As one of the few independent city states in the world, Singapore is nestled in South East Asia and has grown into one of the world’s most prosperous countries with Chinese, Malay and Indian influences. Often named as having the best airport in the world, I missed out in travelling to Singapore for years and years (mostly with the excuse of not having the time to go!). I finally took the chance as part of my two stopover city sabbatical in October 2024. Here are my top tips and hints on maximising your time and value for money in Singapore.

1. Public transport

Alex and I chose to cross the border from Malacca (Malaysia) to Singapore overland by bus. I booked the bus journey the night before on Red Bus from 8:30am – 1:30pm with Delima Express. The App enabled me to show a QR code at a electronic barrier without a printed ticket. It was a comfortable coach down to Singapore and the coach ran with only 30% occupancy on 15th October 2024.
Buses between KL/Malacca to Singapore leave on a hourly basis, the cost of the ticket was 40 MYR per person (£7.00). Upon arrival in Singapore, my top tip is to download Grab App for fairly competitive taxis around the city. You can also use your regular contactless payment card on public transport in Singapore such as taking the bus or the metro system.

2) Garden by the Bay

The Garden by the Bay is Singaporean innovation at it’s finest, blending horticulture, ‘SuperTrees’ and conservatories together in the heart of the city. There are separate ticketed attractions to the Skybridge or to the Flower Dome, however wandering around Garden by the Bay is completely free of charge. With the high humidity to contend with all year round, I would recommend visiting the site in the early evening.
There is a free light show at Garden of the Bay which occurs daily at Supertree Grove. The show lasts 15 minutes and happens at 7.45 pm and 8.45 pm. Visitors can enjoy the lights and movie themed music without any tickets. The Garden by the Bay captured most of the themes of Singapore: manicured, slick and innovative. If you are staying in the Clarke Quay/China-town area, I’d highly recommend the walk along the river-side along Helix Bridge here, it is a beautiful 35 minute walk that approaches Marina Bay from various viewpoints.

3) Viewpoints in Singapore (without the price-tag!)

Marina Bay Sands is a global icon and a landmark of Singapore housing the world’s largest rooftop infinity pool, multiple celebrity chef restaurants and a Las Vegas-style casino. Made even more famous by the Race Across the World series, a skyline view is often on the cards during a visit to the city. The cost of the top floor access to Sands Skypark Observation Deck is $32 SGD / £19 per person. There are now minimum spend thresholds in place at the bars and restaurants on Marina Bay Sands, if you’d like to take the chance to see a complimentary skyline view, I’d recommend booking the CapitaSpring building. Entry is capped and it has to be booked a minimum of one week in advance as free access is only available during certain hours, specifically: 8:30am to 10:30am and 2:30pm to 6pm.

4) Hawker Centres

Sizzling grilled meats, pillow soft garlic hainanese chicken rice and crisp banh mi sandwiches are all choices to be made at the hawker centres. Meals such as a plate of dumplings dressed in chilli oil generally start from $8 SGD (around £5 a plate). I particularly enjoyed my visit to Maxwell Hawker Centre in China Town, it was a great location to watch locals and tourists alike mingle amongst rows and rows of food stalls. Lau Pa Sat is another excellent hawker centre and a little more photographic compared to Maxwell.

5) Universal Studios

As the only Universal Studios situated in South East Asia, we visited the attraction via the metro. It was a direct MRT train from Clarke Quay to Harbourfront, then one stop on the Sentosa Express to Resort Worlds station. Tickets for Universal Studios start from SGD 90 (approximately £50 per person). I brought tickets on the day via the Klook App and received confirmation right away, Klook allows you to get cashback on any activities booked via the App and I’ve always found it handy whilst travelling in Asia.

My top tip is to download the free Universal Studios App. The app displayed live queuing times for all rides, towards the late afternoon we were going on rollercoasters such as ‘Human’ and ‘Revenge of the Mummy’ multiple times with the realisation that there wasn’t any waiting times for the rides. Alex enjoyed Cookie Monster memorabilia and I loved the Cylon rollercoaster.

Trip Tips 💡

• I would recommend staying near the China Town area in Singapore, part of the beauty is seeing alleyways brimming with restaurants mingled with the corporate living walls of offices and hotels. China Town provided a good mix of both!
• Singapore is extremely safe, there are no issues walking at night and we often saw alot of locals jogging, listening to music or relaxing amongst the city-scape. Chewing gum is banned in Singapore (due to the humidity and risk of tourists leaving chewing gum on the pavement) and littering attracts a hefty fine
• At the Hawker centres, it is customary to clear your own trays and food disposals at a clearing station, they are clearly marked. Some locals will ‘save a seat’ by leaving a packet of tissues on the seat. I would recommend bringing tissues with you as napkins are not routinely provided by the hawker stalls
• For payments, Singapore accepts card payments almost everywhere, locals err more on the side of using a QR payment system, this can be used with the Grab App where you can choose a nominal sum to top up your QR code, and make payments to a vendor without the need for a card machine
• The jewel fountain is BEFORE security at Singapore Changi Airport, I would recommend factoring in more time then normal to explore Singapore Airport before you depart
• If you have any questions at all, feel free to comment here and I’ll be happy to help