Simon Donald from the UK travelled to Marina Bay Street Circuit for the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix. Here’s his travel report!
I travelled with my partner, my cousin and her partner as part of a holiday in the Far East. I had always wanted to visit Singapore and with the unique opportunity to visit with family I could not resist. We spent four days in Singapore and then took a short flight from Singapore to Phuket (via Air Asia) to meet other family members for a week of relaxing in Thailand. Our long-haul flights from Glasgow were with Emirates via Dubai
Singapore is a boiling pot of culture and the event organizers put on so much entertainment! Everything is accessible via the metro, and there are plenty of signs and information about how to get around. We stayed at the Hotel Boss which was near a Metro stop on the East West line. We got off at the City Hall stop, which was close to the Padang stage. From there it was a 5-minute walk along the promenade to our seats in the Bay Grandstand. There isn’t any particularly good place to watch the action at the Marina Bay circuit; you won’t see more than one or two corners anywhere. Our seats weren’t amazing (see view here), although the city skyline view from the Bay Grandstand was beautiful. If I went again I would go for the Stamford Grandstand.
Singapore GP puts on great music after the on-track action finishes each night. We were lucky to catch Queen with Adam Lambert and Bastille on the Saturday night at the Padang stage; not bad when you consider the concerts are included as part of the ticket cost. At the Padang area you can also check out street performers, various merchandise stalls, interactive areas and eateries. Being in the city, there are no problems finding somewhere to eat. The Metro is open late after the concerts finish, so you can walk across the track and either make your way back to the hotel or kick on for more drinks.
The first night we arrived, we booked a terrace table at LeVeL 33, which overlooks the bay area. It is a brewery that serves a great food and beer, and is easy to find in the Marina Bay Link Mall (Downtown stop on the Blue Downtown metro line). Other places we visited during our four days were Sentosa Island and Universal Studios, the Botanical Gardens, Gardens by the Bay, Chinatown and the Singapore Flyer.
