Singapore Changi Airport: How to Enjoy Your Layover at the World’s Best Airport

On our most recent trip back to Australia from the Netherlands I decided I wanted to do a long layover at Singapore Changi Airport. This is partly because I had read about how amazing the airport is and partly because of my fibromyalgia, which requires much more recovery time after long flights than I ever needed before. So we booked our flights with Singapore Airlines and organised to have a very long layover on the way to Australia (about 13 hours) and a slightly shorter but still long-ish one on the way back to Europe (about 8 hours). These two layovers gave us plenty of time to properly experience everything the airport has to offer and I would highly recommend you organise your own layover if you’re travelling past and not stopping in Singapore itself! Of course, we’ve now also decided that next time we should have a couple of days in Singapore so we can explore further but Singapore Changi Airport definitely lives up to the hype. Here’s everything you need to know to have your own fantastic stopover.

About Singapore Changi Airport

Singapore Changi Airport has been in operation since 1981 and has grown massively over the years. It is now one of the largest transport hubs in Asia, the third busiest airport in Asia, and the 18th busiest in the world. There are four main terminals, plus the Jewel Changi Airport entertainment/retail complex, with three runways. Apparently, a plane lands at Changi Airport every 80 seconds.

It’s also well known for how beautiful the terminals are, with so much for visitors to see and do during a layover, which is what we discovered on our recent trip! As I mentioned in the intro, I had researched all the different things that passengers could do on a layover, which is why I decided to make sure we could experience one on our most recent trip to Australia. In the past, I’ve nearly always had a layover in Dubai but Singapore is definitely the coolest airport I’ve ever experienced (although granted, I haven’t seen all the best ones in the world).

There’s also a new terminal and runway currently under construction, with Terminal 5 set to be larger than the other four combined! This new terminal and runway are due to open in 2030, so the airport is only going to get bigger and better in the future.

Transiting Through Singapore Changi Airport – What It’s Like

The main thing that strikes you as soon as you arrive at Singapore Changi Airport is the amount of nature to be found within the airport terminals! There are live mini gardens everywhere, as well as water features with live fish that make the terminals feel less sterile and stuffy than many massive airports. Everything is meticulously clean and we saw gardeners watering the plants at different points, so everything is very well looked after.

These incredible garden/pond sections are further enhanced by beautiful screens on the ceiling in some places, which play a range of images to make it seem like you’re looking at clouds and birds in the sky during the day, or seeing the surface of a pond filled with wildlife at night. There are also sounds of birds calling to really make you feel immersed in nature, rather than inside a huge building.

There is also so much to do within the airport terminals, so you won’t have to worry about getting bored even if you have a long layover. There are an incredible amount of cafés and restaurants for dining, as well as so many shops for purchasing gifts, souvenirs or just nice clothes while you’re there as well. We also found that everyone we spoke to spoke English, so there were no issues with communication.

Getting Around Within Singapore Changi Airport

Singapore Changi Airport is huge, with four main terminals that are so large and spread out that there’s actually a Skytrain to travel between them! This Skytrain is basically a monorail that travels between terminals 1, 2 and 3, with the monorail going outside so you can see the exterior of the airport and Jewel as you go. There’s no cost to catch the Skytrain, so you can ride between the terminals as much as you like, with never more than a couple of minutes waiting for the next one.

One of the specific lines also goes inside the Jewel so that passengers can see the incredible interior, including the Rain Vortex – the tallest indoor waterfall in the world! You can’t go into the Jewel from within the terminals, but being able to look out the windows of the Skytrain to see it was still pretty awesome. You can also walk between the terminals via the covered overpass walkways that you can see below but the Skytrain was so fun and we did so much walking within the terminals that we never bothered to do this.

Note that Terminal 4 is actually only connected to the rest of the airport via a free shuttle bus which takes between 10 – 18 minutes each way, so we didn’t bother going out there.

Transit Hotels within Singapore Changi Airport

Since Changi Airport is so large and gets so many passengers transiting through the airport (not just arriving to visit or return to Singapore) it also contains a number of transit hotels where you can sleep, eat and shower within the airport proper – so you don’t need to go through security to get to a hotel and then have to come back. The best thing is that most of these hotels also offer bookings in hourly slots, so you don’t have to book an overnight stay, you can just check in for a few hours to get some sleep between flights. On our 13-hour layover, I booked us into the Aerotel Singapore Transit Hotel in Terminal 1 for six hours so that we could shower and sleep before exploring the airport.

The main reason I chose this one as opposed to the others was because it included a meal and the hotel also has a rooftop pool where I thought we might want to go for a swim while we were there! Unfortunately, I actually felt really ill after we landed so all I wanted to do was shower and sleep, so we didn’t actually try out the free meal or the pool while we were there. The hot shower was perfect though, everything was lovely and clean and the beds were very comfy. The rooms don’t have windows, which is actually great if you want to try and sleep in the middle of the day.

Other hotels within the airport terminals include the Ambassador Transit Hotel (we didn’t stay there but I did use their lounge on the way back, which I will mention later) and the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Hotel, which also has an outdoor pool but is more expensive (and fancy) than the others. Do note that if you book any of these through booking.com then you can only book an overnight rate. If you want to book just for a few hours you will need to go to their official websites.

Things to Do on a Layover in Singapore Changi Airport

Now aside from getting some sleep and a shower (or going for a swim at a hotel), there is a LOT to do while you’re transiting at Singapore Changi Airport! Here are all the cool things to see and do while you’re there.

Visit the Butterfly Garden

Singapore Changi Aiport is the first airport to have an in-house butterfly garden, which is connected to the outdoors in Terminal 3. It’s very humid since you go out of the air-conditioned airport building proper, but you’re still within the terminal in a little jungle garden that’s spread out over two levels with a 6-meter high waterfall in it! Even if you have a trolley filled with baggage you can still go into both floors but will have to go out and then use an elevator inside the terminal proper to get to both levels of the butterfly garden. It is very cool, with display boards about the different butterflies, many of which you will see sitting on slices of fresh fruit as you wander around.

Shop Til You Drop!

All of the airport terminals are filled with shops, including many high-end brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Dior, Balenciaga, Cartier, Gucci and many, many more. While it wasn’t in our budget to shop at any of these places, just admiring some of the amazing window displays was entertaining enough, a great example was the Louis Vuitton shop in the photo above, which features a moving scene of underwater creatures on the screen at the front of the shop! There are also other shops that aren’t quite so pricey, so Dennis actually bought a new little cross-body bag which he used the whole time we were in Australia and we got lots of nice souvenirs and gifts for family as well. If you’re someone who likes to shop you will have a whale of a time here!

Play

Aside from shopping, there are lots of other fun things to do in the airport, including quite a few different play areas for children that all looked very cool, especially the bear-themed one in the photo above! If you’re travelling with kids then you’ll probably need to drag them away from the LEGO store and the many shops that had cute toys, while I also saw plenty of children being entertained by the live fish in many of the pools. In the photo below left, the fish could actually swim up into the special section that came up above ground and be face-to-face with kids, and when Dennis hovered his finger above the water in the middle photo all the nearby fish came to see if he had food.

Other cool activities include the world’s tallest slide within an airport at TheSlide@T3 (in Terminal 3), a sunflower garden in Terminal 3, free movies showing continuously in the theatre in Terminal 3 and an entertainment deck with arcade machines, PlayStations and computer games in Terminal 2.

Relax

Of course, after a long flight sometimes all you want to do is rest and relax but luckily there are plenty of options for that as well! As I mentioned before, I used the Ambassador Transit Lounge on our return journey just so that I could have a shower in between flights but you can also use their gym, book in for a massage or just relax in the private lounge. This one you can also book short stays in their lounge or nap rooms on booking.com but there are also other showers and lounges that you can pay to use when you arrive.

Sitting and watching the beautiful gardens which feature moving images, music and live fish is also very relaxing. The Enchanted Garden is located in Terminal 3 and Dreamscape is located in Terminal 2 so make sure you check them both out.

There are also plenty of comfortable lounge chairs throughout the terminals, including some full-length ones for lying down and having a nap, if you can manage to snag one. I was also very happy to sit and relax with a Boost Juice since they don’t exist in Europe and they do the best smoothies and juices!

Sightsee

Everywhere you look in Singapore Changi Airport you will find beautiful things to admire (and take photos of) including seasonal displays throughout all the terminals. We saw lots of dragon-themed displays since we were visiting in January and February of 2024, which is the year of the dragon! There are also many spots to sit and watch all the planes landing and taking off, including the very cool Pokemon-themed one we spotted above.

Do a Free Tour of Singapore or the Jewel

One of the absolute coolest things about a layover at Singapore Changi Airport is that they also offer free tours of either some city highlights or the Jewel if you have a long enough layover. The Jewel complex is connected to the airport, but you have to go out through security to access it so it’s not something you can usually visit as a transit passenger. But if you manage to sign up for one of the free tours, a guide will take you through security on the way out and back, then you’ll go by coach either into the city proper for a few hours or to see the attractions at the Jewel.

You do need to make sure for yourself that you will have enough time to get back through security before your connecting flight and the tours are very popular, so much so that they were completely booked up by the time our flights were confirmed and I went to reserve one. There are also, however, desks within the terminals where you can sign up to join a tour, I think they must have a certain number of tickets reserved for guests who want to join on the day. We saw a big line when we went past before the desk had even opened, and I opted not to try for a tour as I was feeling ill. However, it would definitely be an awesome way to see a bit of Singapore on your way through!

Where To Eat in Singapore Changi Airport

One last thing that Singapore Changi Airport contains in abundance is excellent places to eat! My favourite of all the many restaurants, cafés and kiosks was the Food Street, pictured above and below, which has been constructed to look like a street in the city with streetfood vendors selling all sorts of delicious dishes.

We ate here during both of our layovers as the food was really good, and the whole concept was quite cute as well. You ordered and paid at self-service booths, then went over to the tables where the little fake food trucks (in the photo above) are, then waited for your number to be called when your dish is ready. In the photo below were our dinners from the second layover we had (I had Vietnamese pho), but I also really enjoyed the fried rice from our first layover. Dennis had the same dish both times as he liked it so much, although I can’t remember what it was called!

We also got smoothies from Boost Juice on both of our layovers and enjoyed some iced coffees but there were so many amazing places to try, like the colourful Asian Street Kitchen below, which had its own little rickshaw out the front. There are also plenty of Western chains in the terminals, including Hard Rock Café, Hudsons Coffee, Pret a Manger, Starbucks, Burger King, KFC, McDonald’s, Subway and even a Heineken World Bar.

Honestly, this airport has everything you could ever need and we were able to pay with credit card at every place we spent money with no issues. If you ever have the chance to experience a layover at Singapore Changi Airport, make sure you take it!

Pin Me!

Have you ever transited through Singapore Changi Airport? Let me know if I’ve missed any cool things to see or do while there or pin one of these if you’ll be going there soon!