Here’s our guide on how to make the best of a 4 night / 3 day trip to Singapore. We took the trip in October 2023 as a stop over on route to Vietnam. We travelled on a budget and this is rundown of our total costs for the 4 night stay in Singapore.
Return Airport Transfers – 50 GBP in total
Hotel – 367 GBP in total
Food – 60 GBP in total
Observation Deck Tickets – 34 GBP in total
MRT tickets – 8 GBP
Total Cost – 519 GBP for 4 nights
Transport Options From Singapore Airport
On arrival at Changi Airport there are plenty of options for getting into the centre of Singapore.
Travelling By Bus
Terminal 1, 2 and 3: Bus stops are located at the basement bus bays. You can take buses 24, 27, 34, 36, 53, 110 and 858 from there.
Terminal 4: At the bus stop next to Car Park 4B, you can take buses 24, 34, 36 and 110. At the bus stop near the SATS Inflight Catering Centre 1, you can take buses 27, 53 and 858.
Payment options: include contactless Mastercard/Visa/NETS bank cards, mobile wallets, stored-value EZ-Link/NETS FlashPay cards, and Singapore Tourist Pass. Do note that admin fees apply for payments with foreign-issued bank cards. Alternatively, you can use cash to pay for your bus fare but have the exact fare for your trip as no change will be given.
Travelling By Train
To get to the city, take the train from Changi Airport MRT Station (CG2) to Tanah Merah MRT Station (EW4), then transfer to the East West Line towards Tuas Link MRT Station (EW33). Alternatively, take the train from Changi Airport MRT Station to Expo MRT Station (CG1/DT35), then transfer to the Downtown Line towards Bukit Panjang MRT Station (BP6/DT1).
Travelling By Airport Taxi Transfer
Booking a private airport transfer is the easiest option but of course a little more expensive. On this occasion we pre-booked a private transfer as our flight arrived quite late and after a 13 hour flight from the UK we just wanted a hassle free arrival. We booked efficient airport transfers through Klook at a cost of 25 GBP each way.
Accommodation Options in Singapore
Accommodation in Singapore varies greatly from high end hotels to relatively cheap hostels with bunks and shared bathroom.
If you’re looking for reasonably priced accommodation then Chinatown is a good starting point. Firstly, Chinatown is in a good location for walking to downtown, hawker food halls and even to Bay Sands Hotel and the Bay Gardens. MRT’s are cheap too, we took the MRT from Chinatown to Bay Gardens for under 1 GBP each and almost the same price to VivoCity (Singapore’s largest shopping mall) and the entrance to Sentosa Island.
Our Accommodation in Singapore
We opted for Hotel Soloha in Chinatown. A relatively modern hotel offering ensuite rooms at a good price. The rooms are pretty good for the price, they come with air-conditioning, fridge, kettle, shower, basin & WC. You can help yourself to bottled water available from the fridge at reception, we had a few each day and they didn’t seem to limit us at all. This saved us a few quid on water during our stay. Wifi was good too! We booked a standard double room without window, it was pretty small, but had a double bed and private shower room and without the window it was really quiet at night (prefect for us).
Review: Comfortable Bed, Nice and Clean, Very nice modern bathroom with walk in shower, Free Good Wifi. Good location for walking to Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Maxwell Food Centre and MRT Station. Highly recommended.
Click Here To Take A Look At Hotel Solo Accommodation in Singapore
Our Itinerary
It’s easily possible to see all the sites Downtown Singapore has to offer in 3 days. The sites on our list were Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Mall, Gardens By The Bay, Clarke Quay, Little India, Raffles Hotel, VivoCentre, Lau Pa Sat Hawker Food Centre, Maxwell Food Centre, Skypark Observation Deck, Spectra Night Show and Garden Rhapsody.
Day 1 (Friday)
Our day started with a walk for around 30 minutes down to Clarke Quay, from there it was another half an hours walked to Raffles Hotel and 15 minutes more to Little India. From little India we should have maybe taken the MRT to Lau Pa Sat Food Centre, but we decided to walk, which gave us the chance to walk over Helix Bridge and view Marina Bay Sands from a different angle. Our evening finished at Lau Pa Sat, taking in Sattay Street’s delights and a couple of extra Asian dishes from the abundance of stalls inside the food hall.
Day 2 (Saturday)
We took the MRT down to Gardens By The Bay and spent the day exploring the gardens and window shopping at Marina Bay Sands Mall. We had pre-booked tickets to Skypark Observation Deck (we booked for 6pm as we wanted to be up there for sunset). It’s fairly pricy at 17 GBP a ticket but the view is stunning. We were at the top in daylight, but it really became quite spectacular as it got dark (We’d certainly recommend going up at night). Our evening finished with a 15 minute walk to Lau Pa Sat Food Hall for a second time (it was so good the first night), the Indian food is highly recommended too!
Click Here For Great Rates on Skypark Observation Deck Tickets
Day 3 (Sunday)
We took the MRT down to VivoCentre Shopping Mall, Singapore’s largest shopping centre. The centre is close to the entrance of Sentosa Island home to a theme park and variety of themed attractions. We didn’t have time to spend at Sentosa Island so left that for another visit. From VivoCentre we took the MRT directly to Marina Bay Sands Mall were we had a snack at the food hall and waited for the 8pm Spectra Night Show (a fountain and music event nightly at 8pm and 9pm). The show is about 10 minutes long. We then headed in to Gardens By The Bay for the 8.45pm Garden Rhapsody (a music and light show in the gardens that takes place nightly at 7.45pm and 8.45pm). From the gardens we took the MRT to Maxwell Food Market for a couple of dishes before heading back to the hotel.
Trip Summary
3 days is the perfect length of time to see all the main sites in Singapore Centre. You would need to add an extra day to visit Sentosa Island.
Top Four Tourist Spots in Singapore
1. Marina Bay Sands
Marina Bay Sands is Singapore’s flagship luxury hotel and high class shopping mall overlooking the water and skyline. You’ll also find the ArtScience Museum here too. The shopping mall has masses of high end shops, a collection of cafes and restaurants, its very own canal with gondolas and a large and very popular food hall at one end. At the top of Bay Sands Hotel is the observation deck at one end, overlooking the skyline to one side and Gardens By The Bay on the other side (tickets can be purchased to visit this part – best deals are available here). The remaining part of the top of the hotel is a stunning infinity pool and restaurant only available for hotel guests use.
Check out the hotels latests room availability here for a once in a life time swimming experience.
2. Gardens By The Bay
Gardens By The Bay is an iconic attraction in Singapore with its super trees as the show piece. The gardens are split into sections with Bay South being home to the Super Trees, The Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. As well as to nightly light and music shows the gardens regularly hosts festivals, music concerts and movie screenings, sports and community events, and educational workshops and school programmes. Bay East is the second largest garden and provides stunning views of the city skyline. Bay central provides the link between the East and South Gardens and has a 3km waterfront promenade with beautiful city views. Within the gardens are restaurants and cafes. The gardens are free to enter as well as the nightly light and music shows at 7.45pm and 8.45pm. You can enhance your visit with entry tickets to The Flower Dome, Cloud Forest and Supertree Observatory.
Find out more about The Flower Dome, Cloud Forest and Supertree Observatory here.
3. Raffles
Raffles is one of the Worlds most luxurious hotels and has a price tag to match. High on the list of things to do in Singapore is to head to the hotels Long Bar for a Raffles Singapore Sling. Its comes at a pretty hefty price for a cocktail, but you get the chance to sit in the historic bar where the Singapore Sling was invented and you still get to throw peanut shells on the floor which has been a tradition in the bar for many years. No need to pre-book as you can just walk in, expect to queue at times though.
4. Sentosa Island
Sentosa is an island resort situated on Singapore’s southern coast. There are a number of ways to reach the resort from the city including by bus, taxi and cable car. There is also a pedestrian boardwalk and monorail from VivoCity. The island is home to many of Singapore’s top family attractions including Adventure Cove Waterpark, Dolphin Island, Madame Tussauds, Mega Adventure Park, S.E.A Aquarium and Universal Studios. It’s also home to Palawan Beach lined with food stalls and bars. You can also stay in one of the ten or so luxury five star hotels on Sentosa island.
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