Are you looking forward to time off in June with your family, but would like to save money on some activities while spending more on others? Here are some ideas for free or affordable fun or, go ahead and splurge, and travel like James Bond.
If your kids’ idea of a great time is to walk through the aviaries of the recently opened Bird Paradise, but you prefer to keep to a budget, how about heading out to Singapore’s forested areas to try to spot some relatively unusual birds here. These include the buffy fish owl, which lives in forests and mangroves close to water sources.
Before you spend lots of money on a trip to head to art museums in, say, Europe, you could first check out artworks worth millions of dollars in Singapore public spaces. There are works by artists like Spain’s Salvador Dali and America’s Roy Lichtenstein.
Here are other ideas for budgets both high and low.
1. Scenic spots
Free/affordable
Top places to shoot sunrise and sunset in Singapore
Don’t worry about having to buy big cameras to capture the dreamy colours of dawn and dusk.
Most recent models of mobile phone cameras do a perfectly fine job, said a photojournalist.
Here are some popular places for sunset and sunrise photography, including places such as the Ulu Sembawang Park Connector
Pricier
Top scenic summer spots in Europe: Bonfires and rare dancing horses
The summer solstice on June 21 marks the longest day and shortest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. It is also the symbolic start of the summer months.
In villages and cities across Spain, locals gather around bonfires that burn well into the night.
Here are the European countries you can visit during summer to experience time-honoured summer rituals.
2. Bird-spotting
Free/affordable
Where to find unusual owls, parrots and more in S’pore forested areas, parks
The buffy fish owl with long tawny ear tufts has been recorded in places such as the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, Pulau Ubin and Pasir Ris Mangroves.
Here’s when the solitary hunter may be spotted: It is active at dawn and dusk where it can be found close to waterways and urban water bodies.
Or how about looking for the beautifully coloured blue-crowned hanging parrot? Here are details on where it and other interesting birds are found.
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7 things to see and know about Bird Paradise
Bird Paradise has eight walk-through aviaries and each one reflects a different biome of the world.
For example, Heart of Africa, the park’s largest walk-through aviary at 1.55ha, draws inspiration from the forested valleys of the continent.
Here are other things to see in the park and know before your visit.
3. Learning is fun
Free/affordable
Learn in eco-playground made from upcycled wood in Tanjong Pagar with sign language wall
Residents and visitors of Tanjong Pagar can take their kids to an eco-playground designed and built by Roger&Sons.
It has a series of logs of uneven height and dynamo bicycles so that children can see how the energy generated through pedalling can be converted to power fairy lights strewn over the logs.
Find out what features it has that were designed with inclusiveness in mind.
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Learn in largest indoor playground in S’pore mall with upgraded zones, new obstacle course
Spanning more than 18,000 sq ft, the largest indoor playground in a Singapore mall underwent three weeks of upgrading works recently.
Children can have a good time at Honey’s Station, a space station-themed toddler play area featuring gentle slides and a shallow ball pit.
There’s also a new inflatable obstacle course Drago’s Land, and more fun features.
- For more family-friendly events and happenings in Singapore, check out this interactive graphic, and you can add them to your own calendar.
4. Art appreciation
Free/affordable
Head to S’pore public spaces to see artworks worth millions
Tucked away in a corner of Singapore’s financial district is a sculpture by one of the 20th century’s most renowned artists, Henry Moore. Just a few steps away is a work by prominent Surrealist Salvador Dali.
Collectively, the artworks found in public spaces here are worth tens of millions of dollars.
View the works of other world-famous artists in Singapore’s public spaces for free.
Pricier
Head to Hong Kong’s newest arts waterfront to go museum hopping
A string of new museums that has sprouted along Kowloon’s waterfront is transforming Hong Kong into an art lover’s paradise.
And it is not just great art. Artworks are paired with splendid views of Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong island’s skyline.
Here’s what you can look out for if you’re headed to the city.
5. Travel abroad
Free/affordable
Travellers find cheaper alternatives to lodging via house swops and pet sitting
Ms Lillian Smith has spent about eight of the last 12 months travelling around the world, hitting France, Morocco, Japan and South Korea.
Her cost for lodgings in that time? About one night in a hotel, along with the time she spent walking dogs, watering plants and changing litter boxes.
Travel rates are rising, and are now higher than before the pandemic, but travel-hungry consumers are finding creative ways to save money and still vacation.
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Travellers spend $17,400 for The Sound Of Music-themed trip, and $25,000 to travel like James Bond
From the post-apocalyptic bleakness of the television show The Last Of Us (2023) to the glamorous European destinations in the sprawling superspy James Bond movie franchise, one source of travel inspiration is taking on fresh appeal as pandemic restrictions recede – the fictional worlds of film and television.
“Set-jetting” – a play on “jet-setting” – will, travel analysts say, heavily influence the choice of destinations in 2023.
With search traffic surging for the filming locations of the most popular streamed movies and television shows, entertainment is expected to overtake social media as the top source of inspiration for travellers, according to research from online travel companies like Expedia.
