Singapore River Discover the City's Landmarks through a Memorable Singapore River Cruise
Talking about Singapore River is always bringing one’s memory to the past and a story about the contribution of the river to the success of Singapore today.
I’ll recommend you to visit Singapore River when you are on holiday here. The 30 or 45 minutes river cruise on the calm water will show you some of the city’s landmarks, the current activities along the river, modern Architecture with a touch of prehistoric era, and other interesting places.
You can start and end your cruise from any of the 9 ticketing booth at
Esplanade, Theatres-on-the-Bay,
Riverside Point, The Fullerton Singapore, Boat Quay, Grand Copthorne Waterfront, Robertson Quay, Liang Court, Raffles landing Site, or
Merlion Park.
Riverside Point:
Boat Quay:
The 30 minutes cruise will cost you S$13.00 for an adult and S$8.00 for a child while 45 minutes cruise which covers the whole river from Robertson Quay to Clifford Pier cost at S$18.00 for an adult and S$10.00 for a child.
Here is the cruise map:(click on the map to enlarge the picture)
The cruise will also pass by the old bridges along the way. You shall get your camera ready!
Here are some of them:
St Andrew Bridge:
The bridge which was built in 1910 named after Sir John Anderson, Governor of the Straits Settlements to accommodate the increasing volume of land traffic at Cavenagh Bridge at that time.
Cavenagh Bridge:
This beautiful small-bridge built in 1868 was named after Sir Orfeur Cavenagh the last India-appointed Governor of Singapore.
The construction of these bridges in the past meant to connect the commercial and government sectors which were concentrated at each side of the river.
“Sampan” or row-boat operated by Indians was used to cross the river before the bridges constructed. They also hawked snacks and sundry items.
Basically the economic and early city development evolved around the Singapore River.
From the ancient fishing village occupied by the “Orang Laut” (Sea-Gypsies) to the arrival of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and early immigrants, the river was always busy with trading activities.
When the first quay, Boat Quay today was built in 1823, the area along the river became industrialized with godowns/warehouses and shop houses were built almost everywhere.
Some of these old godowns/warehouses and shop houses are preserved as you may see today. The quayside also rejuvenated and turned into an exciting recreational and entertainment activities such as al fresco dining, "live-music" entertainment, disco-dancing and more...It turns to a vibrant place at night!
New buildings including modern shopping malls, skyscrapers office buildings, and hotels have also sprung up along the river blend well with the old ones. They give us a perfect picture of modern Singapore and the past.
