A guide for visiting the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the most visited Botanic Garden in the world. I share everything you need to know to visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens including how to get there, what to bring, and I highlight the major attractions including the National Orchid Garden. If you like plants and nature, then the Singapore Botanic Garden is definitely a must see attraction in Singapore.
The 150 year old Singapore Botanic Gardens has a wide array of botanical and horticultural attractions. The Gardens has a rich history and a wonderful plant collection of worldwide significance. It is a unique example of the informal English Landscape Movement’s style in an equatorial climate.
The first botanical garden in Singapore was set up by Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, in 1822 on Government Hill at Fort Canning, mainly to introduce into cultivation economic crops. It closed in 1829 and, in 1859, at the present Tanglin site a new garden was developed by an Agri-Horticultural Society, and later handed over to the government in 1874. From an ornamental garden with roads, terraces, a band parade area and even a small zoo, it has come a long way in evolving into a leading equatorial botanic garden of 82 hectares, where major world crops, such as rubber and orchids were launched.