ArtScience Museum

The ArtScience Museum is the white, lotus-shaped building that sits at the water's edge in front of Marina Bay Sands, its ten petal-like "fingers" reaching up from a round base. Designed by Moshe Safdie, the architect of the hotel itself, it opened in 2011 and has become one of the most photographed buildings in the city, especially when it is lit up at night. Inside, the museum does exactly what its name suggests: it stages exhibitions at the meeting point of art, science, design and technology. There is no permanent historical collection to work through. Instead, the galleries host a changing line-up of large touring and in-house exhibitions, which over the years have ranged from ancient civilisations and dinosaurs to space exploration, ocean science, anatomy and pop culture, alongside a long-running immersive digital art installation created with the Japanese collective teamLab. That format has two consequences for visitors. First, what you see depends on when you come, so check the current programme before you buy; Tiqets and the museum list what is on, and combination tickets let you add a second exhibition at a lower price. Second, it is reliably good with children, because the digital rooms are interactive (drawings that come to life on the walls, light that responds to movement) and most exhibitions are designed for touch, sound and play rather than labels. The museum is fully air-conditioned and sits right on the Marina Bay promenade, a short walk across the Helix Bridge from the Esplanade side, so it slots easily into a bay day between the Gardens by the Bay, the SkyPark and the evening light show.

The building rewards a look from outside before you go in. The lotus form is meant as a welcoming hand to the city; rainwater collected by the bowl-shaped roof runs down through a central opening into a reflecting pool inside the atrium, and the whole structure appears to float on a lily pond at the water's edge. The best views are from the Helix Bridge and from the Merlion side of the bay, and the building is part of the backdrop of the nightly Spectra light and water show on the Event Plaza in front of Marina Bay Sands.

Plan around the exhibitions. Blockbuster shows can sell out on weekends and school holidays, so book a timed ticket ahead. Allow about an hour for a single exhibition and two hours if you add the digital art gallery or a second show. Weekday mornings are the quietest, and late afternoon works well if you want to step straight out to the waterfront for sunset and the light show. Some exhibitions are ticketed separately from others, so read what each ticket covers; bundles with Gardens by the Bay, the SkyPark, the Asian Civilisations Museum and National Gallery are available and often good value.

The museum is in the Bayfront area: Bayfront MRT station is a few minutes' walk through The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, and the river cruise boats stop at a jetty right outside. It is wheelchair accessible, has a cafe and a well-chosen shop, and makes the perfect plan B on a wet afternoon in a city where tropical downpours can arrive with little warning. For couples, a late visit followed by drinks on the bay and the light show is an easy, good-looking evening.