Orchard Road
How to get there by Singapore MRT. Singapore interactive metro guide.
Orchard Road is the most famous street in Singapore, running through the city center over two kilometers. Limitless examples of ultramodern trade centers, fashionable boutiques, first-class restaurants, luxurious hotels, popular nightclubs and entertainment centers are concentrated here.
Back in the early 19th century, vast plantations of nutmeg and pepper were located on the territory of the modern Orchard Road, meaning that the street was laid here only in 1836; immediately acquiring the status of a trading street thanks to the vegetable and fruit markets situated alongside it. Later, the street received the name Orchard in tribute to these markets.
The first large shop, TANGS, appeared here only a hundred years later, which was opened by enterprising Chinese Tan Chun Kang. This trading spot, which later became Orchard Road’s leading facility, still operates successfully at 320 Orchard Road. Over time, fashionable boutiques and strikingly large trade centers appeared near to the TANGS building, meaning that the Orchard Road has turned into a main trading street in Southeast Asia.
Multi-storey shopping malls, more resemblant of modern art centers than shops, host the most famous world brand boutiques, including Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, Prada, Jimmy Choo, CK Calvin Klein and many more. Singapore's Large Sale is organized here every year between late May and late July. The event attracts crowds of tourists, all of whom yearn to buy top brand items with heavy discounts. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Orchard Road is often nicknamed as Asian Milan because of these frequent sales.
