Orchard Road, Singapore’s bustling shopping drag, is a wide, one-way street flanked by tree-lined walkways. The road was named for the fruit plantations found here in the 19th century. The first malls made their debut back in the 1970s, and it’s been under nonstop development ever since.
Orchard is designed with underground tunnels that provide easy access to shopping centers on either side of the street, or on neighboring Scotts Road. Top fashion labels from the United States, Europe, and Australia, along with up-and-coming Asian brands, can all be found in the malls along this strip. A number of the city’s top hotels and restaurants are also here and on the aligning lanes, along with the infamous Orchard Towers, a large entertainment complex with several bars where pole dancers, lady-boys, and other racy performers are often part of the show. Emerald Hill, a lane filled with restored traditional shophouses, offers several bars for a relaxing drink. And just one stop on the MRT brings you to Newton Circus, a nearby hawker center with great, albeit often overpriced, seafood.
