Botanic Gardens & Bukit Timah

Start at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, UNESCO-listed since 2015 and free to wander from 5am to midnight. Come early for the coolest air and the best chance of otters, and the weekend concerts on the lawn are often free too. The one paid ticket inside is the National Orchid Garden, open 8.30am to 7pm with last entry at 6pm, and worth it if orchids are why you came. From the same Tyersall side, the Learning Forest is free from 7am to 7pm. Its SPH Walk of Giants, Keppel Discovery Wetlands, Botanist Boardwalk and Pulai Marsh close from 7pm to 7am for the wildlife, and they're unlit after dark.

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, a short walk from Beauty World MRT, is 163 hectares of forest and an ASEAN Heritage Park, rising to Singapore's highest natural point at 163 metres. It's free and open 7am to 7pm, pets aren't allowed, and groups of more than 30 need a permit a month ahead. NParks has demolition works at the summit until March 2028, so check its notices before you count on reaching the top. At the foot, Hindhede Nature Park wraps 9.5 hectares around a quarry lake, keeps the same hours and pet rule, and makes an easier walk than the summit road, macaques included. Its carpark trails are closed until 31 December, so come in on the boardwalk from the reserve's Visitor Centre.

Beauty World also serves Rifle Range Nature Park, 66 hectares around the old Sin Seng Quarry at 126 Rifle Range Road: take Exit A to Level 4 of Beauty World Centre and cross the bridge onto the Rambai Boardwalk. Its Colugo Deck sits 31 metres above the quarry wetland, and a 700m barrier-free route runs from the Visitor Pavilion to the wetland. Dairy Farm Nature Park has the Wallace Trail and a gentler hill. Both open 7am to 7pm, and Rifle Range is closed to pets. The Rail Corridor follows the old KTM line for 24km and is open 24 hours; we'd walk the stretch by the 1932 Bukit Timah Railway Station. For an hour indoors, try the Former Ford Factory on Upper Bukit Timah Road.

MacRitchie is rainforest in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, and it deserves a morning of its own. The trails are open 7am to 7pm, and you can't stay on after 7pm. The HSBC TreeTop Walk is a 250-metre free-standing suspension bridge, 25 metres up and crossed one way. It opens 9am to 5pm from Tuesday to Friday and from 8.30am to 5pm at weekends and on public holidays, with last entry at 4.45pm, and closes on Mondays except public holidays. The bridge sits in the middle of the hike rather than at the start. On a Monday, pair Windsor Nature Park with Thomson Nature Park, a short, shaded walk past the ruins of a Hainanese village, open 7am to 7pm with no pets.

Where to eat

• Adam Road Food Centre, 2 Adam Road: 32 hawker stalls by the Bukit Timah Canal, a taxi or short bus ride from Botanic Gardens MRT for lunch
• Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak, Adam Road Food Centre #01-02: the plate most people come for, typically closed Fridays, and stall hours vary
• Tiong Bahru Bakery, Cluny Court, 501 Bukit Timah Road #01-05: pastries, 7.30am–8pm on weekdays and 8am–8pm at weekends
• Casa Verde, at the Botany Centre end of the Botanic Gardens: the easy stop if you're already inside the grounds, though hours vary
• Bukit Timah and MacRitchie trails: nothing to buy on the way, so pack water, and keep snacks in your bag, as the macaques will take food