2/16/2016

The ultimate guide to Singapore travel – my recommended itinerary and tips

Singapore travel

I was asked by a few friends on the recommended places to go in Singapore. It seems like it is high time for many people to plan for this year’s travel again!

Since the last time I blogged about Singapore travel was a quite some time back, I thought it was timely to present a refreshed version of Singapore travel recommendations again. With the rate that Singapore is changing, I guess I have to do this every year!


My humble opinion on travelling to Singapore

  • Firstly, get set for the hot weather. It is not just the heat, it’s the humidity that suffocates. (Of course this is a lesser evil compared to bone-piercing cold winters.). You will come to understand why we are qualified as a tropical island J
  • Singapore is a small island and only takes about 1 hour to travel from east to west and north to south by car.    
  • Both English and Chinese are spoken in most places      
  • You can choose to commute by taxi, train or bus
    • Taxi - costs about $3 to start the trip, comes up to about $10 travelling within the city per trip
    • Train - recommended, goes to almost everywhere, $2 per trip, can be crowded though
    • Bus- used in situations when train does not go to the place you want to go
  • Singapore's train network is called the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit)            
  • Purchase a "ezlink"(MRT payment card) from the staff at the control station at the airport or any MRT station. This will help you save a lot of time and money versus buying individual train tickets by cash


The MRT network is not as complicated as it looks. You will get used to it in no time. 

List of things to do and places to go in Singapore

==This is where things get general and personal. People are motivated by different things, and I am sure you have your own set of interests and travelling style. I want to qualify here that my list is purely for reference for your leisure planning, and not meant to be the absolute (though surely this is supposed to be an ultimate guide). There could be things I missed out, feel free to add them to the comments section below.==

For those who are having a hard time deciding, I have also included my recommendation ratings, based on feedback from my friends from foreign lands.

Category
Attraction name
Description
Nearest MRT
Recommendation
Sightseeing (Nature)
Night safari
World's first night-time wildlife park. Take the tram and see animals in the dark
Mandai (taxi recommended)
5
Sightseeing
Merlion park
Take picture with Merlion spewing water into the marina bay with MBS is the background!
Esplanade
5
Cultural
Kampong Glam
Nice neighbourhood, learn about the Malay community,  some arabic shopping
Bugis
4
Sightseeing (Nature)
Gardens by the bay
$1Bn spent in building this garden, you wont miss its iconic supertrees
Bayfront
4
Nightlife
Clarke Quay
Dine beside the river at night!
Clarke Quay
4
Cultural
Chinatown
See some temples, chinese shops and products
Chinatown
3
Cultural
Little India
See Indian temples, walk down their street
Little India
3
Sightseeing
Sentosa
Theme park and island with lots of attractions such as marine life park
Harbourfront
3
Fun
Universal studios
Inside sentosa, mini version of Universal studios in the States
Harbourfront
3
Shopping
Orchard Road
Street of shopping malls
Orchard;Somerset
3
Sightseeing (Nature)
Botanic Gardens
Singapore's first world heritage site.
Not as mindblowing as yosemite or the scenery in chile, but worth a visit if you are interested in plants or just want to take a walk.
There is a national orchid garden
Botanic gardens (yellow line)
3
Sightseeing (Nature)
Jurong Bird park
Come see the birds and bird show
Jurong (taxi recommended)
3
Sightseeing (Nature)
Singapore zoo
See the panda and some other animals
Mandai (taxi recommended)
3
Culture
National Musuem of Singapore
Walk through of the history of Singapore
Bras Basah/ Dhoby Ghaut
3
Sightseeing (Nature)
River Safari
Take a river down and see animals. My friends tell me is the animals are quite lethargic, night safari is better
Mandai (taxi recommended)
3
Sightseeing
Singapore flyer
A ferris wheel to see the city. Icon in our skyline but better to see the city from Marina Bay Sands Observatory
Promenade
2


Tips on choosing the Hotel

  • Getting from Changi airport to your hotel
    • From the airport to hotel, I recommend taking the taxi for a stress-free ride at reasonable price.                                              
    • Instructions:
      Once you exit of immigration, follow the "taxi" sign and join the line for taxis.
      No need to go to the booth to purchase any taxi services. There will be no hagglers and Changi Airport is very safe.        
                            
  • My 2 recommendations are:                      

Hotel Recommendation
Description
Location
Comments
Marina Bay Sands
Iconic hotel with casino, frolick in the skypool on the top of the building and look out to Singapore's skyline
Bayfront
Either this or raffles hotel if price agnostic
Swissotel the Stamford
Great location and view of the marina bay area
City Hall
Not as expensive as MBS and one of the best areas
                                               
Of course, there are tons of other very good hotels also, here I am just highlighting my personal favourites.            
You can also choose to stay at Orchard to be close to the shopping.                        

Singapore food!

Food is very much a speciality of Singapore, being at the confluence of so many cultures around us. We have michelin star restaurants to very cheaply priced and delicious local food at our hawker centres (i.e Singapore style food court)

Must try local food
Where
Comments
Chicken Rice
Maxwell market
Ridiculously cheap for its quality and taste
Chilli Crab
Jumbo seafood
Ridiculously expensive but must try
Laksa
328 Katong Laksa
Noodles serve in a spicy coconut gravy
Satay
Telok Ayer Market (Lao Pa Sat)
Malay-style bbq meat franks
Bak Kut Teh
Ng Ah Sio Pork Ribs Soup: 208 Rangoon Road
Delicious pork ribs in peppery herbal soup
Carrot Cake
Various places
My personal favourote
Dim Sum
Tim Ho Wan
Though not authetically Singaporean, but still good food
Kaya Toast and Soft-boiled Eggs
Killiney or Ya Kun or Coffee & Toast
Our Traditional breakfast
Roti Prata
Jalan Kayu or Thomson
My sinful breakfast or supper food
Durian
Geylang/ Balestier/ Chinatown
You either love or hate it. If you love it you can be truly singaporean.
Actually I found this list which is quite comprehensive and pictures should convey better: 





               
Budget for Basic Necessities 
(All currencies in SGD)  

Food – A meal in the air-conditioned food court is around $5-$7. A Macdonalds value meal is also around that price! - $20 per day
(If you choose to eat at the casual diners it can set you back about $20/person)

Drinks - Given the hot climate, you might want to get drinks during the day, which can cost up to $2 per bottle in the city. - $6 per day          
                                       
Transport- Most Places are accessible by train and cost around $2 per trip. Assuming you go to 3 places a day , - $8 per day.

Allocate more if you want to take taxis, which starts at $3.60 and typically cost about about $10 for areas within the city and $20 to far areas such as the zoo

Accommodation - MBS is about $500 per night, Swissotel is about $200+ per night. Let me know if you want a more budget choice at around $100+, I'll help you find.

So excluding accommodation, $100 per day per person is quite reasonable for basic necessities.
               
Fun and More  

And now to the things that matter. I mean, whats the meaning of a vacation if you do not enjoy right?? According to your fun appetite, set aside a reasonable amount of budget.

Alcohol - Alcohol is more expensive  in Singapore ( way too expensive IMO). A pint of Erdinger is around $12-16 in bars in clarke quay. Look out for happy hour!!

Casino - The few things that are free.. Locals have to pay $100 to enter though (to discourage gambling).

Sentosa  - An island within our island dedicated for tourist attractions. Universal Studios Singapore is also here, with tickets at $68-$74 for a one day pass. You should be able to cover the entire USS in one full day. Besides the USS, there are also other attractions in sentosa that will require admission fees. 

Gardens by the Bay - Our proud $1 billion investment to inject greenery in the city. Some areas require a entry pass which costs $28.

Movies - Tickets are around $10 at local cinemas. Remember to book online to get good seats.
Clubbing - entry fee which comes with 1 free drink usually costs around $28-$32. 
               
Shopping: For American brands like Coach, Abercrombie, CK,etc. You can get them for really much cheaper in the premium outlets store in the US. Really, they are overpriced here... For cheap and decent styles, head over to bugis village. 

Singapore 3-day itinerary for reference

To top it off, this was my recommended 3-day itinerary I did for a friend

Day
1
2
3
Breakfast
Kaya toast and soft boiled eggs (Available in many places)
Bak Kut Teh at Ng Ah Sio
Carrot cake at hawker centre in harbourfront
Morning
Merlion park and take picture with merlion!
Walk around little india
Sentosa
Lunch
Chicken rice at Maxwell market
Mee Rebus / Nasi goreng at Kampongglam
Sentosa
Afternoon
Gardens by the bay
Chill at MBS Skypool (residents only)/ or your own hotel pool
Walk around kampong glam
Walk around chinatown
Sentosa
Dinner
Chilli Crab at Jumbo seafood restaurant at Clarke Quay (Reservation a must)
Assorted local food at Hawker centre at Chinatown
Satay at Telok Ayer Market
Night
Walk around clarke quay or have drinks beside the river
Night Safari
Rest/Casino
Supper

Roti Prata at Jalan Kayu or thomson


Of course, there's always 101 other ways to explore our little island. 

To sum it up, I think Singapore has its tourism niche in Southeast Asia, with our unique city characteristics. 
As my friend who visited puts it aptly, "I was sold when I could breeze through the immigration and pick up my luggage with 0 wait time. Nowhere else in the world I could do that."
Come and witness the level of efficiency and developments a small and well-managed city can achieve in a space of 50 years. 

Hope this was useful for you
EUFASS

3 comments:

  1. +1
    Nice itinerary.
    Thanks for sharing the beautiful side of Singapore

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the sample itinerary.. I am planning to visit Singapore for longer..

    ReplyDelete
  3. agency for translation services will help you to communicate and use mandarin language. Mandarin is known in Singapore I guess this is their main language

    ReplyDelete