When Christian and I visited Singapore as part of our Southeast Asia trip, we had to keep our costs as low as possible. Since hotels usually eat up the biggest part of a travel budget, we had to limit our stay to three nights. Here’s the 3-day Singapore itinerary I recommend when you’re on a budget!

Singapore on a Budget – General Advice

Staying in the center of the city, even if the hotels are a little more expensive, will allow you to not waste time in transportation. If it takes you an hour to get to the city center every day you might not be able to see everything you want.

If you want to save money I recommend staying at a hostel. In many countries when you’re traveling with someone you can save money by getting a bed for two. In Singapore that’s generally not the case – most hotels are two or three times more expensive than a hostel. If youre traveling solo, staying at a hostel is also an absolute must. Our hostel cost 30SGD a night per person, which is a lot for Southeast Asia. There were cheaper hostels but we wanted to be in the city center and near the MRT.

Food can also cost you a lot. Try to pack snacks whenever possible so you don’t blow your budget – restaurants and cafés can be really expensive, especially at the Gardens by the Bay and near any major landmarks. If you chat with people from your dorm they might know of some places with discounts.

For easy and cheap transportation, buy a Singapore tourist pass (keep reading for more information on that).

Finally, if at all possible try to schedule your flights so that you arrive in the morning and you leave three days later in the evening. That way you have more time in Singapore without paying for an extra night.

Check out the current conversion rates for the Singapore Dollar here!

Singapore Itinerary – Day 1

Singapore Changi Airport

Singapore Changi airport was voted best airport in the world seven years in a row. If you’re arriving in the morning and have to wait a few hours before checking in at your hotel, this would be a great time to explore the airport. The “Jewel”, easily accessible from any terminal, contains a massive shopping mall and the largest indoor waterfall in the world.

If you’re short on time this is not something you absolutely must visit in Singapore. We had really high expectations and were a little disappointed because you have to pay for a lot of things. This didn’t fit our backpacker budget so we just ended up walking in the mall and looking at the waterfall. If you do have the money though, you can wander in the Hedge Maze, bounce on the Sky Nets above the waterfall, or try one of the restaurants.

Once you’re ready to go to your hotel, go to Terminal 2 to take the MRT. You’ll need to buy either a pass or a ticket. I very strongly recommend the 3-day tourist pass. It costs 20 SGD plus a 10 SGD deposit per person for unlimited MRT, light rail train, and bus rides. It will pay itself back and you won’t have to worry about buying a ticket every time you want to go somewhere.

Gardens by the Bay

You need to visit the Gardens by the Bay. This is where you’ll find the glowy trees and the domes you see on every picture of Singapore. It’s also a great place to relax.

If you’re on a budget, the gardens can get expensive. While touring the park and the green area is free, there are five main attractions which you have to pay for.

The Supertrees: the Observatory and the OCBC Skyway

Seeing the Supertrees is free as they are part of the general area of the park. However, by paying 14 SGD for adults or 10 SGD for children up to 12 years old, you can go up to the Supertree observatory. It’s situated in one of the trees at a height of 50 meters.

For 8 SGD for an adult or 5 SGD for a child, you can walk on the skyway among the supertrees at an altitude of 20 meters.

There is a light and sound show every night at 7:45pm and 8:45pm. I liked it but I recommend leaving before the end. It’s a little long and you’ll avoid the crowds when going back to the hotel.

The Flower Dome

This is simultaneously a huge greenhouse and a garden. There are lots of plants from different regions – from olive trees to Baobabs, you name it. To visit the Flower Dome you’ll need to buy a 28 SGD bundle ticket which will also give you access to The Cloud Forest

The Cloud Forest

In the cloud forest you’ll see lots of different plants and a 35m high man-made waterfall. You can walk on a skyway and see Singapore through the glass and admire all the plants from above. The cloud forest is definitely not something you should skip.

Floral Fantasy

This costs 20 SGD for adults, 12 SGD for children, and is Garden by the Bay’s newest installation. Our budget was stretched thin at this point, but the gardens advertise four diverse garden landscapes and a 4D ride of a dragonfly through the gardens.

Gardens by the Bay overview

We paid 28 SGD each for the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest bundle. If you’re on a budget, I recommend choosing a few attractions and sticking to them. There’s also an attraction bundle with The Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, Floral Fantasy and the shuttle service for 46 SGD for adults and 25 SGD for children.

I definitely recommend going to Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, even if you just want to take a stroll in the park for free. It’s such an iconic part of the country’s landscape it would be a shame to miss it.

Singapore Itinerary – Day 2

Marina Boulevard and the Merlion

Singapore is full of iconic places and this is yet another one of them. Here you’ll get a fantastic panoramic view of the Marina Bay Sands, the ArtScience museum and the convention center.

Go around the artificial pool to the merlion. This iconic figure is on the 1 SGD coins – they’re a great souvenir!

When you’ve seen the Merlion keep going all the way to the helix bridge and the shopping mall. The mall is one of the fanciest I’ve seen and has an actual canal inside. You can pay for a mini-cruise inside the mall!

When you’ve seen everything you wanted to see, go to the Raffles place MRT station and take the North-South line to Jurong East. Get off at Orchard station.

Orchard Road

I find this place fascinating. This road is where you’ll find fancy shopping malls and huge skyscrapers. I’m not particularly into shopping but if you need to buy something, this is the place to go. There are also a couple “regular” malls in the mix if you want to buy something more affordable. This is also a great place to eat lunch if you haven’t done that already. There is more variety than near Marina Bay and the food is way more affordable.

The Botanic Garden

Once you’re done with Orchard road, it’s time to head to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It’s a 25-minute walk to Tanglin gate, in the Southernmost part of the Gardens.

Take your time and grab a map at the entrance so you don’t miss anything. Entrance to the Gardens is free but you will need to pay to enter some of the smaller gardens.

These gardens are fascinating in more than one way. Firstly, as someone from the Northern hemisphere, I always love seeing exotic plants and animals. If you pay attention you may even see a monitor lizard or two! We saw this little guy while walking.

Secondly, these gardens are the perfect example of how unique Singapore is. It’s a tiny country with 5 million citizens, yet they make room for nature. It was very strange seeing actual lizards wander in a forest in the middle of the city. Singapore is often called a leader in terms of sustainability and this is a perfect example of that.

Singapore Itinerary – Day 3

The ArtScience museum

If you thought museums were boring, think again. The ArtScience museum is really cool and you can easily spend hours there. It’s where you’ll find famous spots like this one:

This museum has several exhibitions at a time. The “Future World: Where Art Meets Science” is the only one available at all times, other exhibitions will vary depending when you visit. When we visited there were two other exhibitions: One about Singapore in 200 years and one about Disney and Animation.

You can choose to see one, two, or three exhibitions. A single ticket costs 16SGD per exhibition but you can also purchase a 2-exhibition bundle for 27SGD or a 3-exhibition bundle for 34SGD. All tickets have a specific time written on them that indicates when you can see the exhibition. This way there are never too many people at once, but for this reason popular exhibitions tend to sell out quickly. If you absolutely want to see a specific one I recommend buying your ticket in the morning. (source for ticket prices: the Marina Bay sands website)

Marina Bay Sands

Your last night in Singapore is the perfect time to see the city from the Marina Bay Sands rooftop bar. All you need to do is pre-purchase a drink (you pay when in line, they give you a voucher of some kind, and when you get to the bar you get a drink in exchange for the voucher).

We chose not to go up to the rooftop bar because the lines were very long and the cheapest drinks are around 20 SGD, which didn’t fit our budget. However, if you do have the budget or decide to splurge, the view is supposed to be gorgeous.

You may also have heard of the Marina Bay Sands infinity pool. It’s very famous on Instagram and looks totally dreamy. However, just going to the bar doesn’t give you access to the pool – you need to actully stay at the hotel. Rooms cost several hundred dollars for a night but if you want to swim in the infinity pool it’s your only option.

Additional things to do if you have time

Chinatown

We stayed in Chinatown and managed to spend some time wandering in the neighborhood. There are tons of restaurants there and food tends to be a little cheaper than elsewhere.

Little India

I would have loved to go to India on our trip, but it wasn’t possible because we didn’t have enough time. Singapore’s Little India, which is distinctively different from the rest of the city, was a great second choice. There are Indian restaurants and beautiful colorful dresses everywhere you look.

Additional things to do if you have time and money

Sentosa

Sentosa is an island in the South of Singapore. There you can visit Universal Studios Singapore, go bungee jumping, do watersports at a beach club, and more. All of these things were too expensive for us, but if you have the budget for it it can be a lot of fun! Tickets for Universal Studios Singapore cost 79 SGD per person.

Are you planning a trip to Singapore? Do you have any questions regarding this itinerary? Or have you maybe already been there – in that case, what do you think of this Singapore itinerary? Tell me in the comments!

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