48 hours in Singapore

Why go now

The ultimate stopover city en route to Australasia deserves more than an overnight stay, especially this month. With the globe-girdling Singapore arts festival beginning this week (and continuing until 24 June), the city state is a destination in its own right. Get over your jet lag with the help of Philip Glass, the Moscow Art Theatre or a couple of Singapore Slings (but not at Raffles).

Beam down

Non-stop flights from Heathrow on Qantas for £450 return through Flightbookers (020-7757 2317; www.ebookers.com); the same company sells direct services from Manchester on Singapore Airlines for £461. Emirates flies from Birmingham and Manchester via Dubai for £430 through Bridge the World (0870 444 7474). From several UK airports, you can travel for £366 through Trailfinders (020-7938 3939; www.trailfinders.co.uk) on Air France via Paris. Through the special promotion with Cathay Pacific, you can fly from Heathrow or Manchester to Hong Kong and onwards to Singapore for £469, between 1 September and 8 December.

Take a ride

From the basement level of Changi airport, bus 36 runs every 10 minutes from 6am to midnight. It serves the city centre and Orchard Road, including many hotels, for a fare of S$1.50 (60p). Visually, it is an instructive introduction to the city, taking you from the bowels of the world's favourite airport, past endless apartment buildings and swathes of parkland before a dramatic sweep of skyscrapers, and a run through the heart of the city. Singapore's reputation for rigour confronts you on board; notices warn that the penalty for littering on the bus is S$1,000 (£387) or a "corrective work order". Yet the city is much more human and anarchic than the image suggests.

Check in

Ask your travel agent or airline about special stopover packages ­ often, these are available for a nominal amount on top of the cost of the flight. The trendiest place to stay is the Gallery Evason (1 on interactive map) at 76 Robertson Quay (00 65 235 2498), which has a promotion of S$140 single or double (£55, including tax, excluding breakfast) until the end of October. You may find it hard to track down the reception desk; it is concealed on the fourth floor. On a smaller budget, you could throw yourself on the mercy of the Christian community. For one night, I stayed at the YMCA (2) at 1 Orchard Road (00 65 336 6000), where a room costs around S$100 (£38); for the next, the Waterloo Hostel (3) at 55 Waterloo Street (00 65 336 6555), run by the Catholic authorities in Singapore. The worst breakfast west of Java is included in the room rate of S$60 (£22) ­ less 10 per cent for "Catholic fathers and sisters".

Get your bearings

Singapore island is the same size and diamond shape as the Isle of Wight. The city is south-central, and divides into several distinct zones. The old colonial centre clings to the Singapore River. Little India, and the Islamic quarter around Arab Street, are to the north; Chinatown is on the south bank. Most visitors gravitate to the shops and hotels of Orchard Road. Public transport around the whole island works superbly well, with frequent buses and the fast Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) railway, all at bargain fares.

Take a hike

For a slice of ancient and modern, start at the Fullerton Hotel (4), in the fine old home of the Singapore Club and the Post Office ­ now yet another luxury hotel, though with more character than most. Close to the north door, pay your respects to the city's symbol, the half-fish, half-lion Merlion. Then walk across Anderson Bridge to the colonial core. A statue of the city's founder, Sir Stamford Raffles, stands in front of the handsome Victoria Theatre (5). Skirt past the Singapore Cricket Club (6) (where, these days, bowls is a more common pastime) and across the wide Padang to the striking War Memorial (7). Plunge into the tangle of subways, steel and glass of Suntec City. Make your own luck at the "Fountain of Wealth", the world's largest fountain (8). Communing with good fortune is permitted at 9-11am, 2.30-6pm and 7-7.45pm daily.

Lunch on the run

You can't walk 10 yards in any direction in some parts of Singapore without someone offering to sell you food. At any kopitiam (coffee shop) you can point at anything from Hainan chicken to Malay satay. For a high-energy location, the Little India Arcade (9) at the foot of Serangoon Road offers frenetic activity in addition to excellent Sri Lankan vegetarian food and some north Indian dishes, mainly served in banana leaves.

Cultural afternoon

The sophisticated surface of 21st-century Singapore masks a troubled history. The handsome and thoughtful History Museum (10) traces the story of waves of traders and colonists who helped to create Singapore and the post-independence traumas. You can also visit a recreation of life in a Peranakan home ­ where Chinese and Malay traditions blend ­ and see a powerful exhibition on the Pacific War.

Window shopping

Orchard Road appears to be a blur of shopping malls, but they are by no means identical. Amid some impressive street sculptures, you will find the predictable designer shops at the Paragon (11) and the closest thing to alternative Singapore up Scott's Road at the Far East Plaza (12). Between bouts of buying, find your way to the exquisite Peranakan Place (13), one of the few properly preserved parts of Singapore.

An apertif

"Have a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar at Raffles", everyone will suggest. Don't. The bar is chilly, gloomy and overpriced. Instead, take a sundowner on the chic terrace of the Crossroads Café (14), at the corner of Orchard Road and Scott's Road, beneath the Marriott Hotel. The Slings are half the price of those at Raffles, and the ambience twice as good.

Dining with the locals

Eat outside, for example with the crowds at the Newton Circus Hawker Centre. Shop around for the most enticing seafood and the cheapest Tiger beer. However, if you fancy a more demure experience, try IndoChine (15) (42 Waterloo Street, 00 65 333 5003, www.IndoChine.com.sg), where you can dine al fresco. Laotian sausage with a peanut, lime and ginger garnish, Vietnamese pepper beef, and sticky rice with mango, washed down with a French Merlot works out at £55 for two. Most restaurant prices are quoted as "triple plus", meaning that 1 per cent government tax, 3 per cent general sales tax and 10 per cent service are added.

Sunday morning: go to church

Make that churches. Start at the prim St Andrew's Cathedral (16), then move on to the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (17) ­ the oldest Catholic school in Singapore, now converted into a shopping and eating centre called Chijmes (the first four letters are the initials of the school), with much of the original retained. Most beautiful, though strangely omitted from the official tourist map of Singapore, is the Catholic Cathedral of the Good Shepherd (18), whose main features are borrowed from two central London churches: the Doric columns hail from St Paul's in Covent Garden, the belfry from St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Bracing brunch

Brunch (11.30am-2.30pm) at the Longbar Steakhouse at Raffles (19) is an institution ­ so much so that you will need to book in advance on 00 65 331 1612 for the S$51 (£18) buffet (if you charge your bill to an American Express card, you save 20 per cent). After you've had your fill, wander up to the Museum on the top floor. Here, an array of sepia photographs, extracts from newspapers, luggage labels and travel posters remind you that London wasn't always 12 hours away, and of the days when people wanting a passage to Australia were obliged to pay "in Sovereigns or Spanish Dollars". Peek into Jubilee Hall, Raffles' own 400-seat theatre. If Raffles is full, many other hotel restaurants feature weekend buffets, often called "Tunch". The feast at the Bayview at 30 Bencoolen Street (20) is good value at around S$16 (£6).

A walk in the park

Fort Canning was an early British military creation, topping the hill just north of the river. The main feature now is a large reservoir, but memorials to the British era are dotted about ­ most poignantly in the "Battle Box" (21) (open 10am-6pm daily except Monday), the underground bunker where officers capitulated to Japanese forces in 1942. Proof that the colonial heart still beats strongly can be found just downhill at the Fort Canning Country Club.

The icing on the cake

That'll be chocolate icing. At the Fullerton Hotel (4), each Sunday evening is a cocoa frenzy during the 7-11pm Chocolate Buffet. For a flat fee of S$21 (£8), you can eat as much confectionery as you can manage. Do not try this immediately before your flight home.

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