Orchard Road

Singapore's most famous boulevard, Orchard Road runs for more than two kilometres through a glittering canyon of malls — from the wave-fronted ION Orchard and Ngee Ann City to a string of department stores and luxury flagships. Once a road lined with nutmeg and pepper plantations, it's now the city's retail and people-watching heart, with basement food halls and air-conditioned relief from the heat at every turn. Even non-shoppers come for the dining, the side-street cafés of Emerald Hill, and especially the spectacular year-end Christmas light-up, when the whole street sparkles. It's walkable and well connected by three MRT stations. Evenings and weekends are busiest; weekday afternoons are calmer.