Gardens by the Bay is Singapore's largest garden spanning a total of 101 hectares of prime land right beside the spectacular Marina Bay. It is also known as the "City in a Garden" because it is really humongous and grand! There are 10 different areas or attractions on which you can visit as of today. These are:
1. Cloud Forest Conservatory 2. Flower Dome Conservatory 3. OCBC Skyway 4. Supertree Grove 5. Bay East Garden 6. World of Plants 7. Dragonfly and Kingfisher Lakes 8. Far East Organization Children's Garden 9. Sun Pavilion 10 Heritage Gardens Note: 1 to 5 are the main attractions.
How to get there? I) Walking:
From the Helix Bridge towards the Art Science Museum:
Follow the footpath which leads under the ECP, that will bring you directly into Bay South Garden along the waterfront.
From Marina Bay Sands: Walk across the overhead bridge (Lions Bridge) located at Marina Bay Sands Hotel (open daily from 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM), or take the underground linkway via Bayfront station (Exit B).
II. MRT: (This is the route we took) Via the Circle Line or Downtown Line: 1. Alight at Bayfront MRT Station (CE1/DT1) 2. Exit B and follow the underground linkway 3. Exit and cross the Dragonfly Bridge or Meadow Bridge into the Gardens by the Bay 4. Look for the entrance of the garden. Wait for the shuttle service. I think we paid around SGD $2 for the shuttle but you can always walk around the HUGE garden to get to the main ticketing hub but it is only advisable if you have time
UPDATE: as of August 2014, FREE shuttle service is available. Click this link to know more about the pick-up points and schedule.
First attraction you'll see would be the Sleeping Child Installation Art. It was created by Marc Quinn, a famous sculptor from the UK. This piece of art is so cool because it looks like it's floating in the air!
Strolling around the OUTDOOR Garden is FREE! You can actually go there and just walk or "mag muni-muni" haha from 5 am to 2 am daily. If you're on a tight budget and don't want to pay anything, just go here. I recommend to go here at night because the Supertrees are lit.
Then you can pass by the Supertree Grove and OCBC Skyway. It requires a different entrance fee if you want to go up the trees via OCBC Skyway.
Fee: SGD $5 for adults and $3 for kids
Operating time: 9am- 9pm daily.
At that time, we skipped this part because we just wanted to check out the flowers and plant conservatories but I think it's not really a loss for us...unless you're into photography and you appreciate the scenery then I suggest you go up the OCBC Skyway.
The two conservatories (Flower and Cloud Forest) are the main attractions of Gardens by the Bay. We paid SGD$ 28 for both conservatories already. For local residents, they have an option to just visit 1 conservatory at a discounted price. It is open everyday from 9am to 9pm.
First stop, the Flower conservatory or flower dome. The moment we stepped in...WOW SPEECHLESS! It was so huge, modern, and cold! The climate inside the dome mimics the climate of the Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California, Spain and Italy. There are a lot of plant collections from different countries. There are labels and audio tour guides to provide you some information about the plant.
DID YOU KNOW? The dome is the world's largest "columnless" greenhouse in the world? The conservatories' glass sits on a steel grid that acts like an eggshell.
Things to look out for? The 100 year old Olive tree, the interactive multimedia explaining the ecosystem and other scientific facts about plants and flowers and most especially the themed changing floral display.
Next attraction would be the Cloud Forest. It is a cool-moist conservatory and is entirely different from the Flower Dome. Here you have a 35 meter tall mountain covered in different indoor plants surrounding the 2,000 meter indoor waterfall.
There are different levels of the "mountain" but you will start from the top at the Lost World then go down the cloud walk up to the +5 Degrees.
The Cloud Walk. It's kinda scary to go down the cloud walk especially if you're afraid of heights. But, rest assured that the rails and walkway are sturdy so no need to worry.
GARDENS BY THE BAY: Address: 18 Marina Gardens Drive, Singapore 018953 Tel. No.: +65 6420 6848 Email: feedback@gardensbythebay.com.sg Website: www.gardensbythebay.com.sg
Disclaimer: This is an old post from my Blogspot account dated October 12, 2014.
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