Loading…
Garlands, silk saris, sweets, two mosques and curry at the heat you pick.
About 5 hours, 3 km. Start around 13:00 at Little India MRT with lunch at Tekka, browse Campbell Lane and Dunlop Street, cross into the Jalan Besar shophouses for coffee, then loop back down Serangoon Road for evening temple prayers and dinner.
Little India · $ · MRT Little India (NE7/DT12)
Hours unknown, check before you go
The neighbourhood's market: fish and mutton downstairs, a busy hawker floor of biryani, thosai and teh tarik, and clothing stalls upstairs.
Take the Tekka exit at Little India MRT. Popular stalls sell out by mid-afternoon, so eat first. Watch your teh tarik get pulled.
Little India · Free · MRT Little India (NE7/DT12)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A 2018 mural of village cooking by an artist who paints the city's memories. The candy-coloured House of Tan Teng Niah is just west.
From Tekka cross Buffalo Road and walk one block north into Kerbau Road. Detour a minute west for the villa, then cut to Campbell Lane.
Little India · $ · MRT Little India (NE7/DT12)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A sprawling Indian general store at the head of Campbell Lane: incense, brass lamps, ayurvedic soaps, rice, spices and kitchen gear.
Walk Campbell Lane slowly; garland makers string jasmine and marigold outside. The Indian Heritage Centre is a few doors along.
Order: Gulab jamun and barfi
Little India · $ · MRT Little India (NE7/DT12)
Daily 09:30–21:00
A counter of milk sweets inside Little India Arcade: syrupy gulab jamun, nutty barfi and bright jalebi, sold singly or boxed as gifts.
Point and buy one of each to taste. The arcade around it is good for bangles, henna and cheap souvenirs.
Little India · $$ · MRT Rochor (DT13)
Mon–Fri 10:30–22:00; Sat–Sun 10:30–22:30
A family textile house that grew from one small shop into a chain. Rolls of silk, cotton and chiffon, and racks of saris and kurtas.
Ask staff to show you how a sari is draped; it takes them seconds. A second Haniffa sits on Serangoon Road.
Little India · Free · MRT Rochor (DT13)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Built from 1907 for South Indian Muslim traders, mixing Moorish and European styles. Look for the sunburst crown above the entrance.
Further down Dunlop Street. Visit outside prayer times and look up at the crest above the door: each ray carries a name.
Little India · Free · MRT Jalan Besar (DT22)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Founded in the 1890s to serve Baba Malay speakers. The 1929 building is quasi-Art Deco and still houses a 1937 pipe organ.
Cut through from Dunlop Street. It is a working church, so look from the gate unless it is open; Sunday mornings are for services.
Jalan Besar · $ · MRT Jalan Besar (DT22)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Small, local and mostly skipped by visitors. Kway chap, noodles and Malay stalls, and a good view of the neighbourhood at its own lunch.
Cross Jalan Besar from the church. A cold drink here is the cheapest reset of the walk.
Order: A flat white or a pour-over
Jalan Besar · $$ · MRT Bendemeer (DT23)
Sun–Fri 08:30–21:30; Sat 08:30–22:00; closed the first Monday of the month
Serious coffee in a corner shophouse that kept the name of the hardware business it replaced. Bakes and brunch plates too.
Walk up Jalan Besar and turn right into Tyrwhitt Road, past rows of old shophouses. Sit down and rest your feet here.
Little India · Free · MRT Farrer Park (NE8)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Endowed by the Angullia family and first built in the 1890s. The old gatehouse survived the rebuild; a heritage gallery opened in 2024.
From Tyrwhitt Road walk west along Syed Alwi Road past Mustafa Centre. Look for the conserved gatehouse on Serangoon Road.
Little India · Free · MRT Little India (NE7/DT12)
Daily 07:00–12:00 & 18:00–21:00
Built by Bengali labourers in the 1880s and devoted to Kali. The tower is crowded with painted gods, and evening prayers draw a crowd.
Walk back down Serangoon Road to arrive after 18:00, when the doors reopen for evening prayers. Shoes off at the entrance.
Order: A curry at your chosen spice level
Little India · $$ · MRT Little India (NE7/DT12)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Pick your spice level from gentle to tear-inducing, and eat shoes-off upstairs. Michelin-recognised every year from 2016 to 2025.
Round off the loop on Upper Dickson Road, a minute from the temple. Be honest about your heat level, and book for a group.
Unofficial · not affiliated with TOKEN2049. Hours and prices change; check before you go.