Where we'd start
Any of these makes a good first stop.
Kent Ridge is the museum morning. The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, at 2 Conservatory Drive on the NUS campus, has three real sauropod skeletons, and the NUS Museum next door is a free campus gallery with strong South and Southeast Asian collections. Both are closed on Mondays, so a Tuesday-to-Saturday visit covers them together. Kent Ridge Park, at the western end of the Southern Ridges, has a canopy walk and a reflexology path on a WWII ridge, with the Reflections at Bukit Chandu war museum next door.
Kent Ridge and Haw Par Villa are a stop apart on the Circle Line. Haw Par Villa at 262 Pasir Panjang Road is Chinese mythology in colourful plaster, a minute from Haw Par Villa MRT, and Hell's Museum, its walk through the Ten Courts of Hell, opens daily. It's graphic, and not recommended for children under 9. Most of the outdoor grounds are closed for maintenance, so we'd come for the museum. Along the same road, the Pasir Panjang Machine-Gun Pillbox is a 1930s coastal-defence post, sited so that its fire overlapped with its neighbours'.
West Coast Park faces the strait: 50 hectares along West Coast Highway, open 24 hours and wheelchair accessible. NParks calls it the Play Centre of the West for the 1.1-hectare adventure playground in Area 3, and Area 2 has nine barbecue pits you book through AXS. The promenade looks out at tankers and yachts, and there's no swimming. Clementi Woods Park, 12 hectares of tall trees by West Coast Plaza, is also open 24 hours. Eat first in Clementi town centre and take the bus, since the park sits across the AYE.
Getting there
Kent Ridge MRT (CC24) is for the museums, and Haw Par Villa MRT (CC25) is a minute's walk from Hell's Museum. For West Coast Park, take bus 175 or 176 from Haw Par Villa, or bus 201 from Clementi MRT Exit B. Clementi Woods is a short bus ride or walk from Clementi MRT (EW23).
Best time
Do the museums first. The Lee Kong Chian is closed on Mondays, and the NUS Museum on Sundays too. On a Monday, Hell's Museum and West Coast Park are the easy picks. Clementi 448 is best for lunch before 12.30pm, while seats are easy to find.
A day in Clementi & the West Coast
This is the order we'd go in, though each stop works fine on its own.
Where to eat
- Clementi 448 Market & Food Centre, 448 Clementi Avenue 3: an NEA hawker centre a few minutes from Clementi MRT, with a few stalls people travel for
- Cafe 1937, Haw Par Villa, 262 Pasir Panjang Road: the cafe on the park side, but with the grounds partly closed, check it's open first
- West Coast Park barbecue pits: nine pits that you book ahead, if you'd like dinner at the park
Questions
Is Haw Par Villa scary for children?
Hell's Museum can be. Its walk through the Ten Courts of Hell is graphic and isn't recommended for children under 9. It's open daily from 10am to 6pm, with last entry at 5pm, and free highlight tours leave at 10.30am, 12.15pm, 1.30pm, 2.45pm and 4.15pm; register at the lobby, first come, first served. The outdoor park is colourful and strange, though parts of it may close for maintenance.
How much is Hell's Museum?
It's S$22 for adults and S$12 for children aged 7 to 12, and free for under-6s. An older page on the park's site still shows S$20 and S$10, so go by the museum's own page. Singaporeans aged 18 and over can pay with Culture Pass through Pelago. Part of the museum is open to the sky, so bring an umbrella, and leave food, drinks and pets outside. Haw Ror Villa is a separate night ticket, valid on selected nights from 6.30pm to midnight.
Lee Kong Chian or the NUS Museum?
Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum if you came for the sauropods. It's ticketed, open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm with last admission at 4.30pm, and closed on Mondays, public holidays included, unless the museum posts otherwise. The free NUS Museum next door opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm, and closes on Sundays and public holidays; Mondays are for school and faculty visits by appointment. Both are near Kent Ridge MRT, so see them together and pair them with Science Centre.
How do I get to West Coast Park?
From Clementi MRT, take Exit B and bus 201 toward Kent Ridge and West Coast Road. From Haw Par Villa MRT, after Hell's Museum, take bus 175 or 176 a few stops to the West Coast Park stop, number 17291, which beats walking it in the midday heat. Carpark 3 is by the playground, and all three carparks charge. The barbecue pits are yours from noon to 10.30pm on the day you book.
What is there to do at Clementi Woods Park?
Clementi Woods Park is 12 hectares of tall trees beside West Coast Plaza, free and open 24 hours, with a cycling track and an amphitheatre. Two sections are fenced off for redevelopment, so follow the blue detour path towards the Allotment Gardens. The park is wheelchair accessible. With a bike, ride on to West Coast Park, which is a separate park.
Where is the Echoes of Clementi mural?
It's at Clementi MRT, beside Exits A and B, and it's there whenever the exits are open. The sepia, comic-style mural has nine scenes, from the Pandan Reservoir prawn farms to the old Jurong railway line. Ashley Goh Yu Ting of Ngee Ann Polytechnic drew it for SMRT's Comic Connect programme, so it's a quick look on the way to the bus.
Which hawker centres are in Clementi and the West Coast?
NEA's list includes six markets and hawker centres in Clementi and the West Coast. Clementi has the markets at Blk 353 on Clementi Ave 2, Blk 448 on Ave 3 and Blk 726 on Clementi West Street 2, plus the Ayer Rajah market and the Ayer Rajah food centre on West Coast Drive. Pasir Panjang Food Centre is on Pasir Panjang Road. For lunch, we'd try Blk 448.
Things to do in Clementi & the West Coast
A handful to start with. Tap one for the price and how to get there.
TicketsLee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
Three dinosaur skeletons on the NUS Kent Ridge campus
2 hours·Kent Ridge·From S$27
FreeNUS Museum
South and Southeast Asian art on campus
1.5 hours·Kent Ridge·Free
TicketsHell's Museum at Haw Par Villa
The Ten Courts, interpreted for adults
2 hours·Pasir Panjang·From S$22
FreeWest Coast Park
Adventure playground, dog run and BBQ pits in the west
2 hours·West Coast·Free
FreeKent Ridge Park
A canopy walk and a reflexology path on a WWII ridge
2 hours·Kent Ridge·Free
FreeClementi Woods Park
12-hectare woods beside West Coast Plaza
1.5 hours·Clementi·Free
