The natural pairing for travellers from Australia, East Asia, and increasingly the US west coast. Three nights in Singapore is the right calibration — long enough for hawker culture, the Gardens, and a couple of neighbourhoods, short enough that the city's structured pace doesn't dilute the Maldives.
Pacing
Stay in a walkable district — Tanjong Pagar, Chinatown, or Tiong Bahru — over Marina Bay, which is more spectacle than street life. Two food districts you'll keep returning to: the Chinatown hawker centres and the Tiong Bahru bakery cluster. End on a daytime visit to Gardens by the Bay before heading to Changi for the SQ flight to Malé.
Booking notes
Singapore Airlines runs around eight Maldives rotations per week and codeshares both legs cleanly when you book a multi-city itinerary. Frequent flyer redemption rates on this routing are notably better than equivalent Gulf routings, which is worth checking if you're sitting on miles. Departure timing varies, so check whether you arrive in Malé in time for a same-day seaplane transfer — if not, pre-book a Malé hotel for the connecting night.