What to order at a hawker centre when you have no idea
Four stalls to look for, how the numbering works, and why the queue is not always the answer.
Singapore · groups of eight or fewer
See the city the way people who live here do.
Straits Tours runs small-group walks, hawker trails and island afternoons across Singapore. No coaches, no flag on a stick, no shop visits — just a guide who knows the street and the stallholder.
6 licensed guides
12 routes across the island
8 guests maximum
2016 guiding here since
Most booked
All twelve tours →
Three routes people keep coming back for
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Evening hawker trail
We eat where the queue is local, not where the queue is a coach party. Bring an appetite and no plans afterwards.
S$95 / personDeparts 17:30 -
Tiong Bahru morning walk
Art Deco blocks, a wet market that has been there since 1955, and the story of how this estate became the city's quietest neighbourhood.
S$65 / personDeparts 08:30 -
Southern Islands afternoon
A slow afternoon on the water: two islands, one long beach, and the history of the strait the city grew up around.
S$120 / personDeparts 13:00
Plan your days
All neighbourhoods →
Neighbourhoods we know street by street
Short guides written by the guides themselves, with the hours that actually matter and the stalls worth the detour.
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Chinatown & Maxwell
Best before 10:00 if you want the market, after 17:00 if you want the food. Skip the souvenir stretch on Pagoda Street.
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Bukit Timah
Start at the old railway bridge while it is still cool. The hill is steeper than the photos suggest.
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Katong & Joo Chiat
The pastel facades photograph best at 16:00. Two of the best kueh shops close by 15:00, so plan the walk around them.
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Lavender & Jalan Besar
An evening neighbourhood: the stalls on the corner stay open late and the queues move fast after 20:00.
Journal
All entries →
Notes from the street
Rain in the afternoon, and what to do about it
The monsoon is not a season here, it is a time of day. A few routes that survive a downpour.
Why we cap groups at eight
Not a marketing line: nine is the number where the stallholder stops talking to you and starts handing out trays.
Not sure which route fits your days?
Tell us when you are in town and what you like eating. We will suggest two routes and say honestly if none of them suit.