Kampong Glam

Look closely at the dark band under the golden dome and it is the bases of glass bottles. They were collected so poorer worshippers could contribute too. They are still in place. At prayer times only worshippers enter; otherwise cover shoulders and knees.

A lane about 3m across. Murals cover the shophouse walls on both sides, and once the shops open the clothes racks come out and hide half of them. For photographs alone, the morning before opening is better.

Every shop stands its cloth up in rolls. Batik, silk and curtain fabric are measured by the yard and priced that way, and a few places will sew it up beside you. The carpet shops keep their doors open with the stock laid in layers on the floor.

This building was the sultan's palace. A two-storey timber house, now fitted out as galleries, with the old village layout marked in the forecourt. Descendants of the royal family lived in it into the 20th century. It closes for works at times, so check first.

A pedestrian street running straight at the mosque front. Palms line both sides and restaurants put tables out, so the spot where the dome sits square ahead becomes the photograph, and in Ramadan stalls selling food for after sunset take the street.

Shops selling alcohol-free oil perfume have run here for generations. Samples get dabbed on the wrist and blends are mixed to order, and without alcohol the scent opens slowly and stays long, with the bottle priced separately.

A short street where the palace wall still stands. Inside it lies the heritage centre's yard and outside it are restaurants and shops now, and since the wall keeps its old height the street stays tight.

The minaret leans to one side. Settling ground put it there and it was left rather than corrected, which is how the city got its leaning tower. The mosque carries the name of the woman who paid for it, and her grave lies behind.

A concrete block whose floors step back as they rise. Coaches for Thailand leave from here and Thai grocers and kitchens fill it, the least Malay corner of the district. It is a conserved building with redevelopment attached, and the shops keep thinning.

Directly behind Haji Lane and far emptier. Chairs are set out in front of the shops, so by evening the lane works as a bar yard, and through the day many places open late.

Built by Muslims from Kerala's Malabar Coast and completed in 1963, it is called the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles on its walls, topped by golden onion domes. A 2023 expansion brought a small heritage gallery inside when it reopened.

An 1850s-era mansion of Tengku Mahmud, son of Sultan Ali, named the Yellow Mansion after its walls. A merchant family lived in it for four generations until the state acquired it in 1999. On Sultan Gate it stands right beside the Malay Heritage Centre.

A Muslim burial ground used since before 1829, with some 4,700 graves of royals, merchants and Bugis traders. No burials since 1973, so tilted headstones stand in the grass. The stones mix Arabic script, Chinese and English, a record of who lived here.

A 2002 Art Deco-style tower clad in brown granite and bronze after New York's Chanin Building. The 15m-high lobby holds Atlas, a bar with a three-storey gin tower, the usual way in for visitors. Statues of Sun Yat-sen, Abraham Lincoln and others stand outside.

A short street named for Oman's capital, running past an arched gate and tiled mosaic walls toward the Sultan Mosque, whose address is on this street. Calmer than Haji Lane, it frames the mosque dome head-on.

A 1938 building of two former Chinese schools, one for boys and one for girls, reopened in 2013 as an arts venue. Focused on performing and urban arts, it offers studios, a small theatre and exhibition space. Haji Lane ends just round the corner.