Singapore River on Foot, Bridge by Bridge

The Singapore River is short enough to walk in an evening, and it's better walked than sailed. Start late in the afternoon at the Asian Civilisations Museum, near where the river meets the bay, and work your way upstream over the old bridges to dinner at Robertson Quay. Walk it at dusk rather than in the mid-afternoon heat, so you're crossing the bridges as the light goes. The whole mouth of the river belongs to the Civic District, and every bit of it is walkable.

The river changes as you go. Boat Quay, close to the mouth, is the original curve of shophouses, the narrow terraced buildings with a shop on the ground floor. Clarke Quay, in the middle, is lit in candy colours and does its job loudly, with touts working the promenade and first-timers queueing for the boat. Robertson Quay, further upstream, is quieter and eats better. Downstream, past the Fullerton, the river widens and turns into the bay.

Empress Place and the bridges

The Asian Civilisations Museum on Empress Place opens daily from 10am to 7pm, and until 9pm on Fridays, with last entry to the galleries 30 minutes before closing. Head for the shipwreck ceramics and the Tang cargo, which show the river doing what it has always done: bringing things in. From City Hall MRT, take Exit B and walk about four minutes to the National Gallery, then eight to ten minutes along the water to the museum.

Beside it, Cavenagh Bridge is the suspension bridge the British built in 1869, still in use as a footbridge between the museum and the Fullerton. It's five minutes across to the Fullerton and the Merlion. Look down on the way. The water is the colour of strong teh, the sweet milky tea every coffee shop pours, and that's historically accurate. Behind you, the clock tower of Victoria Theatre stands at the mouth of the river. Admire it from the outside, and buy a ticket only if there's a show you want to see.

If you'd like a loop before heading upstream, stay on the Fullerton side and follow the water towards the bay. Anderson Bridge, the next crossing down from Cavenagh, carries the Grand Prix cars in race week and people on foot the rest of the year. Further along on the bay side, Clifford Pier is where people once landed from the sea. Its hall hosts events only, so look at it from the waterfront and register for the free heritage tour if you want the story.

Come back over Jubilee Bridge, the step-free way to the Esplanade, and follow the water upriver into Esplanade Park, where the Cenotaph stands.

Next to it, the Lim Bo Seng Memorial is a short, serious stop that tells a wartime resistance story, and from there it's back along the water to Empress Place. If you were hoping to browse the Esplanade's performing-arts scores, the old library@esplanade has closed and the collection now lives at the National Library on Victoria Street.

Boat Quay at dusk

Head upriver to Elgin Bridge, the 1929 crossing with cast-iron lamps that joins North Bridge Road to South Bridge Road, and cross it at dusk towards Boat Quay, two minutes away. The shophouses on the curve were godowns, the riverside warehouses where cargo came off the boats, and they're restaurants now. The good ones sit a street back from the water rather than on the promenade behind a sandwich board. Around 6.30pm the curve is a pleasant stroll. By about 9pm, staff are holding out menus at every doorway, so move on before then, or take a drink on Circular Road, behind the quay. The free Singapore River walk follows the same bridges from Boat Quay and carries on to the Helix Bridge if you feel like going further.

Clarke Quay and the cruise

From Boat Quay it's eight to ten minutes along the promenade to Clarke Quay. On the way you pass Coleman Bridge, one bridge further up from Elgin and named for the colonial architect. Look up from the river as you go and you'll see the rainbow-painted windows of Old Hill Street Police Station.

Clarke Quay is where the Singapore River Cruise sets off. The ride takes about 40 minutes out to Marina Bay, and the 7pm sailing carries you from sunset into the city lights. It's the best way to see the river with a child, or with a parent who'd rather sit than walk. Tickets are S$28 for adults and S$18 for children aged 3 to 11, from the counter at Clarke Quay Jetty between Blocks C and D.

Clarke Quay has other jobs after dark. Red House Seafood does chilli or pepper crab here, with other outlets at The Esplanade and Grand Copthorne, so confirm which outlet you're booking. Zouk Singapore keeps its main room at The Cannery by Clarke Quay MRT, open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and covered shoes are required.

Boats run roughly 11am to 10pm from Monday to Thursday, and 10am to 10.30pm from Friday to Sunday and on public holidays, with the last departure often around 9pm. You'll pass under Cavenagh Bridge on the way, though it's no substitute for crossing it on foot. For a tour on wheels, DUCKtours leave from Suntec, drive through the Civic District and then splash down into Marina Bay. It's good fun with kids, but it's the bay rather than the river, so if you're only taking one ride, make it the cruise. At weekends, the Marina Bay Dinner Cruise is a 90-minute sunset sailing down the river with dinner on board, setting off from WaterB River Cruise at Fort Canning.

At Suntec, the DUCKtours depot sits beside the free Fountain of Wealth, a ring to walk round and photograph, with a light show on some evenings. The Big Bus Open-Top Tour shares the same counter, with two open-top routes where you hop off wherever looks good, and on a single day we'd pick the bus or DUCKtours, not both.

If you're here in race week, LTA closes Collyer Quay, Esplanade Drive, Raffles Avenue and Bayfront Avenue for the Singapore Grand Prix, from 12.01am on 7 October until 5.30am on 13 October. Cavenagh and Anderson sit on the circuit, and the cruise may be shortened or rerouted, so check with the operator the night before rather than at the jetty. You can still walk through the Fullerton lobby if you're already on that bank. Walk Boat Quay one street back, and save the boat for the 13th.

Upstream to Robertson Quay

Clarke Quay to Robertson is another 10 to 12 minutes upstream, and you needn't stop on the way. Read Bridge, a minute's walk across, is the crossing between the two quays that most people use without ever learning its name. Robertson Quay is the calmer river, with restaurants along the water and a lawn, and it's at its best from about 5pm into dinner. Come for the food rather than sprinkles: the Museum of Ice Cream has moved to 100 Loewen Road in Dempsey.

If it rains, duck into STPI at 41 Robertson Quay, a print and paper workshop with free exhibitions. It's open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm and closed on Sundays and public holidays, and it's about eight minutes on foot from Exit A of Fort Canning MRT. STPI is here on the river, not at Gillman Barracks. Fort Canning is the hill above, where the spice garden is free and the Battlebox is a tour you book ahead.

About ten minutes' walk away on Magazine Road, Tan Si Chong Su is an elaborately restored clan temple, worth a look before you settle in at the quay. On the ridge above Robertson, Hong San See is a Hokkien temple and a National Monument, and much quieter than Thian Hock Keng in Chinatown.

Satay by the water

If you'd rather eat satay than sit down at Robertson, head back to the river mouth. Gluttons Bay, just outside the Esplanade and nearest to Esplanade MRT, is satay with the bay in front of you. From Monday to Thursday it's open 4pm to 11pm, with last orders at 10.30pm. Satay by the Bay, over at Gardens by the Bay, has closed for Wetlands by the Bay, so Gluttons Bay is the satay stop on the water.

For a later night, Lau Pa Sat, the Victorian iron market in the business district, has Satay Street grilling until 3am, from 7pm on weekdays and from 3pm at weekends. You pay each stall as you go. We'd take Gluttons Bay for the water, and Satay Street if you're eating late. Either way, return your tray when you're done.

If you'd rather be led, the Street Food Night Tour is a guided hawker crawl that starts at Clarke Quay MRT Exit E, runs for about three and a half hours from 6pm and ends at Lau Pa Sat.

Whichever you pick, we'd be off the river by about 11pm. If the night isn't over, Mohamed Sultan, the nightlife strip above Robertson Quay, keeps later hours with a different crowd, or you can settle into a shophouse bar in Chinatown.