Changi Airport's Butterfly Garden

What do you do to pass time in an airport before catching your flight? If you have the right credentials, you could get into an airport lounge to rest or freshen up. Or maybe you’re the type of traveler to enjoy browsing through the various shops dotting the airport, picking up a bite to eat or something to read. 

At Singapore’s Changi Airport, however, there’s a third option: Basking in a flurry of butterflies. Located in Terminal 3, the small, tropical habitat is said to be the world’s first butterfly garden in an airport. The two-story garden, which also contains a six-meter (20-foot) waterfall, is dedicated to showcasing a myriad of bright tropical plants and more than 1,000 butterflies over the course of a year. As many as 40 species call this sanctuary home, including the Blue Clipper butterfly (Parthenos sylvia), and Singapore’s national butterfly, the Common Rose butterfly (Pachliopta aristolochiae).

While visitors are free to roam and marvel at the sight of butterflies unconcernedly flitting from flowers to the pineapple slices strategically positioned all around the garden, there are also educational signs and enclosures that allow visitors to see the life cycle of the butterfly up close, from caterpillar to winged creature. Where better to watch butterflies take flight before you fly?