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I have been to Singapore on numerous occasions. This is technically accurate and also deeply misleading, because every single one of those occasions has involved Changi Airport, a connection to somewhere else, and the particular pleasure of spending four hours eating Chicken Rice in Terminal 1 while watching the rest of the world connect onwards. I have never, not once, actually been to Singapore proper. I have been to the airport. These are not the same thing.
I say this upfront because I believe in transparency, and also because the alternative ; presenting myself as a seasoned Singapore hand who knows which rooftop bar has the best sightlines from the east ; would require a level of imagination I’m not prepared to sustain for eight thousand words.
What I can offer you instead is this: an honest guide, assembled from extensive research, from conversations with fellow travellers who have actually stood on those terraces and watched the skyline light up, and from sources I consider reliable enough to recommend. Singapore, by all accounts, does rooftop bars rather well. Given that the city is essentially a vertical experiment in what happens when you combine extraordinary wealth, serious architectural ambition, and a climate that makes outdoor drinking a year-round proposition, this is perhaps not surprising.
If you are a solo traveller over 50 and you are either in Singapore or considering it, the view from the top is very much worth the price of a cocktail. Possibly two.
A Note on Doing This Alone
There is a particular quiet pleasure to visiting a rooftop bar solo that people who only ever go in groups tend to miss. You get the window seat, or the corner of the rail, or the exact spot nobody else is standing at because they are busy taking group photographs with expressions of organised delight. You drink at your own pace. You leave when you want to. You do not have to wait for anyone to finish a conversation about something that happened at work last Tuesday.
Singapore’s bar scene is, by general consensus, one of the most solo-friendly in Southeast Asia. The solo traveller is not a curiosity here in the way they might be in more family-oriented destinations. Dress reasonably well, order something, and the city will leave you alone to enjoy it. This is, by my reckoning, a perfectly acceptable arrangement. For broader thoughts on what makes solo travel over 50 so rewarding, there’s more in the guide to why now is exactly the right time to go it alone.
The Iconic Views (Worth Every Singapore Dollar)
SKAI Bar ; Swissôtel The Stamford, 70th Floor
SKAI sits on the 70th floor of Swissôtel The Stamford, which is one of those facts that sounds impressive until you realise Singapore has quite a lot of buildings of roughly that height and the competition is fierce. It earns its place on this list not just for the altitude but for what it does with it: floor-to-ceiling glass, a Scandinavian-influenced interior that manages to feel genuinely calm rather than performatively minimal, and a cocktail list priced at around S$25 to S$27 (around £14.50 to £16) that most people consider fair given the circumstances.
The views take in the Singapore Strait, the colonial district, and on a clear day enough of the horizon to remind you that the world is, in fact, quite large. It runs a smart casual dress code, which is worth knowing before you arrive in the shorts you wore to the airport. Reservations are worth making, particularly in the evenings.
CÉ LA VI ; Marina Bay Sands, 57th Floor
If you have seen one photograph of Singapore taken from anywhere above street level in the last fifteen years, there is a reasonable chance it was taken from or near Marina Bay Sands. The building is one of those rare architectural achievements that manages to be both genuinely extraordinary and also slightly surreal in person; the SkyPark on top connects three towers and carries a swimming pool that appears, from below, to defy several principles of structural engineering.
CÉ LA VI occupies the SkyPark level and offers what is fairly described as one of the finest rooftop bar views on the planet. The cocktails run to around S$25 (around £14.50), the crowd varies by time of day from genuinely interesting to enthusiastically photographed, and the evenings bring international DJs who ensure the atmosphere is considerably more animated than the view requires.
The trick, if you are doing this solo and over 50 and find the DJ nights slightly exhausting, is to go for sunset. Late afternoon on a weekday, when the tour groups have largely moved on and the evening crowd has not yet arrived, is by reliable account the best version of CÉ LA VI. The view is the same. The noise is considerably lower.
NOVA ; CapitaSpring, 63rd Floor
NOVA holds what is currently the highest rooftop bar position in Singapore, sitting at 282 metres in CapitaSpring in Raffles Place. This is the newer entry on the Singapore skyline, and the views from 63 floors up cover the financial district, Marina Bay, and a great deal else. Cocktails start around S$22 (around £13), with a cover charge of S$25 to S$35 (around £14.50 to £20) on busier nights that includes a drink.
It leans towards high-energy on evenings and weekends, which is either a feature or a drawback depending entirely on your preferences. Weekday early evenings are the gentler option for those of us who find a DJ at considerable volume somewhat counterproductive to enjoying a view.
The Ones Serious Drinkers Actually Talk About
Smoke & Mirrors ; National Gallery Singapore
Smoke & Mirrors sits atop the National Gallery Singapore, which occupies the former Supreme Court and City Hall buildings and is one of the more architecturally interesting institutions the city has produced. The bar has featured consistently on Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, which is the kind of endorsement that tends to be meaningful.
The cocktails here are genuinely creative, the views take in the Padang and Marina Bay from a different angle than the usual suspects, and the crowd is a notch more knowledgeable about what they are drinking than you might encounter elsewhere. It is, by numerous accounts, one of the better choices for a solo evening if you appreciate a well-made drink and somewhere with actual character. Prices are in the usual Singapore rooftop range; expect S$22 to S$26 (around £13 to £15) for cocktails. The setting at the heritage building level adds something that the glass-tower bars cannot replicate, and sunset from the terrace is reportedly extraordinary.
Southbridge ; Boat Quay, 5th Floor
Southbridge operates at a relatively modest altitude compared to the tower bars, sitting five storeys above Boat Quay on the Singapore River. What it lacks in vertical drama it compensates for with 360-degree views, an intelligently assembled list of artisanal spirits, and an atmosphere that people consistently describe as genuinely intimate rather than aspirationally so.
This is not a bar that announces itself loudly. That is, for a certain kind of traveller, precisely the point. Cocktails run around S$22 (around £13). The river views at night, with the colonial shophouses lit and the water moving below, make it one of the more atmospheric options in the city.
VUE ; OUE Bayfront, 19th Floor
VUE sits on the 19th floor at Collyer Quay and takes in views across Marina Bay, the waterfront and the skyline. It runs a happy hour until 7:30pm that takes cocktails and wine to around S$18 to S$24 (around £10 to £14), which is meaningful in a city where the prices at height tend to scale accordingly.
The wine list is well-regarded, the atmosphere is more restrained than the big tower venues, and the terrace is the kind of place where you can actually hold a conversation or, if you are alone, sit quietly and watch the water without feeling conspicuous. It is solid, well-considered, and considerably less crowded than the venues that appear in every travel list.
The Interesting Alternatives
LeVeL33 ; Marina Bay Financial Centre, 33rd Floor
LeVeL33 makes a reasonable claim to being the world’s highest urban microbrewery, which is a narrow category but a genuine one. The brewery operates on-site, and the result is a selection of house-made beers ; lager, porter, stout, pale ale, wheat beer ; served alongside views of Marina Bay and the downtown skyline that would satisfy most reasonable expectations.
Beer runs S$17 to S$20 (around £10 to £12), cocktails to S$26 (around £15). The atmosphere is more relaxed than the cocktail bars, the food is reportedly decent, and the crowd is a reasonable mix of after-work professionals and tourists who have found their way there. For anyone who prefers a pint to a S$25 creation involving activated charcoal, this is the obvious choice.
Mr Stork ; Andaz Singapore, 39th Floor
Mr Stork is, by common agreement, the most visually eccentric rooftop bar in Singapore. The 39th floor of Andaz Singapore has been fitted out with tepee-like huts scattered across a garden setting, which produces an atmosphere that is either wonderfully whimsical or mildly confusing depending on what you were expecting when you stepped out of the lift. It has been described as ‘quirky’ by enough people that the description probably holds.
The cocktails run around S$24 (around £14). The city views are good, the Instagram activity is high, and the setting is distinctive enough that it earns a place on any serious itinerary simply for being unlike everywhere else. Sunset visits are recommended.
Artemis Grill & Sky Bar ; CapitaGreen, 40th Floor
Artemis Grill sits on the 40th floor of CapitaGreen in the CBD and runs a weeknight happy hour from 5pm to 8pm that brings cocktails and wine to considerably more reasonable prices than the default rates. Drinks run around S$24 (around £14) at standard pricing; the happy hour makes it one of the better-value options for a Thursday evening with a view.
The food is Mediterranean and reportedly well-executed; the crowd is professional and largely low-key on weeknights. For solo travellers who want a proper meal with a skyline attached, this is among the more sensible combinations the city offers.
Atelier By The Bay ; Changi Waterfront, 8th-9th Floor
Atelier By The Bay occupies the 8th and 9th floors near the Changi waterfront, which puts it outside the main downtown circuit and makes it genuinely quieter. The ocean views are different from the city-centre skyline options, cocktails run S$16 to S$18 (around £9 to £10), and the absence of the usual rooftop bar crowd creates an atmosphere that people who discover it tend to appreciate considerably.
It is the option for anyone who finds the Marina Bay circuit slightly relentless and wants to watch water without a skyline attached. The Changi area is accessible and, being close to the airport, has a certain usefulness if you are beginning or ending a journey. I mention this for obvious personal reasons.
Practical Notes on Doing All of This
Getting Around
Singapore’s MRT is among the most efficient urban rail systems on the planet. The standard tourist advice is simply to use it, and the standard tourist advice is correct. An EZ-Link card or SimplyGo card handles fares across the entire network; single journeys typically run S$1.20 to S$2.50 (around £0.70 to £1.45). Taxis and Grab are readily available for the small number of places the MRT doesn’t reach conveniently.
The Grab app ; Southeast Asia’s equivalent of Uber ; works seamlessly throughout Singapore and is worth downloading before you arrive. For connectivity, an eSIM is the most practical option; the guide to staying connected abroad without paying roaming charges covers the options in detail, and the Airalo eSIM review is worth reading before you travel.
Dress Codes
Most Singapore rooftop bars operate smart casual as their stated minimum. In practice this means: no flip-flops, no vests, no beachwear. A clean pair of trousers and a collared shirt will admit you everywhere on this list without incident. Jacket and shoes required only at the most formal venues.
Cover Charges
Several of the busier venues operate cover charges on Friday and Saturday evenings, typically S$25 to S$35 (around £14.50 to £20) including a drink. Weekday evenings consistently avoid cover charges and are considerably less crowded. If your schedule is flexible, the Wednesday-Thursday window offers most of the atmosphere at a notable reduction in both price and noise.
Booking
Reservations are advisable for most of the higher-profile venues, particularly CÉ LA VI, SKAI, and NOVA on weekend evenings. Walk-ins are usually possible on weekdays. Singapore’s bar scene moves quickly enough that checking current availability before you go is worth the effort; GetYourGuide and Viator Singapore both list guided bar crawl options and city experiences that can be useful for first-time visitors.
Where to Stay
Singapore’s accommodation sits at the higher end of Southeast Asian pricing, which is worth budgeting for rather than being surprised by. The Marina Bay area puts you within reach of the city’s landmark venues; the Tanjong Pagar and Chinatown districts offer more character and often better value.
For solo travellers, the city’s hotel stock includes a reasonable selection of well-designed single rooms; the trend toward smaller, design-conscious hotels has produced some genuinely good options at mid-range prices. Expect to pay S$150 to S$300 (around £87 to £174) per night for somewhere comfortable and well-located. Search current rates via Agoda or Trip.com. Singapore’s hotels are generally well-managed and the standards are consistently high; you are unlikely to have cause for complaint at any property with reasonable reviews.
Best Time to Visit
Singapore sits approximately one degree north of the equator, which means the weather conversation is somewhat different from most travel destinations. There is no dry season in the conventional sense. Temperatures run 25 to 33 degrees Celsius throughout the year; rain arrives without particular warning and tends to clear again quickly.
The practical implication for rooftop bar visits is this: go early evening, go on weekdays when the crowd is thinner, and accept that the occasional afternoon thunderstorm is part of the experience rather than a failure of planning. Most venues have covered or partially covered areas. Sunset in Singapore runs approximately 7pm year-round, and the light in that final hour before dark is, by consistent account, the best window for the view. February and March are somewhat drier than average; November and December bring the northeast monsoon and higher rainfall. Neither should dissuade you; Singapore functions perfectly well in the wet, and a rooftop bar with a dramatic storm moving across the strait is, by some accounts, even better than the fair-weather version.
Rooftop Bars vs Bangkok: A Brief Comparison
If you have done, or are planning, Bangkok’s rooftop bar circuit, Singapore offers a useful comparison. Bangkok’s scene tends toward the theatrical ; the famous venues are very large, very loud, and carry a tourist intensity that is either energising or exhausting depending on the evening. Singapore’s equivalent venues are generally more controlled in atmosphere, more expensive, and arguably more sophisticated in what they offer. The views in both cities are outstanding in different ways; Bangkok is lower, broader, golden-lit; Singapore is higher, tighter, maritime. The full breakdown is in the Bangkok rooftop bar guide, if you are doing both and want a proper comparison.
Travel Insurance
Singapore is one of the safer cities in the world for solo travel, but travel insurance remains non-negotiable. The healthcare system is excellent and correspondingly expensive for those without coverage. The guide to the best travel insurance for solo travellers over 50 covers the options that actually work for people in their fifties and beyond.
A Final Thought
I am aware that this guide was assembled from research and the experiences of fellow travellers rather than from evenings I personally spent watching the Singapore skyline from a height. That transparency feels important to me, not least because the alternative ; pretending to a first-hand authority I don’t have ; would be a disservice to you and somewhat embarrassing if you happened to ask me anything specific about what the lift smells like at Marina Bay Sands.
What I can tell you is that the people I have spoken to who have done these bars, the solo travellers and the couples and the people who go back to Singapore year after year, talk about the city’s rooftop scene with a consistency that is difficult to ignore. The views are extraordinary. The infrastructure is among the best in the world. The bars, taken as a collection, offer something for most temperaments and budgets.
At some point I will do Singapore properly rather than through its airport. When I do, I will update this guide with whatever I find. In the meantime, this is what the research says, and the research, by all evidence, says go.
For ideas on where Singapore might fit in a broader Asia itinerary, the guide to where to travel solo over 50 is a reasonable starting point. And if Singapore has you thinking about longer-term stays in the region, the retiring to Malaysia from the UK guide is worth reading; Kuala Lumpur is an hour’s flight away and an entirely different proposition, in the best possible way. More on the best destinations for men over 50 travelling solo is here, and if you are still deciding between the major regional options, the Bali vs Thailand comparison might help clarify thinking.
Singapore’s rooftop bars will be there when you arrive. So, presumably, will Terminal 1 and the Chicken Rice. Both, in their own way, are worth experiencing.
Singapore is not the only city in the region worth a rooftop drink and a decent view. Bangkok’s rooftop scene is, if anything, even more theatrical, and I have written up my own favourites in my guide to Bangkok’s rooftop bars for anyone stacking both cities into the same trip. Whichever direction you are travelling in, it is worth checking your travel apps are set up before you land, and sorting travel insurance is one of those jobs better done before departure than after.
A note on how I write: Every trip starts with a journal, filled in wherever I happen to be; on a bus, plane, train, or in a backstreet cafe that has clearly seen better days. It’s not tidy, and it’s not always legible even to me. When I get the time, I use AI to help turn those notes into something readable, organising drafts and occasionally rescuing a sentence that has wandered off without me. The experiences, the perspective, the humour and every editorial decision remain entirely mine. As for the photos, I’m not remotely fond of having my picture taken, family portraits included, so I also use AI to help visualise the places and moments I write about.
