Another place you should really consider visiting, before or after the gardens, is the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
Located around the slopes of Bukit Timah, Singapore's highest hill (which soars to a modest altitude of only 164 meters above sea level), it was declared as a nature reserve as early as 1883, when the colonial government realized the need in preserving some of the island's fast vanishing rainforests.
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A small tip from 'Metropolasia-Man':
Although Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is nothing compared to the Amazonian jungles, which people usually see in their mind when thinking about a "rainforest", It's still well worth visiting... Few are the places on earth, where you can find such a rich ecosystem and biodiversity, just a stone's throw from the city.
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Occupying an area of approximately 400 acres, the reserve forms one of the largest patches of primary rainforest left in Singapore, and gives the visitor an idea of what Singapore looked like more than 200 years ago, before Raffles arrived and massive urbanization started...
Although it is relatively small in size, the reserve has an unbelievable biodiversity, with hundreds of tropical plant species (some experts claim that the number of plant species growing in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is more than that in the whole of North America!), and plenty of animals... from unique insects and butterflies to reptiles, beautiful forest birds and mammals...
Notable mammals include Flying Lemurs, Common Treeshrews, tiny Plantain Squirrels, cheerful Long-tailed Macaques (Cynomolgus Monkey) and the nocturnal Pangolin (ant-eater). Among the reptiles, you may see the Common Sun Skink and Oriental Whip Snake.
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The entrance to the reserve is through the Visitor Centre, where you can learn a bit about the place. That is also where the hiking trails start from... From the easy 30/40 minutes trails, to the slightly more difficult 2 hours trails... If you think about walking the longer trails, you'll do yourself a big favor if you come here first thing in the morning, before heat and humidity become unbearable.
The Visitor Centre is open daily, 8:30am - 6pm and entrance is free.
Tiny Hindhede Nature Park, on the left side of the Visitor Centre (if coming from the main road) is another place worth visiting. The small park encircles the abandoned granite quarry and, other than its picturesque scenery, there is some adventurous play equipment, rope bridges and the likes...
How to get there ? If coming from Singapore Botanic Gardens, take SBS No. 170 or SMRT No. 75 or 171 (SMRT No. 171 arrives from the city centre so you can take it directly to the reserve, if you want to start the day here, and move to the Botanic Gardens later on)
SMRT No. 67 and SBS No. 170 travel from Little India to the reserve.
Alight along Upper Bukit Timah Road, opposite Bukit Timah Shopping Centre and Beauty World Centre, and walk to the end of Hindhede Drive, and up to the Visitor Centre (tell the driver you want to visit the reserve, so he will show you how to get there... it's a short walk from the bus stop)
English guided tours are available every now and again, for more details about the tours and the reserve, call the Visitor Centre on 6468 5736
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Read about other tours and trips around this area...
Singapore Botanic Gardens and the National Orchid Garden
