The Southern Ridges at Golden Hour

Most people come to HarbourFront on their way somewhere else, to Sentosa or the Batam ferries. The hill behind the station holds one of the best walks in Singapore, and it's free. Our pick is to start up Marang Trail around 4.30pm, cross Henderson Waves in the late gold light, then ride the cable car down to Sentosa as the treat at the end. The catch is a steep climb in the heat, so carry plenty of water.

VivoCity is the mall you'll pass through, for its toilets and a last blast of air-con before the stairs. For a meal first, cross Telok Blangah Road from HarbourFront MRT Exit A to Seah Im at 2 Seah Im Road, beside the bus interchange. It's a hawker centre, an open hall of small cooked-food stalls with shared tables, and the easiest place to eat before the climb.

Up Marang Trail

Marang Trail starts by the road into the Seah Im carpark, off Telok Blangah Road. It's a forest stairway, 15 steep minutes and mostly in shade, and it brings you out at Mount Faber Peak. The peak is free if you walk up, and its terrace is a restaurant with a view. From there, Henderson Waves is another 10 to 15 minutes along the ridge. If stairs are hard on your knees, take a short taxi to the Telok Blangah Hill side of the bridge instead and walk it from that end.

Henderson Waves after 5pm

Henderson Waves is 274 metres of timber rising and dipping 36 metres up, the highest pedestrian bridge in the country. It links Mount Faber to Telok Blangah Hill, and it's free and open 24 hours. We'd be on it between 5pm and 7pm. At midday there's almost no shade and the boards hold the heat. In the evening the light goes gold along the slats and the wave shape is easy to photograph from either end. The bridge is lit after dark, and if you stay a little longer you'll watch the port lights come on below.

Henderson Waves plus a short stretch either side takes about an hour. That's enough for most people, and it leaves time to get back to Faber Peak for the cable car.

Along the ridge

Keep going past the bridge and you're on Telok Blangah Hill, the ridge's midpoint. It's 34 hectares, with Earth Plaza and some of the best free views in the south. The park is open 24 hours, though the Earth Trail closes after 7pm, and there's no wheelchair access. From here the Forest Walk carries on as an elevated metal walkway through the canopy, about 1.3 kilometres long. It's the part people skip because they already have the bridge photo, and it's why we'd keep walking.

Gillman Barracks sits below the ridge, with contemporary galleries in old colonial army blocks. The grounds are free to wander, but check which galleries are open that day before you drop down to them.

The whole ridge in a morning

The full Southern Ridges run reads like a line on a map. Marang Trail takes you up to Faber Peak, and Henderson Waves carries you over to Telok Blangah Hill and Earth Plaza. From there the Forest Walk runs on to HortPark, with Kent Ridge at the far end. That's a half-day. Take water and a hat, and be ready to take a taxi for the last stretch. With the heat, we'd do it as a morning from the Kent Ridge end, spend the middle of the day in air-con, and walk back along the ridge for Henderson at 5pm.

Start at Reflections at Bukit Chandu, a hillside bungalow that tells the story of the Malay Regiment's last stand. It's one of the best small museums in the country, and it's usually quiet. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 9.30am to 5pm, with last admission at 4.30pm, and closes on Mondays except public holidays. Visiting adults pay S$7 and concessions S$5, plus GST. Singaporeans and PRs get in free with their NRIC, as do children 6 and under, and it's cashless.

HortPark at 33 Hyderabad Road is the gentler way into the ridge, with themed gardens and a playground across 10.7 hectares. It's open from 6am to 11pm. Visitor services run 9am to noon and 1pm to 5pm on weekdays, and 8.30am to 12.30pm on weekends and public holidays. Labrador Park MRT is closer than HarbourFront for this end.

If you'd like someone to put names to the trees, the Southern Ridges guided walk covers the same ground from Marang Trail to HortPark with a guide.

Labrador by the sea

Down on the coast, Labrador Nature Reserve is 22 hectares of coastal forest, with WWII guns still facing the port. From Labrador Park MRT it's 10 to 15 minutes along Labrador Villa Road. The reserve is open from 7am to 7pm, and the park around it is open 24 hours. Walk the Keppel Coastal Trail, the elevated boardwalk along the shore. Berlayar Creek boardwalk is closed for improvement works until the end of March 2027, and the Casemate and the Rocky Shore are closed for safety.

On the shore, Dragon's Teeth Gate is a replica. The original rock was blown up in 1848 to widen the channel. Inside the reserve there's no cycling and no flying drones, and pets can use the open boardwalks and park areas but not the reserve itself. Groups of more than 30 need a permit a month ahead. Our Labrador and Bukit Chandu guide puts the reserve and the museum together as one morning.

When a storm rolls in

Henderson Waves is high and exposed, so get off it when the lightning starts. The Singapore Art Museum is the indoor hour we'd pick. It's at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road, by Exit 1 of Cantonment MRT, and it's open daily from 10am to 7pm, with last entry at 6.30pm. It opens on Mondays too, handy when Reflections is closed. Maria Taniguchi's Afterimage is on until 22 November in Gallery 3 on Level 3, included in general admission, which is free for Singaporeans and PRs. It won't replace the ridge, but it's a good place to sit out the storm.

If you'd rather spend a wet evening at a show, see what's on at Star Performing Arts, and check the venue's address when you book. STPI is across town at 41 Robertson Quay, open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm and closed on Sundays and public holidays, so save it for a day by the river and use Gillman for galleries near the ridge.

A sail from Keppel Bay

For the sunset from the water instead, the Lights Sail boards at 5.45pm at Marina at Keppel Bay, here in HarbourFront rather than at the Event Plaza. Finish the ridges by about 4.30pm and you can be on deck for Spectra, the light show over Marina Bay, without going near a mall. The Royal Albatross is the tall-ship version of the same sunset, 47 metres long, with dinner on deck and a bigger bill. It leaves from Sentosa, so check the berth when you book.

Down to Sentosa by cable car

When the light's gone from the bridge, walk back to Faber Peak and take the cable car down. The Sky Pass covers both lines, the Mount Faber Line and the Sentosa Line, with a stop at Faber. It's S$35 for adults and S$25 for children, and a Sentosa Line-only ticket is cheaper. The cabins run daily from 8.45am to 10pm, with last boarding at 9.30pm, but ticket counters typically close at 8pm, so buy yours before then. Maintenance closures happen, so check Mount Faber Leisure's notices before you go.

Eighteen of the cabins are Pokémon Day-to-Night cabins until 21 January, with themed interiors by day and UV silhouettes after dark, and they need no extra ticket. They're fun, but they're no reason to skip the walk up. Leave yourself a margin before last boarding. Miss it, and the way down is Marang Trail's steps in the dark, which are far less fun going down at night than coming up at 5pm.

If you'd rather walk, the Sentosa Boardwalk is the free way onto Sentosa, a covered 10 to 15 minutes with harbour on both sides. The Sentosa Express, the island's monorail, leaves from VivoCity's Lobby L on Level 3.

The Batam ferries leave from HarbourFront Ferry Terminal at 5 HarbourFront Avenue, the newer Singapore Cruise Centre building behind HarbourFront Tower 2. It's about 70 metres from the old counters in HarbourFront Centre, and Exit B from the MRT is the one to take. Batam needs your passport and 45 minutes for check-in, so give it a day trip of its own and catch the first boat out.

Dinner after the ridge

Eat afterwards in Chinatown, or on Sentosa if that's where the cable car left you. Holland Village is straight up the Circle Line from HarbourFront if you'd like dinner somewhere other than a mall. Wherever you end up, order generously. You've climbed a hill for it.