A note from Mom and Dad: Not every famous sight is a hit. Here’s Hazel’s honest review of visiting Gardens by the Bay with kids, with practical notes for parents at the bottom.
Singapore’s Supertrees are really beautiful, but they weren’t really my interest. Here’s why!
How we got there might be a little different than what you do if you go to these Supertrees. We had a very hot, sweaty, and smoky walk, because there were a lot of fires in the region when we went. I would recommend a train if you go to the Supertrees.
When we got there we were really hungry, so we tried to find a restaurant (Satay by the Bay) that we had seen on Instagram, but when we got there all the signs were wrong because the workers there were tearing them down since the restaurant was closing soon. That left us confused, but thanks to my dad’s GPS we were able to find our way (if you go there someday, it will probably be torn down by the time you get there). After we got our fill of chicken satay and mango sticky rice, we started to head to the Supertree Grove.
By then it was starting to get dark and way more crowded, but… on the bright side, the Supertrees were starting to light up. There were two sections of Supertrees, and we had only been in one, so we headed to the other one because they were putting on a light show. When we got to the other part of the Supertrees we found out that there were some small rides, like what you would see at a festival. We didn’t go on any, but they did look fun for kids that are just a little younger than me. When we finally got to the place that had the light show, there was this family who was hogging almost all the space, but we were able to squeeze in, and did I mention that it was super crowded, because it was!
When the light show started, it wasn’t that interesting because they were just playing music and the lights on the trees were dancing to the music, but the music was pretty strange. We left a little bit early to beat the crowds.
It was really stressful to find the way out because the music was loud and overwhelming, but when we finally found the exit there were already a bunch of people there, so that was even more stressful! When we got out of the Supertrees, we found out that the train station was in a mall, so that didn’t help our stress! But eventually we found the train station in the mall, so we were finally able to go back to our hotel and go to bed. But I was still jet-lagged, so I wasn’t able to go to sleep till like ten o’clock at night, and then I woke up at like 5 a.m., so definitely not the best sleep for the next day to come! The Supertrees were not my favorite thing, but if you go, maybe you will like them more than I did.
Parent Notes
Information as of October 2026. Confirm hours and conditions on the official sites before you go.
- Where: Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay (18 Marina Gardens Drive). Entry to the Grove and the outdoor gardens is free. The conservatories, the OCBC Skyway, and the Supertree Observatory need tickets.
- Light show: Garden Rhapsody is free and runs nightly at 7:45 pm and 8:45 pm, for about 15 minutes. Arrive early to find a spot. It was crowded and loud enough to overwhelm Hazel, so consider ear protection for noise-sensitive kids, and agree on a meeting spot in case you get separated.
- Getting there: take the MRT to Bayfront (Exit B) and follow the underground link toward the Gardens. That route runs through the Marina Bay Sands mall, which is easy to get turned around in. The Gardens by the Bay station on the Thomson-East Coast Line is another option. We’d choose the train over our hot, smoky walk.
- About the smoke: when we visited in September, haze from fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia, was drifting over Singapore. It’s a seasonal problem, with risk highest from June to October in dry years. Singapore’s National Environment Agency posts readings at haze.gov.sg and in the myENV app, and a PSI above 100 is considered unhealthy. On bad days, it advises reducing prolonged or strenuous outdoor activity. Check the numbers the morning of your visit.
- Plan B for bad air or heat: the cooled conservatories or the ArtScience Museum next door (where we did teamLab Future World) are good indoor options.
- Eating: Satay by the Bay, the open-air food court we looked for, closed on October 1, 2026 to make way for a new wetlands development. Other dining options remain around the Gardens.
- Heat: go in the evening, bring water, and wear light clothing.
- Before you go: check the official Gardens by the Bay site for current hours and closures.
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