The Famous Orchard Road Singapore

From One End of Orchard Road to the Other

Orchard Road is bordered by the largely diverse size of shopping malls, more shopping malls and still more shopping malls. There is a statistic floating around that Orchard Road has the highest concentration of shopping malls per square kilometer of any city on earth, and staring down that impressive stretch, there’s no reason to doubt it.

Orchard Road of the Past

The trendy boulevard of today has come a long way from its dusty, country road roots. Unlike many roads in Singapore, Orchard Road was not named after any particular person, but was instead named after the many nutmeg plantations, pepper farms and fruit orchards that used to line the street in the 1830s. It was a quiet area until the late 1960s, when a few adventurous Chinese businessmen saw the potential and turned it into a major business district. Over time, the area has developed, until it has become the giant of shopping it is today. Little sign of its past remains, though the names of plantation owners like Oxley, Cairnhill and Cuppage are commemorated in the street names of the area.

A walk down Orchard Road is one of those ‘must-do’ activities for visitors coming to Singapore, and there’s plenty to see and do. Technically, the Orchard Road district begins at the Ming Hotel on Tanglin Road and finishes at the circle at Cathay. Most people, however prefer to mark their walk down the road by the shopping mall they pass along its length! There's certainly plenty of those, so let's start at the beginning.


An eyeful of scenery

One of the best things about walking along the boulevard is the opportunity to see and be seen. Orchard Road is prime posing ground for the city’s young and well listed, where many yuppies come to display their wealth and status, bought from expensive perfume counters and exclusive boutiques along the avenue. Orchard Road is where the beautiful and the sophisticated come to show off, and if it’s an eyeful of Singaporean beauty you want, then there’s no better way to get it than a stroll down the pedestrian walks on a not-too-hot Saturday afternoon.

There are also plenty of international visitors to look at. The Singapore Tourism Board has been trying to promote Orchard Road as a tourist centre, and it has been fairly successful, at least in drawing tourist shoppers — the boulevard is often packed with visitors from Europe and the States doing their best to empty their wallets before boarding the plane home. In recent years, the Middle Easterners have joined the stream of international buyers, and it’s no longer uncommon to see the women, tramping around with armload of shopping bags.


When To Visit?

Orchard Road is a grand place to visit at any time of the year, but a particularly good time is during the Great Singapore Sale, held for six weeks from May to July. During these crazy periods, every shopping mall competes in slashing their prices. The bargains are plentiful, with many designers goods going for anything from 50% to 70% off. As you can imagine this a crowded and frenzied time! Other good times to visit are during festivals like Christmas, the trees lining the avenue are festooned with lights, making a night time promenade, particularly delightful. During Chinese New Year, dragon dances are held along Orchard Road and once a year, the Chingay Parade makes its way down the boulevard, showing off all aspects of Singapore’s culture in a pageantry of floats, marching bands and dancing dragons and lions. If you miss any of these occasions. However, never fear — there’s always something to do or buy to console yourself in the many malls of Orchard Road.