• Private Tour
• Instantly Confirmed
• Carbon Neutral

Want to see the best of Singapore? It’s all waiting in the Civic District! And as in every Withlocals experience, the real excitement is the hidden gems of this area. Uncover Singapore’s historic heart on foot as you journey through grand colonial buildings, national monuments, and hidden stories that shaped the city’s identity. Join your favorite local and get a feeling of the city's real vibe on a tour in the Civic District, so you can say: I experienced the real Singapore!

Destination

Singapore

Category

City Highlight Tours

Duration

3 hours

Transport mode

Walking tour

Available languages

English, 中文, Melayu, Msa

Included

• Private Guide
• Local Drink & Snack
• All Withlocals Tours are Carbon Neutral

Excluded

• Entrance to Attractions

What you can expect

Choose your local

Get to know these 17 passionate locals, each bringing unique perspectives and talents. Choose your favorite, check their availability, and book to create an unforgettable adventure tailored to you.

This is the plan

Check out the plan below to see what you'll get up to with your local host. Feel free to personalize this offer with the host of your choice.

1. Meeting point

   Meet at At the entrance of the Asian Civilisations Museum - Singapore to start your journey

   View on Maps

2. Itinerary

   This is what our experience could look like, but it’s not set in stone! Once you book, you can chat directly with your host to make small tweaks to suit your preferences.

3. Civic District Exploring

   This Singapore tour takes you to explore the Civic District, where you can see another area of the city. Check out its highlights and hidden gems and its many interesting insights that will show you SIngapore at its best!

4. Area Highlights

   See from Raffles Hotel, St. Andrews Cathedral, and other landmarks and must-sees of the city. Your local host will take you to the main spots in town so you can get the perfect overview of what makes Singapore so unique

5. Hidden Gems

   Along the way, your local host will show you treasures hidden in plain sight that only the locals know about. Get to know the city through a different perspective, the local way, and discover places and stories that not many tourists experience

6. Magical Storytelling

   Behind every landmark and every stop, there’s a story, and your local host is ready to tell it all. Get ready to listen to incredible stories, one-of-a-kind insights, and fun facts only a knowledgeable local would know!

7. Special Treat

   Follow your host to one of their favorite eateries for a snack or a drink beloved by the locals. Take a break and catch up with your new local friend and get the answers to all your travel questions

8. Make it yours

   Want to tweak the itinerary? Book directly & chat afterwards with your host to adjust highlights, skip stops, or make small changes to fit your preferences.

   Book risk-free: Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund.

   Need something special? Personalize your experience for more time, alternative locations or a completely tailored plan.

Flexible cancellation policy

• Feel confident booking

  Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund. Even up to 7 days before your experience, you’ll receive a refund, minus the service fee.

• Change of plans?

  Reschedule your experience to a date and time that works best for you.

• Loved by travelers worldwide

  Simple and flexible – your plans, your way.

Reviews from guests

Lydia🇩🇪 Germany

(About local Marcus )

27 July 2025

Die Führung mit Marcus war sehr informativ. Er wusste vieles zu erklären und erzählen, speziell im Buddha Tempel. Auch alle anderen Sehenswürdigkeiten.Interessante Tour

Sigrid🇧🇪 Belgium

(About local Kenny)

22 July 2025

Kenny took us through the major parts of the city. Hè gave us an insight on the life in Singapore and the different areas. Thank you Kenny!Thank you Kenny!

Dirk🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Arthur)

18 July 2025

We really had a good time with Arthur. He explained a lot about Singapore’s local culture and took us to the local hawker centres. When you want to see the local side of Singapore, choose Arthur! Also nice interaction with our daughters, he listened carefully to their questions.Perfect guide for our family!

Brooke🇺🇸 United States

(About local Leo)

25 June 2025

Leo was a fantastic guide who blending humor, history and sharing a genuine pride of Singapore. The tour pivoted slightly from a focus on Chinatown and we are so glad it did! Leo first asked - prior to tour - if we would be comfortable expanding beyond Chinatown and our time availability. We followed his lead and were treated to more of the city to include Chinatown, a rooftop view, hawker recommendations, a lobby/letter writing visit at the Fullerton for our kids… Leo was wonderful and so happy we explored the city with him. Wonderful tour and insight!

Melissa🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Kenny)

16 June 2025

We had a wonderful tour with Kenny. He was very flexible and generous in accommodating our family group and was happy to modify the tour so that our older members were more comfortable. Kenny is amazingly informative about his beautiful country. We learnt so much about Singapore and saw all the best sights on this tour. Thank you Kenny!Friendly, Fun and Informative

Susan🇺🇸 United States

(About local Leo)

3 June 2025

Where do I begin? It was excellent! Being a solo traveler I like having tour guides and Leo is one of my top 5 memorable guides of all time. He met me at my hotel (very kind of him and convenient for me) and had a loaded metro card ready for me to use. We used the clean and air conditioned underground train and walked for our tour. He knows the Downtown Core like the back of his hand and shared all the past, present and future facts of Singapore with me. He is extremely knowledgeable and enjoys questions. He taught me about their judicial government, Chinese history, educational system, food, religion and even Formula 1 (I’m a big fan). His way of sharing all this information was interesting, personal and timed to perfection so that when we discussed a topic, we were literally standing in that spot. I don’t think there are many places in the world where a tour like this one can exist. Leo and I had a fabulous day together and I was sad for it to end. He gave me valuable information to continue my day and evening. I highly recommend this tour and definitely with Leo. By the way, my metro card still had money left on it so I gave it to a worker at my hotel. It’s good to pay it forward.Amazng day with Leo!

Unknown

(About local HJ)

5 May 2025

HJ führte uns an nicht für alle betretbare Orte: Housing-Project, wir machten einen eindrücklichen Rundgang über die Dächer. HJ erklärte uns das Prinzip. Weiter erhielten wir Einblick ins noch erhaltene ehemalige Chinatown mit den 2stöckigen, bunten Häusern, wir explorierten das Hafenquartier mit historischem Unterbau durch HJ zu den Anfängen von Singapore und dem heutigen Nimbus. Wir können HJ und diese Tour nur wärmstens weiterempfehlen. Mit HJ: umsichtig, klug und humorvoll

JORDAN

(About local Monica)

23 March 2025

My daughter and I had an excellent tour with Monica of Chinatown and the downtown core. Monica did an excellent job with sharing history while making the entire tour fun and interesting- she has a great sense of humor. She did a great job of checking in frequently to see if we needed a rest or refreshments, and adjusted the tour on the fly based on our interests. I would highly recommend taking a tour with her!Great tour with Monica

Marianne

(About local Grayson)

31 July 2025

James🇸🇬 Singapore

(About local Stefan)

31 July 2025

Enjoyable tour with Stefan. Temples, hdb tour and last remaining kampung visit. Good facts, questions answered and steady pace in hot weather. Nice to see a side to Singapore that is away from the shiny MBS and Singapore sling at the raffles hotel. A refreshing change

Cathy

(About local Marcus )

29 July 2025

We have just spent a wonderful afternoon being shown around various locations and tasting some wonderful food along the way (don't eat before you go !!!). Marcus was a fantastic host and really knows his stuff! We learnt so much about the history and culture of Singapore which we would never have done just wandering around ourselves. It also gave us a good grounding of where everything is so will be able to go back to the places again. Marcus was very considerate - making sure we were in the shade when we stopped, supplying us with drinks to keep us hydrated and tickets for the MRT. All in all a fantastic day - thank you Marcus!!! Fabulous food tasting day with Marcus

Lydia🇩🇪 Germany

(About local Grayson)

27 July 2025

Die Führung mit Grayson war super toll. Er hat uns das Alltagsleben eines Singaporers näher gebracht, verborgene Streetart gezeigt und als Highlight die Nation Gallery.Tolle Führung mit großartigen Highlights

tanja🇨🇭 Switzerland

(About local Peter)

26 July 2025

We had a very interesting tour with Peter. It was just great for our First Impression of Singapore. He was very friendly, punctual and extremely helpful. Thank you again. Wounderful tour

koen 🇧🇪 Belgium

(About local Grayson)

25 July 2025

the perfect start to our Singapore trip Grayson is a top-notch guide. He takes his time to explain everything clearly and in detail, and we learned so much about Singapore thanks to him. It was 100% worth starting our city trip with his tour. I would absolutely book Grayson again – highly recommended!Outstanding guide

Timo🇨🇭 Switzerland

(About local Grayson)

25 July 2025

Grayson is a very knowledgeable guide, who is giving his absolute best for you to make the tour completely worth it: It is not too much information and not to little, just exactly right! We had an amazing 4 hours with the local Grayson. Thank you so much! 👍🏼🤩Fun and interesting Tour!

Pie Haw, Janice🇸🇬 Singapore

(About local Peter)

25 July 2025

Our team of 12 pax had a great time touring around Gardens by the Bay with Peter as our tour guide. Peter is friendly and knowledgeable about Singapore and the Garden. He share about the history, culture and local context are highly valued. Definitely recommend Peter if you looking for a local guide in Singapore. Awesome guide

Sascha🇨🇭 Switzerland

(About local Jack Zhao)

24 July 2025

thank you so much Jack for your time and experience. it was such a great day and we will never forget the time with you...Highly recommend ... wonderful Guide

xckckv66vy🇨🇭 Switzerland

(About local Kenny)

23 July 2025

Wow wow wow. Kenny was such a fabulous and gracious tour guide. Be attended off the the back of a long flight but we loved every minute of the tour. His knowledge of food and history was just brilliant. We left feeling well feed with local food and full of knowledge that made our stay even better. Thank you Kenny ❤️Amazing tour

Maria🇺🇸 United States

(About local Jon)

21 July 2025

Jon was very accommodating. He included all the spots we requested based on our short transit time in SIN. Very informative and funny too!

Anna

(About local Joisse)

21 July 2025

Would highly recommend Joisse as a tour guide. She met us in our hotel lobby and took us to all the areas we requested and she had a really thorough knowledge of Singapore and its history. She was such a lovely person too - thank you Joisse!Great personalised tour with Joisse

Shirley 🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Monica)

19 July 2025

Ze laat je kennismaken met Singapore en zoekt koele routes waar mogelijk. Gezellig dame, die zegt dat je tenminste 10000 stappen zet en veel van de stad ziet.Vriendelijk, weet alles over de stad!

Andrea🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Arthur)

18 July 2025

Exceptional knowledge and enthusiasm was passed on to us during the whole tour.A Tour with Arthur

Jacqueline🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Grayson)

18 July 2025

Grayson was very informative and interesting. It was our first day in Singapore and the tour was a good start to getting to know the place. Very enjoyable!A good introduction to Singapore

Merel🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Arthur)

16 July 2025

Arthur truly knows his stuff! His tour is 5 hours of delicious food, drinks, history and more. He’s got so much knowledge and takes you to places you wouldn’t normally find yourself. If you are looking for a good tour in Singapore, look no further. A must do in singapore!

Gregory🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Monica)

15 July 2025

Fantastic experience from start to finish - including booking. Could not find tour on website to book - emailed Monica and her quick reply enabled my booking to proceed - Yay Monica Ended up at wrong meeting point - messaged Monica and she came to our location - yay Monica Tour was for our 5 year old Granddaughter and was exactly what we wanted to introduce her to food and culture from other countries - including local food , markets etc - yay Monica Thank you again MonicaTasty Tour for Little Foodies

Laura🇨🇦 Canada

(About local Grayson)

13 July 2025

Grayson met us on time in the Arab quarter, where we had our first tastings. He selected traditional dishes that locals would choose. He explained how the dish came about and how they are prepared. Next stop was little India where we visited a Hawker center. On the way over there he explained some aspects of Singaporian life as public housing. The last stop was China town which we got to with the MRT. The food in Chinatown was really good and interesting. These were dishes that we wouldn’t have selected on our own. Overall great experience and glad we did it.Great Food Tour

Andy & Lisa

(About local Grayson)

11 July 2025

A fantastic experience, don’t eat before you go you will finish full! A Food Experience With Grayson

Rachelle🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Grayson)

10 July 2025

We had a really good and nice experience with Grayson. He showed us beautiful places where we wouldn’t have come if we had to go by ourself. Also Grayson learned us a lot about the history of Singapore. It was really nice!

Laura🇺🇸 United States

(About local Monica)

6 July 2025

Monica introduced us to so many Singaporean dishes that we would never have found on our own. Thank you, Monica, for a great food tour!A Singaporean feast

sean🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Arthur)

6 July 2025

The route and stops are cool, with good places to visit and food that was at least interesting, if not always to my taste. The value was challenging tho with three of us sharing some quite tiny plates of food. The guide - Hundred - was a very strange man. Mildly offensive at times with his 'jokes', not fit enough to walk the route, keen to tout random trinket stores on the way, and he managed to allow the group - there were three of us - to get split up on the train system, which I reckon is a easy fail for guiding. I'll certainly never forget the tour tho! Good tour, get a different guide.The guide was like a weird uncle

Robin🇸🇬 Singapore

(About local Grayson)

5 July 2025

Even as Singaporeans, we enjoyed this tour by Grayson. He was helpful and quite a mine of information about our home town. Definitely recommended especially for visitors to the Lion City. Learning New Things About Singapore!

Anna🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Grayson)

5 July 2025

We thoroughly enjoyed our walking tour with Grayson. He was very knowledgeable, considerate and able to adapt to our large age range 7-75. After the trip we felt we had a good understanding of the history and how Singapore function todsyA great introduction to Singapore

Maura

(About local Grayson)

2 July 2025

We really enjoyed our tour with Grayson. We only had 36 hours in Singapore and got to see more of it than we ever would have on our own. The 3 areas we went to were fantastic and the history of Singapore was so interesting to hear. The food was great and again, we wouldn't have tasted these on our own. Many thanks.A lovely lunch out

Brian

(About local HJ)

2 July 2025

HJ was easy to find at our meeting place and was well-prepared for our walking tour. He took us to a few hawker stalls in Chinatown and explained each item we were served. HJ took pics and even provided captions for each dish in the photos. He surprised us with a gorgeous outdoor rooftop view 50 stories up of the city. Great time!Excellent experience with HJ

Lauren🇺🇸 United States

(About local Kenny)

30 June 2025

Kenny was knowledgeable, open and interesting. We learned so much about the history and neighborhoods. But what made the tour even more special were the personal tidbits that he shared about his life, experiences and the culture of Singapore. We could not have imagined such a wonderful way to start of trip. Best intro to Singapore

Lori🇺🇸 United States

(About local Grayson)

30 June 2025

This tour was one of our Singapore highlights! We loved the diversity of the food and the three neighborhoods we visited. Grayson was well-organized and an effective communicator. We enjoyed his commentary on Singapore culture.Great Food, Great Guide

Lauren🇺🇸 United States

(About local Grayson)

29 June 2025

We had fun sampling different local, tasty foods. Grayson was thoughtful about accommodating our dietary restrictions. We also enjoyed learning about some of the history of Singapore and the Chinatown district. Delicious food tour

Peter🇺🇸 United States

(About local Grayson)

27 June 2025

Grayson was fantastic. vVery accommodating and very knowledgeable. It would be hard to imagine I better host and guide to the city! Top Notch!

Marcus

(About local Leo)

26 June 2025

We booked a 1/2 day tour with Leo through “with locals” in Singapore. Leo was really helpful and informative from the start, took us to some “off radar” local gems. Very knowledgeable and balanced being informative and fun. Even managed to get us to 3 Michelin Hawkers, 1 off which made famous by Anthony Bourdain . Marvellous stuff. Marcus 1/2 Day In Singapore

Nathan🇺🇸 United States

(About local Monica)

24 June 2025

Monica was great in customising a great tour for us and for being flexible with our plans. She made sure we saw all of the highlights!Great flexible tour guide!

Mel🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Monica)

22 June 2025

My daughter and I organised it so that we had an overnight layover in Singapore before our next flight. Went with Monica in the morning to discover what we could in 4 hours! It was a really great experience. We had so much fun and saw so many things. She accommodated us with times and with a couple of places that we wanted to see as well. Would definitely recommend!Amazing experience

Susan and David🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Grayson)

21 June 2025

If we could give Grayson more than 10/10, we would. The food tour exceeded our expectations and we really enjoyed our morning with Grayson. He is a very pleasant unassuming man with a relaxed but professional personal style. Although, this tour has a focus on Singapore food, we learnt so much about life in Singapore, the cultures, and lots more. We really appreciated that he was happy to answer our questions. Susan has a hearing loss and really appreciated that Grayson was happy to use her remote microphone which fed his voice through to her hearing aids. This made it much easier for her. Thank you so very much Grayson. This tour with you was one of the best things we have done in Singapore. By the way, we really enjoyed the food tastings and the different environments that we visited to experience them.Exceeded 10/10

Jeremy🇺🇸 United States

(About local HJ)

21 June 2025

Signed up for a tour with HJ on short notice. He took me to 2 different Hawker centers plus several other small restaurants and food stands to try Singapore’s dishes, snacks, and desserts. The tour also showed the history and the development of the city. Went through Chinatown, the downtown area, and ended in Boat Quay. Great afternoon in Singapore!Fantastic private food tour in Singapore

Aaron🇺🇸 United States

(About local Grayson)

17 June 2025

A big thank you to Grayson - he was organized, insightful, and engaging. We tried 10 different intriguing foods that you might not find in the guidebook. We walked through Arab Street, the Malay section and took the MRT to Chinatown. Along the way, Grayson gave us context for the food that we tasted along with the history of its introduction. As we walked, he gave us insights into Singaporean culture and politics that added to the experience. We were impressed by his depth of knowledge and appreciated him sharing his life experience. I would give him a 10 out of 10 and would recommend this to anyone visiting Singapore, ideally you might do it on your first day as Grayson was also full of suggestions that were very useful. Thank you! More than just food - insight into culture

Dave🇺🇸 United States

(About local Grayson)

14 June 2025

We had a fantastic afternoon with Grayson!Dave

Unknown

(About local Grayson)

14 June 2025

Lauri🇫🇮 Finland

(About local Peter)

13 June 2025

We spent a great morning and early afternoon with Peter with my family that includes 2 adults and 3 teenage boys. Peter provided us with a great introduction to Singapore showing us both key historical locations but also providing a glimpse into daily life in Singapore today. He was also able to adjust the planned schedule, as we went along, to accomodate our wishes. Thank you Peter for spending time with us and sharing your knowledge with me and my family.Great introduction to Singapore

Daphene🇺🇸 United States

(About local Grayson)

12 June 2025

Grayson was very knowledgeable and well prepared for our tour of Singapore. He took us to some amazing sights. Grayson also selected some amazing foods that we might’ve have tried! Grayson was very kind! My husband had lots of questions. Grayson enjoyed explaining and digger in deeper into Singapore history! We learned a lot about and we are so happy we booked with locals. com! Because we were able to learn from a locals perspective!10

Tara

(About local Jack Zhao)

12 June 2025

Our family had a great time with Jack and we enjoyed the food. He is very knowledgeable. Gteat tour

bjcruikshank

(About local Grayson)

11 June 2025

Grayson was an incredibly helpful and informative guide. He not only showcased the food of three different areas well, but he gave us a fantastic insight into the history of each area and the culture of Singapore. We couldn’t think of a better way to get to know the city than this tour. Great food, brilliant insight to Singapore