Singapore

Singapore’s a jampacked city-state occupying a majorly built-up island—and surrounding islets—across the Johor Strait from the Malay Peninsula. Through a certain lens, this metropolis seems like a frenetic combination of supersized port and shopping mall, but ease deeper into the Singaporean experience, and there’s much more to engage with.

You could make a firm argument that Singapore’s shining attraction is its gloriously multicultural population. Visiting here, where so many residents hail from someplace else, is like a whirlwind tour of South, East, and Southeast Asia, with subtle side trips to Europe and America. Forays to Chinatown, Little India, Kampong Glam, and other ethnic districts paint a portrait of diversity, while invariably offering up highlights of Singapore’s famously manifold cuisine: Where Malay, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Portuguese, and other international essences deliciously anchor local cookery. The dining scene isn't just notable for its variety, but also the gusto with which Singaporeans approach food: The city-state’s downright hallowed ground for gourmets.

Other urban attractions in Singapore, from Orchard Street to Sentosa, tend to revolve around shopping, amusement parks, casinos, and sheer cityscape spectacle. Depending on your inclinations, such gloss and glitter can be overwhelming. But there are more thought-provoking elements to be uncovered, too—from World War II sites such as Changi Prison and the Indian National Army Monument to the illuminating exhibits of the National Museum of Singapore.

And for such a densely-packed country, there’s a surprising plethora of greenspace at hand in Singapore: the Chinese Garden, Fort Canning Park, the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, and the Labrador Nature Reserve, to name a few prime spots for decompressing.

Singapore can be an epic sensory overload, fired up with all the flashy 24-7 entertainment you could ask for, but that's hardly the full story; as anyone who wanders one of the country's quiet groves, tastes through the nuances of the sublime food, or strikes upon the slower, statelier pace of a Buddhist temple soon discovers.