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Marina Barrage, Singapore: How to create a fairytale picnic

Updated: Mar 20, 2021


Singapore Marina Barrage Marina Bay best picnic spots picnic guide
Our guide to creating the ultimate picnic at Marina Barrage Singapore

Our ultimate Singapore picnic guide: Where to go and what to pack


While it may sound like just an ordinary reservoir, Marina Barrage's grassy green rooftop is home to some of the most spectacular views of the city, making it the ideal spot for a romantic evening picnic. As the sun sets, witness the city light up. Enjoy views of the iconic Super Grove trees in Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands Hotel and the city skyline. This is our personal favourite picnic spot in Singapore. Below is our guide to how make a picnic here a true fairytale.

Singapore fireworks marina barrage marina bay best picnic spots picnic guide
Our picnic view from Marina Barrage Singapore: Enjoying the national day fireworks

Visit Marina Barrage Singapore at the right time


We prefer to picnic in the evening, as the sun sets, temperature drops and cooling sea breeze can be felt from the top of the Barrage. The skyline illuminates with with the city lights from around 7.15pm onward. We visited in July, making us lucky enough to witness the 8pm firework display as part of the routine practise leading up to National Day in August. It did make it a little busier than usual, but after the fireworks show ended, the crowds disappeared.

 

Create the picnic perfect setting

The first time we came for a picnic at Marina Barrage was to celebrate our anniversary. We decided to skip the expenses of fine dining celebrations and create our own romantic dinner. This is our top picks of what to bring to set the mood right and ensure for a comfortable picnic.

  • Find the perfect picnic basket: We got our charming little wicker basket as a christmas gift from our families. It's since been one of our most beloved gifts. Our basket includes everything we need already, plates, forks, knives, spoons, glasses and a cooling bag inside. We got ours from Wheel & Barrow.

  • Invest in multiple picnic blankets: We always pack 3 or 4 blankets when heading out. We always bring two with plastic coating, to keep dry from any wetness on the grass. These can also be found at Wheel & Barrow, but our most recent favourite is from Sunnylife. The other two are just for decor, we picked up some cheap ones on Lazada with patterns we loved for just a few dollars.

  • Fairy lights, fairly lights and more fairy lights: For less than $5 per packet of fairy lights, we invested in four packets of these, again found online on Lazada. They take AA batteries making them very easy to continue using.

  • Inflatable backrests for maximum comfort: We find after a few hours sitting on the ground it can get uncomfortable. We were lucky enough last year to attend Films at the Fort where we received free inflatable backrests to sit on. We've used them in every picnic since. I'd suggest looking online for these.

  • Don't get bitten: We always apply mosquito spray before leaving home.


What to pack for your picnic: Our favourite food picks

Singapore best picnic spots marina barrage marine bay picnic blanket basket bag
Our Picnic setup: Marina Barrage Singapore

We are notorious for buying more food than we can ever finish eating, these are our top choices. We find most options in Fair Price finest or Little Farms supermarkets (this place is a top choice for any Australian expats looking for food from home too).

  • Cold Cuts: parma ham, virginia leg ham (150g per person)

  • Cheeses: our personal favourite is Mersey Valley Original Cheddar, but we always pack 3 or 4 cheese options to bring along including a blue and comte

  • A fresh baguette

  • Crackers

  • Fruits: grapes, berries, melon

  • Olives

  • Mushrooms

  • Cherry tomatos

  • Carrot & celery sticks

  • Willow Farms Dips: french onion, hummus

  • Cobbs sea salt popcorn

  • Bark Thins pretzel chocolate

  • Wine or any drinks of our choice

  • Water

  • A bag of ice

  • Napkins

  • Cutlery (if not included in the picnic basket)

  • Extra plastic cups

  • A cheese board

  • Cheese knives

  • Rubbish bags to clean up after


Getting to Marina Barrage


If taking a taxi to get there we recommend using the app Grab (for a first time discount use our referral code GRAB 1HU0ZBZO)


Planning to stay in Singapore, find the best hotel deal here:


We hope you enjoy your picnic and enjoyed our guide to creating the ultimate Marina Barrage Picnic. For more weekend activity inspiration in Singapore check out the activities section of our blog. If you're interested in seeing more on our top Singapore bars and restaurants you can also find our Singapore restaurant reviews here.



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LITTLE SHERPAS

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Little Sherpa Travels Singapore guides best picnic spots

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ABOUT US

OUR AIM: is to help more people experience the world in just a weekend. We hope through sharing our easy-to-follow short break and weekend travel guides we can inspire others to make the most of their weekends and precious annual leave.

 

WE ARE: An Australian and British married couple living in Australia, which we recently moved back to after 7 years exploring Asia. By week we manage data forecasting and engineering projects. By the weekend we wander. This is the story of our weekend travels. We are passionate travellers who love taking photos, eating and going on adventures.  We hope you enjoy our travel blog.

Your LITTLE SHERPAS

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