What to Do in Singapore? Photos, Itinerary and Budget

We spent 8 days in Singapore in 2019, split over two stays. For our family of four, the highlights were Marina Bay and Gardens by the Bay, the Botanic Gardens, Changi Airport and its Jewel, and above all the hawker centers in the middle of durian season. The whole stay cost us 1,464 SGD (about 1,064 USD), or 183 SGD a day.

Four things struck us in this city-state of 5.9 million people: how clean it is, how green it is, how wealthy it is, and how brutally hot it is.

What to Do in Singapore?

Marina Bay and Gardens by the Bay

Most of Singapore’s main attractions are around Marina Bay, the historic heart of the city. Among them:

• the Merlion, a statue with a lion’s head and a fish’s body that has become the city’s emblem;
• Marina Bay Sands, the famous hotel with its rooftop infinity pool;
• Gardens by the Bay and its towering Supertrees;
• the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which holds what is said to be a tooth of the Buddha (a large one, to say the least), found in 1980 in a collapsed stupa. Unfortunately, photographing the tooth was not allowed.

Singapore Botanic Gardens

We also visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the country’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the only one at the time of our visit. What a beautiful park!

Changi Airport and the Jewel

Singapore’s Changi Airport, named the world’s best airport year after year, is an attraction in itself. One of the busiest airports in the world, it was also designed with its passengers’ well-being in mind: artworks everywhere, a swimming pool with a jacuzzi, two free movie theaters, game rooms, children’s playgrounds, relaxation areas, fish ponds, a butterfly garden, and cactus, water lily, orchid and sunflower gardens.

Kinetic Rain is a moving sculpture of 1,216 bronze-colored droplets that rise and fall in perfect sync.

A new section of the airport had just opened when we visited: the Jewel, and it lives up to its name. At the very heart of the airport, this leisure and shopping complex sits under a huge glass dome. At its center is what is billed as the world’s largest indoor waterfall, 40 meters high, surrounded by a forest of 3,000 trees and 60,000 shrubs.

How to Plan a Trip to Singapore

Itinerary: Two Stays in Singapore

Our 8 days in Singapore were split into two stays: May 30 to June 3, then June 5 to 8, 2019. We flew in from Indonesia and flew out to Germany.

A quick history lesson: in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the Malaysian federation over economic and political differences between Malaysia’s Muslim Malay majority and Singapore’s Chinese majority. In a single generation, the city-state went from emerging to developed country. When we visited, Singapore ranked first in the world in several areas: technology, investment potential, smart cities, safety and economic competitiveness.

1. Merlion
2. Marina Bay Sands
3. Spectra - A Light & Water Show
4. Rain Oculus at The Shoppes
5. Singapore City Gallery
6. Maxwell Food Centre
7. Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
8. Gardens by the Bay
9. Helix Bridge
10. Singapore Botanic Gardens
11. Jewel at Changi Airport

Where We Stayed and Ate

Singapore has a reputation for being very expensive, but you can spend a few days there without selling a kidney. To keep accommodation costs down, we rented a room with a shared bathroom.

Singaporean cuisine is rich and varied, with Chinese, Malay, Indonesian and Indian influences, so cooking never crossed our minds. We ate in the famous hawker centers. These food courts, found all over the city, serve a huge variety of dishes at very low prices. And since many of their stalls are recommended by the Michelin guide year after year, we ate like never before!

Durian Season

Our visit fell in the middle of durian season, and every Singaporean we met told us to try it. We didn’t need to be told twice! Our accommodation was in a neighborhood full of durian shops, so every evening we made the rounds of the sellers. We became regulars, so much so that our favorite seller kept his best fruit for us. Like me, he spoke Teochew (a language from southeastern China), so we could chat in our shared mother tongue. We tasted almost every variety: Mao Shan Wang, XO, Red Prawn, D101, D13, from the sweetest to the most bitter, firm or creamy, sticky or fibrous, in every shade from yellow to orange.

Luka ate it greedily. It must be in the genes! My parents taught me not to be picky about food, and I’m glad they did, because today I eat everything. Food is a big part of travel, and we are passing those values on to our boys.

How Much Did 8 Days in Singapore Cost?

Our durian habit pushed our food bill up considerably, but I still consider our spending in Singapore very reasonable. For our family of 4, the stay cost:

• 1,464.00 SGD (1,063.67 USD);
• 183.00 SGD (132.96 USD) per day;
• 46.00 SGD (33.42 USD) per person and per day.

Amounts were paid in Singapore dollars. US-dollar equivalents use the average exchange rate during our trip (May 30 – June 3, 2019): 1 USD = 1.38 SGD.

In detail:

Expense Category	Amount Spent
Flight	195.00 SGD / 141.68 USD
Accommodation	761.00 SGD / 552.90 USD
Transport	138.00 SGD / 100.26 USD
Eating out	200.00 SGD / 145.31 USD
Groceries	170.00 SGD / 123.51 USD
Activities	0.00 SGD
Total	1,464.00 SGD / 1,063.67 USD

Conclusion

Breathtaking is the word that comes to mind when we think back on our stay in Singapore. Just the thought of eating durian again at the height of the season makes us want to go back. Until then, it is with some sadness that we close our Asian chapter. Join us now for our next adventure, in Morocco!