Top Sights in Singapore's Hidden Gem, Fort Canning Park

Singapore is a city filled with greenery. It's one of the reasons it was named the world's sixth "Blue Zone." If you look at a map of downtown Singapore, one of the biggest green spots is Fort Canning, a large hill near Singapore's financial district.

What is Fort Canning Park?

Fort Canning Park was established as a military fort in 1861, thanks to its prominent height towering over the bay and port of Singapore. Even before that, however, the area is thought to have been occupied as far back as the 15th century. Today, the park memorializes its wartime past while also being a gorgeous botanical garden.

Top Sights in Fort Canning Park

At 54 acres, this large park offers a lot of great walking paths and things to do. There is a lot to see if you want to look for it, but there are also a ton of great places to put out a picnic blanket if you want to lounge and just enjoy your surroundings. Here are my top five spots that I recommend you check out in Singapore's Fort Canning Park.

5/ Fort Gate

At almost the highest point in Fort Canning Park sits the wall and gate that were built to protect Singapore from seaborne attack. Although you won't be able to see it in the photo below on the right, you can trust that the Fort Gate entrance does indeed face the direction of the bay, so that soldiers could keep watch for invading forces. While there's not a ton to see here, it is the historical landmark of the park that explains the fort's original purpose. It's pretty centrally located in the park, so it's hard to miss.

Besides, I think it's cool to see what was originally there and how the area has been repurposed to be a publicly accessible green space while still maintaining its historical roots and educational value.

4/ Fort Canning Green's Sculpture Garden and Gothic Gate

The sculpture garden was definitely a prime place to sit around in the grass and enjoy the breeze. You can admire some awesome sculptures and other art installations, as well as the impressive architecture of Fort Canning Center, which houses the Heritage Gallery (although the entrance is on the other side of the building). Be sure not to miss the two Gothic Gates. I mean, they are quite large and stand out in stark white against all the greenery. But still, you will want to take a close look at the designs of these.

3/ Tree Tunnel

The Tree Tunnel was by far the most popular part of Fort Canning Park when I was there. I didn't think there were many people in the park... until I arrived at the Tree Tunnel, where everyone was patiently queued in line waiting for their turn to get the perfect Instagrammable photo. You can enter either via an underground tunnel or via the spiral staircase down to the bottom.

To be honest, the Tree Tunnel was cool, but I don't think it was worth all the hype. There were plenty of other awesome sights in the park that I think topped the Tree Tunnel, although I see why this might have been the most visually interesting for people looking for photo ops.

2/ Raffles Garden

At the far south of Fort Canning Park, Raffles Garden is at the top of a very large set of staircases, accessible directly from the fittingly named Hill Street. Despite the mountain of stairs, I actually really enjoyed this part of the garden. There are small terraces and nooks to be found throughout, and once you get halfway up, you can take a ramp instead of the rest of the stairs that winds through a giant fern jungle replete with massive trees covered in air plants.

1/ Spice Garden

My favorite part of Fort Canning Park was definitely the Spice Garden. This is a terraced garden that spirals down into an exhibition in an underground tunnel. The entire garden is educational, with placards of the different spices present and information about how they are cultivated and used. I really like the terraces and layout of the garden, how you have to weave through in order to make your way to the basement exhibit. You really can't help but smell all the plants as you brush up against them on the narrow walking path. The exhibit was a cool added bonus, with an interesting display of how these spices are used in popular local dishes. It was also shaded, so literally, cooler temperature-wise than the consistently humid and scorching Singaporean heat.

How long does it take to visit Fort Canning Park?

All in all, I walked a bit more than three miles in Fort Canning Park and managed to see almost everything. I would recommend an hour at least for a visit, but maybe more if you plan to spend time in the Fort Canning Heritage Museum or touring the World War II military museum in the bunker known as Battlebox. If you have a lot of time, I definitely recommend bringing a snack and having yourself a little picnic in one of the lovely grassy areas.

How to Access Fort Canning Park

While there are multiple entrances to Fort Canning Park, I found the easiest way to get here is via the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station (available from multiple lines). You can walk out of the MRT station, across the street, and directly into the park. This is right where the Tree Tunnel is, so it's a good station to choose if that is on your list. From here, there are a few sets of stairs to get you to the top of the park.

There is also the Fort Canning MRT station, which is on the blue Downtown line, although this entrance takes you right to the parking lot and the children's playground. It's the other side of the park that has the more touristy sights.

However, either of these entrances is much preferred to the south side of the park, which is much lower in elevation. This lower entrance, which is a short walk from the Clarke Quay MRT station, takes you directly into Raffles Garden... after about a million stairs. So I would recommend going through the park north to south unless you want the exercise of a lifetime!