Orchard Road is flanked by pedestrian malls where you can find numerous up level shops, restaurants, coffee chains, cafés, nightclubs and hotels. Most of the big international brands are located on the best stretch of Orchard Road. There are excellent restaurants to be found as well. All of these are in one walking distance from each other. A real shoppers' paradise mall for a shop till you drop .
It is a must see to all visitors who come to Singapore. It is always busy, always full of people, always full of live.This place is well maintained of cleanness, lights are on everywhere, makes a nice scenery at night. Especially during Christmas time, the street would be decorated with colorful lightings so you can feel the festive atmosphere. When all the lights were up in the night, it was a quite amazing sight, worth to take a picture or two to be sent home.
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| ION Orchard |
The street is neat and it is quite fun just to walk aimlessly around or you can sit back at one of the cafes along the street with an Earl Grey tea or a nice iced coffee. You can also enjoy an ice cream with crackers with only 1 dollar at there.
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| walls ice cream stall at orchard road |
Orchard Road is a 2.2 kilometer-long street that is the retail and entertainment hub of Singapore. It is a major tourist attraction, in addition to being the most popular shopping enclave in the city-state. Often, the surrounding area is known simply as Orchard, simply because the MRT station that serves the vicinity is named Orchard.
The street starts at the junction with Orange Grove Road which is the location of the Orchard Hotel. It then stretches southeast across the Scotts Road/Paterson Hill junction, Orchard MRT Station, Bideford Road, Somerset MRT Station, Central Expressway, Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station, and ends at the junction with Handy Road (just before Prinsep Street), where it becomes Bras Basah Road. It has an extensive underground infrastructure, including underground pedestrian walkways between the malls running underneath the street and other streets in the vicinity. The numbers begin at Handy Road and end at Orange Grove Road.
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| busy orchard road at night |
Orchard Road got its name from the nutmeg, pepper and fruit orchards or the plantations that the road led to in the mid-1800s. Commercial development began in the twentieth century and took off in the 1970s. History said that at 1840s, graveyards began to appear along this road. By 1846, the Chinese had a large graveyard around what is now the Meritus Mandarin Hotel and Ngee Ann City, while the Sumatrans from Bencoolen had their burial ground where the current Grand Central Hotel stands. Later a Jewish cemetery was established; it was located where Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station is now and was demolished in 1984.
Parade of shopping centers
- DFS Galleria — This duty-free shopping mall is on Scotts Road, and mainly sells luxury item such as Bottega Veneta, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Hermès, Loewe and Bvlgari.
- ION Orchard —houses six double-storey flagship stores of close to 9,000 square feet (840 m2) each, including Prada, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Cartier and Patek Philippe.
- Ngee Ann City —the largest shopping mall in the Orchard Road shopping belt. It houses branded boutiques such as Vacheron Constantin, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Burberry, Loewe and Chanel as well as Japanese department store, Takashimaya, Books Kinokuniya.
- Wisma Atria — There is a 900 seat food court on the 4th floor which is run by the BreadTalk Group. The mall is directly connected to Orchard station..
- Plaza Singapura — Located next to the Istana, currently houses a Golden Village cineplex, Carrefour and other shops.
- Lucky Plaza — A shopping mall that somehow became the main focal point for domestic Filipino workers to meet their friends during their off days. The place is known to be very crowded on Sundays with many shops selling products from the Philippines.
- Far East Plaza — Popular with students due to its cheap fashion items as well as inexpensive food, the plaza is also known for its cheap food outlets.
- Mandarin Gallery — Located inside Meritus Mandarin Singapore housing international high-end brands like Y-3, Bape and Hugo Boss.
- Orchard Towers — a mall consisting of twin blocks with small shops and night clubs as well as a reputation for promiscuous activity after-hours.
- The Paragon — a high-end shopping mall selling branded items such as Gucci (whose flagship store operates here), as well as Miu Miu, Prada, Coach, and Burberry with a Metro department store and a Marks & Spencer store as well. The place has a Toys 'R' Us and a number of restaurants.
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| paragon mall at orchard road |
- The Centrepoint — The mall has Robinsons and Marks and Spencer as its anchor tenants.
- The Heeren Shops — This mall targets young, working age shoppers. It is currently home to one of two T.G.I. Friday's on the island.
- Forum The Shopping Mall — it sells mainly branded children's clothes and accessories with a Toys "R" Us on the third floor. It also has a number of branded boutiques such as Emporio Armani and Dolce and Gabbana.
- Shaw House and Centre — Shaw House is home to the Isetan department store, and on the fifth and sixth floors the one of the largest cinema halls in Singapore, Lido 8 Cineplex, resides. This mall is also home to a number of shops such as Fendi, Loewe and Celine.
- Tang Plaza — where the homegrown department store, Tangs, is located.
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| tangs at orchard road |
- Hilton Singapore — Located inside the hotel itself, the Hilton Shopping Gallery houses branded boutiques such as Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Bulgari, Lanvin, Donna Karan, Balenciaga and Dolce & Gabbana. It also includes Club21, a high-end Singapore based company that sell luxury items such as Mulberry, Comme des Garçons and Dries van Noten.
- Palais Renaissance — houses upmarket branded boutiques such brand like Donna Karen and Valentino.
- Liat Towers — International names such as Audemars Piguet, Massimo Dutti, Hermès and Zara are housed in the building.
- 313@Somerset — somerset is directly linked to the Somerset MRT station and features a concentration of mid-range retail and dining outlets. Retail options are made of a mix of local and global fashion labels including Zara, Uniqlo, New Look, Esprit and a Forever 21 flagship store that spans four floors. There are also a food court, "Food Republic" situated on the 5th Floor.
- Wheelock Place —has a large Marks and Spencer outlet
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| Wheelock Place at orchard road |
Getting here
There are three major MRT stations in the Orchard Road vicinity: Orchard, Somerset and Dhoby Ghaut. These stations are important hubs for commuters, locals, students and tourists who travel to the Orchard Road shopping and business district. Since the opening of the ION Orchard, the entrance of the Orchard entrance has been moved underground below the upcoming mall.
reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchard_Road
