s largest observation wheels and offers some of the best views across Singapore all from 165 metres above the ground. On a clear day, you’ll be able to see up to 45km away so perhaps parts of Malaysia and Indonesia if you’re lucky.

For photos, you won’t struggle to get great photos of the city from up high but don’t forget to take picture of the Flyer itself; it makes for distinctive photos if you’ve got an ultra-wide lens. If you’re around at night, I can imagine that long-exposure photos would look stunning.

It’ll cost S$40 to ride the Singapore Flyer and you can get tickets here.

HELIX BRIDGE

Connecting the city’s business district to Marina Bay Sands (right next to the Artscience Museum), is the impressive Helix Bridge. This bridge is inspired by DNA strands and is a massive 280 metres long! The bridge is a great to frame portraits or just to include in your landscape shots.

PERANAKAN HOUSES

If you’re looking for the most famous Instagrammable places in Singapore, well you can’t look past the Peranakan Houses that predominately can be found on Joo Chiat Road and in the Katong neighbourhood. Peranakan refers to Chinese people with Malay or Indonesian heritage and here in Singapore that has culminated in a unique style of architecture. The shophouses are pastel coloured houses with colourful shutters and ornate designs. Of course, they also make for an incredible backdrop to portraits!

CHINATOWN

Singapore’s Chinatown is where you’ll find some great photo spots especially if you love architecture, street art and general street photography. There are murals highlighting Singapore’s history down Temple Street and Smith Street. Pagoda Street is normally buzzing with locals and tourists shopping at market stalls and grabbing food from cafes and restaurants. Chinese lanterns stretch across the streets and laneways above your head so you’ll not be short of cool things to photograph here.

HAWKER MARKETS

Did you know that a high proportion of the Singaporean population regularly eat at a hawker market? I was pleasantly surprised at just how tasty the dishes were from various stalls in the hawker markets and just how cheap they were! Maxwell Food Centre was my favourite of the ones we visited in terms of photography opportunities; of course you have to capture the food (I still dream about the Hainanese chicken rice) but also the stalls themselves and the locals going about their daily lives.

MERLION FOUNTAIN

The Merlion is Singapore’s national icon (the head of a lion and the body of a fish) and so it would be remiss not to capture this striking statue that fires out water into the marina. From this part of the city, you’ll also get great views back across to Marina Bay Sands and is a perfect vantage point to watch the free light and water show that’s on each and every night.

THIAN HOCK KENG TEMPLE

Whilst you might not get the most jaw-dropping photos at Thian Hock Keng Temple (Temple of Heavenly Happiness), it’s the oldest Chinese Temple in Singapore so I’d say it’s a must-visit. In the 19th century, the street on which this temple was built faced the beach and the sea and Chinatown was built inland from this point. The courtyard is a good spot for wide angle shots.

BUDDHA TOOTH RELIC TEMPLE

The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is an impressive temple in the heart of Chinatown that was surprisingly only built in 2007. The temple is designed in the Tang Dynasty style so expect to be in awe of the exterior. It’s free to enter so head on in and you’ll find the Hundred Dragons Hall with 100 statues of Buddha plus there are great views to be had from the rooftop. For an interesting perspective I stood back in the entrance to the Maxwell Hawker Market (mostly because of the rain to be fair) and grabbed a shot from across the plaza. Without doubt, one of the great photo spots in Singapore.

PEOPLE’S PARK COMPLEX

In Chinatown, lies a hidden gem up on the rooftop of the People’s Park Complex. Honestly, I’m afraid I can’t recall exactly where the staircase is that takes you up to the roof, I promise it’s not sketchy, but if you head to the complex and have your wits about you I’m sure you’ll find your way up. This is as grungy as you’ll find in Singapore’s metropolis.

The rooftop offers great views across Chinatown but what you came here for was the bright orange brutalist residential block with its thousands of external air conditioning units that make a great urban backdrop for portraits or for cool geometric images if you zoom in close.

OLD HILL STREET POLICE STATION

This is actually one of my favourite photo spots in Singapore. The Old Hill Street Police Station is architecturally stunning and features multi-coloured shutters, just like on the Perakanan Houses, across its entire length.

The best spot to capture the Old Hill Street Police Station is from across the road but we’re talking about six lanes of traffic so your timing is going to have to be impeccable unless you intentionally want to freeze frame a part of Singapore’s traffic forever.

RAFFLES HOTEL

Raffles Hotel is a Singaporean instituion dating back to 1887 and is a must-visit on any trip to Singapore. This is one of the most elegant examples of colonial architecture with its ivory white facade contrasting beautifully against the tropical greenery. Head to the Long Bar for the legendary cocktail, Singapore Sling, which was created right here back in 1915.

Unfortunately, when I visited the hotel was undergoing major renovation so it was all boarded up but I’ve seen from my sister’s photos of her time in Singapore that the Raffles Hotel is back to looking its finest!

CHIJMES

We stumbled upon CHIJMES as part of our walk across the city to the Arab Quarter. CHIJMES is now a unique venue featuring restaurants, bars, hip cafes and is also a popular place to get married (you might recognise it from Crazy Rich Asians). This stunning building was once a Catholic convent dating back to 1852 and sprawls across an entire city block.

KAMPON GLAM NEIGHBOURHOOD

The Arab Quarter features two of Singapore’s most well-known photography locations; Sultan Mosque and Haji Lane.

Sultan Mosque is an incredibly well preserved mosque from 1824 with its gleaming golden domes. The best angles for great shots of the mosque are straight down the palm-tree lined avenue (a telephoto lens would work brilliantly here) or through the archway that joins Kandahar Street (I used the Fujifilm 23mm f/2 lens here).

Haji Lane is hipster heaven. This narrow street has to be visited on any trip to Singapore. You’ll find plenty of quirky street art, boutique shops and awesome cafes and bars.

LITTLE INDIA

As the name suggests, wandering the streets of this quarter of the city will feel as though you’ve been instantly transported to India. Indian culture is evident everywhere and I absolutely loved it. The whole neighbourhood is full of bright colours and you’ll want to head to the House of Tan Tang Niah for its famed rainbow exterior. I stumbled upon Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple which is an architectural marvel decorated with potentially hundreds of ornate statues of Kali, a powerful goddess and Destroyer of Evil.

A little food tip, grab some authentic vegetarian South Indian food at Komala Villas – we ordered a rice meal with loads of different dips and vegetable curries. The onion bhajis are unreal!

ARTSCIENCE MUSEUM

Located at Marina Bay Sands, the ArtScience Museum offers great photo opportunities both inside and out. The museum is not hard to miss; just look for the futuristic lotus flower on the bayfront. Inside you’ll want to go straight to Future World, a permanent exhibition with super-cool installations including the famous light art installation ‘Crystal Universe’ which features over 170,000 LED lights!

Tickets to visit three exhibitions at the moment are currently S$46 or its S$20 just for Future World. You can grab your tickets here.

POTATO HEAD, KEONG SAIK ROAD

Last but by no means least in my list of the most insane photo spots in Singapore is Potato Head, a trendy bar in Chinatown. The building itself is what we’ve come here for; the design is incredible and perfectly centered between two roads. Grab a drink and some food too if you fancy it!

Well that’s taken me a while to pull out of the bag but I think you’d say it was worth it. I loved our time in Singapore and would go back tomorrow if I could. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed my guide to the most insane photo spots in Singapore.

If you’ve got any tips of your own, let me know in the comments below and I might get to them one day!