Singapore Travel Costs Guide - How Much to Visit Singapore?

This post will go into detail on how much it really costs to visit Singapore. Let me not sugar coat it: Singapore is expensive. It’s without a doubt the most expensive country in Southeast Asia. No matter when you go, your Singapore travel costs are going to be higher than what you would pay in neighboring countries like the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, which is where this guide will come in handy.

When I last visited Singapore, I had an amazing time. It was one of the best trips I had ever taken. I loved getting to explore every nook and cranny of the country. That being said, I did get sticker shock when I tallied up my Singapore travel costs. So in an effort to combat that for future visitors, I’m writing this guide to help set expectations. I want to inform future Singapore visitors of just how expensive the costs of a visit are going to be so that they don’t get sticker shock like I did.

This post covers every expense you’ll likely incur while traveling to Singapore, including accommodation, food and drink, and attraction expenses. Hopefully this post gives you a better idea of what your trip expenses are going to look like.

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Table of Contents

Transport to Singapore

Flying into Singapore or taking a bus or private car from Malaysia will be your options of how to get to Singapore. Let’s break down the different options available to you.

The cost of flights to Singapore depends on where you’re coming from. Flights from neighboring Southeast Asian countries will cost anywhere from US$70 to US$250 for a roundtrip economy fare. Flights coming from farther away like Los Angeles or London will cost more, anywhere from US$700 to US$1200 roundtrip on an economy fare depending on the airline. Because flights to Singapore are expensive if you’re coming from far away, I would recommend pairing a trip to Singapore with a trip to other nearby countries.

Now if you’re coming from Malaysia, you can either fly or take a car or bus to Singapore. For the purposes of this post, we’re just going to cover the bus route. A bus from Malaysia to Singapore costs about SG$15 – SG$45 depending on the bus company and the kind of bus line you book with. That’s about US$11.18 – US$33.54 at the prevailing exchange as of this writing (which applies to all other conversions in this post). If you’re coming from Malaysia, I’d absolutely take the bus as it’s about half the price of a flight.

Accommodation

There are four different levels of accommodation options in Singapore: Hostels & Capsule Hotels, Budget, Mid-Range, and High-End. Budget will be your boutique hotels, Mid-Range would be your 3-star hotels, while high end would be your most expensive options.

For a hostel or a capsule hotel you can expect to pay anywhere from SG$30 – SG$100 (US$20 – US$70) per night, while Budget hotels can go for SG$110 – SG$200 (US$80 – US$150). Mid-Range options can cost you anywhere from SG$200 – SG$400 (US$150 – US$300) and High End options will cost you upwards of SG$400 (US$300).

If you’d like recommendations for which hotels, hostels, or capsule hotels to stay at depending on your budget, I have a whole post dedicated to my recommendations for where to stay in Singapore. You can find it here.

When I went to Singapore, I stayed at a hostel which cost about SG$60 (US$45) per night. It was located in Chinatown, which is the neighborhood of Singapore I most recommend you stay at as well. You could potentially find cheaper accommodation than what I paid for, but that would all depend on when you decide to visit Singapore. For more information on when to visit Singapore, read my Singapore Travel Guide for all the information you’ll need to decide on when to visit Singapore.

Attractions

While there are some attractions in Singapore that you’re going to have to spend money on, a lot of Singapore attractions are actually free. These include the Merlion Park, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Marina Bay Sands, Haw Par Villa, Clarke Quay, Boat Quay, Orchard Road, Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, Thian Hock Keng Temple, Sri Mariamman, the Sultan Mosque, and the Jewel Changi Airport. You can find my guide to the different free things to do in Singapore here.

In addition, the different districts of Singapore are fun to experience as well. Part of the appeal of Singapore is getting to walk around and observe life in these districts. My favorite neighborhoods are Chinatown, Little Indian, and Kampong Glam. I have a post detailing what neighborhoods you should stay in when in Singapore, which you can find here.

Now, what are the attractions that are worth paying for when you’re in Singapore. In my opinion, there are 8: Gardens by the Bay, National Museum, National Gallery, ArtScience Museum, Night Safari, Marina Bay Sands SkyPark, the Sentosa Cable Car, and the Singapore River Cruise. I personally visited all these places and did all these attractions when I was in Singapore and I felt that they were all worth experiencing.

I spent a total of SG$250 (US$187) on attractions when I was in Singapore, which because I was there for 5 days comes out to around SG$50 (US$37) per day on attractions. This is lower than I would’ve anticipated, but is still higher than most other countries in Southeast Asia.

If you want to know how to structure your day, I have a 24-hour, weekend, and week-long itineraries for Singapore, which include how much you’re going to spend on each attraction.

Dining

These next two sections are where you can expect to save a lot on your Singapore trip. Dining in Singapore, for those of you on a budget, is really cheap for one reason: Hawker Centers. Hawker Centers are basically street food structures that house hundreds of stalls. The food in these centers is not only good, but also incredibly cheap. Meals will generally cost around SG$3 – SG$10 (US$2.5 – US$7.5), with the average meal costing around SG$5 (US$ 3.75).

It’s possible to have every meal during your trip be in a Hawker Center. There are many of them scattered all throughout the island. That’s exactly what I did when I was there. Every lunch and dinner meal I had cost about SG$5 (US$ 3.75) because we just kept eating at Hawker Centers.

Our non-Hawker center meals consisted of breakfast at traditional restaurants like Ya Kun Kaya Toast. The most expensive meals I had in Singapore were getting a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Long Bar and eating at Common Man Coffee Roasters for breakfast, which both cost about SG$30 (US$23).

On average, I probably spent about SG$30 (US$23) a day on food. This is incredibly cheap for Singapore but, again, is more expensive compared to other countries in Southeast Asia. If you want a guide to Singaporean food, click here. I also wrote a guide to Hawker Centers, which you can find here.

Transportation Within Singapore

Transportation within Singapore is also incredibly cheap. Singapore advertises a Singapore Tourist Card, which gives you unlimited rides on Singapore buses and subways. It costs SG$17 (US$13) for one day, SG$24 (US$18) for two days, SG$29 (US$22) for three days, SG$37 (US$28) for four days, and SG$45 (US$34) for 5 days.

I personally did not use the Singapore Tourist Card, and wouldn’t recommend it to you either. Singapore is incredibly walkable, and as long as you structure your day by grouping nearby attractions together, you won’t be spending that much on transport as you can just walk from one place to the next. I predict that you’ll probably spend around SG$7 – SG$10 per day on public transportation, which is less than the cost of the Tourist Cards.

I would also recommend taking public transport to get to and from the airport. It’s convenient and easy to use (not to mention cheap). Rides on buses and trains will range from SG$1.5 (US$1.12) to SG$2.5 (US$1.86) depending on the distance traveled.

To my knowledge, the only time I ever had to use Grab (Southeast Asia’s version of Uber) to get around was to get to the Mandai Wildlife Reserve to visit the Singapore Night Safari. This bumped up my transport cost to around SG$17 (US$13) per day, although you could easily average less than SG$10 per day if you arrange your itinerary accordingly.

Mobile Data

Mobile Data in Singapore will cost you around SG$41 – SG$46 (US$30 – US$35) for your entire trip. You can order sim cards online and pick them up at the airport. I recommend booking with Klook as they usually have the lowest rates on sim cards and mobile data. You can find deals on Klook here.

My sim card cost about SG$41 for 5 days, bringing my daily total to SG$8.2 per day. This is about as much as you would pay in other Southeast Asian countries.

How Much I Spent – Singapore Travel Costs

In total, I spent the following on a per day basis:

Accommodation: SG$60 (US$45)

Attractions: SG$50 (US$37)

Dining: SG$30 (US$23)

Transportation: SG$17 (US$13)

Mobile Data: SG$8.2 (US$6)

This totals to about SG$166 (US$124) per day. This is kind of pricey, but it honestly could have been cheaper if I ate every meal at a Hawker Center and cut down on some attractions. Transportation could have been cheaper as well if I didn’t have to Uber to Mandai Wildlife Reserve. This also does not include what I spent on souvenirs, which consisted of a magnet and a mini-statue of the merlion.

This is just an example and an estimate of your potential Singapore travel costs. It could be less or more for you, depending on when you go, where you stay, and what you decide to do. If you’re a budget traveler like me, this should give you a good idea of how much to budget per day on average.

Singapore Travel Costs Post Conclusion

Singapore can be an expensive city. Even with its cheap food and transportation and free attractions, other expenses can quickly ramp up. You have to travel smart in Singapore if you want to save. If you need help planning your trip, consult my other Singapore planning posts, or hit me up on Instagram or Facebook. Have an amazing time!

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