National Monuments You Can Walk Into

Start in the Civic District, where a parliament house, a theatre and a cathedral stand close together and all of them let you in. A national monument is a place the National Heritage Board has gazetted for protection, and Fort Siloso, gazetted in 2022, was the 74th. Some are working places of worship, some are bridges you cross without noticing, and a few have a ticket window. This is the list you can walk straight into.

Free halls in the Civic District

The Arts House at 1 Old Parliament Lane was Singapore's first parliament building. It's open 10am to 9pm daily, and the foyer and public rooms are free to walk through; only the shows are ticketed. Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall next door keeps the same hours for its atrium and foyer, beneath a 54m clock tower.

CHIJMES lets you walk its courtyard for free, although the chapel and restaurants are ticketed or billed, and the chapel and Caldwell House are both monuments. The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Singapore, built in 1847, and its Heritage Gallery in the annex building is open daily from 10am to 10pm.

Three places of worship with set hours

Thian Hock Keng on Telok Ayer Street is free and open from 7.30am to 5pm every day, and modest dress is expected. Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery in Toa Payoh has been recently restored, is open 8am to 5pm daily and is a working monastery, so dress modestly there too.

St Joseph's Church on Victoria Street is open from 10am to 7.30pm on weekdays and from 9am to 7pm at weekends, so come between Masses if you want to look around quietly.

Bridges, a field and a fort

The easiest monuments are the ones you cross. Cavenagh Bridge, completed in 1869, is the oldest surviving suspension bridge across the Singapore River, and signs at both ends still bar cattle, horses and any vehicle over 3 cwt, about 152kg. Elgin Bridge, opened in 1929, stands on the site of the river's first bridge from the 1820s. Both were gazetted in 2019, together with Anderson Bridge.

The Padang has a footpath across it that stays open at all times, and the field hosts the National Day Parade and the Singapore Marathon. The Cenotaph is across the road in Esplanade Park, which is open 24 hours; it was gazetted as one monument with the Lim Bo Seng Memorial and the Tan Kim Seng Fountain.

Fort Siloso on Sentosa is the one that needs a couple of hours. The fort and its Surrender Chambers are free, open 9am to 6pm with exhibits from 10am and last admission at 5.30pm, and the free 181m Skywalk has a lift that runs from 9am to 10pm.

A route through them

We'd begin at the Arts House when it opens, walk on to Victoria Theatre and CHIJMES, then cross Cavenagh Bridge and finish at the Padang and the Cenotaph. Thian Hock Keng suits a Chinatown morning and the monastery a Toa Payoh one, since both close at 5pm.