Best way to see Singapore

Trip Advisor is a great resource. If your put "tour guide" in the search bar, you will get recommendations and feedback for actual experience.

You can also search on the cruisecritic ports of call board and your roll call may also have suggestions.

Travel guide books are also useful. And there's always Google.

Tripadvisor would indeed be a good place to start to check out the options with guides/tours available.

In addition, you can also find the whole laundry list of licensed guides from the Singapore Tourism Board. Google "guides online singapore tourism board" and it will be the first link.

What is the best way to find a tour guide for a tour of Singapore? We will be ther for two nights precruise staying at the Stamford. Walking can be a bit of a challenge at times so need to be careful.

A friend of mine's cruise is ending in Singapore, and her flight out is not until 11:30PM.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a hotel near the airport, particularly one with a 'day rate'.

Thank you.

Easiest and possibly most expensive is the Crowne Plaza airport hotel.

Other options :

1) Changi Village Hotel : next to beach, free shuttle to airport

2) Budget hotels in the neighborhood of Joo Chiat Road/Katong (map out "Joo Chiat"). Interesting "shophouse" architecture in the neighborhood. These hotels possibly have day rates but will highly suggest to read tripadvisor reviews on these options.

A friend of mine's cruise is ending in Singapore, and her flight out is not until 11:30PM.

 

Does anyone have a suggestion for a hotel near the airport, particularly one with a 'day rate'.

 

Thank you.

If it were me, there is the option of storing the luggage at the cruise terminal, touring Singapore for the day, then heading to the airport for the late night flight.

Depending on which cruise terminal (there are 2), cruise terminal has luggage storage service. Here's a recent TA thread of options:

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g294265-i1748-k9266558-Luggage_Storage_after_Cruise-Singapore.html

Loved doing both routes of the hop on hop off bus. Got to see the whole city. Loved eating sweet chili crab. Got a Wall hanging in Little India. Note high temps and high humidity there.

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What is the easier way to to get to Johor in Malaysia? We are in Singapore approximately 2-3 days (late sail away).

We were planning to use our main full day to head to Johor but not sure whether to taxi it or to get a bus/ train.

Taxi and bus (various companies) services depart from the Queen Street Bus/Taxi terminal that is a 5-10 min walk from "Bugis" subway station.

This webpage reviews all the various bus services leaving from the terminal.

http://yqtravelling.com/singapore-jb-bus/

Taxi would be the easiest (but also the most costly):

http://www.taxisingapore.com/singapore-to-malaysia/

Do note the immigration queues during the weekends and allocate a good amount of time to clear borders.

What is the easier way to to get to Johor in Malaysia? We are in Singapore approximately 2-3 days (late sail away).

 

We were planning to use our main full day to head to Johor but not sure whether to taxi it or to get a bus/ train.

Easiest and possibly most expensive is the Crowne Plaza airport hotel.

Other options :

1) Changi Village Hotel : next to beach, free shuttle to airport

2) Budget hotels in the neighborhood of Joo Chiat Road/Katong (map out "Joo Chiat"). Interesting "shophouse" architecture in the neighborhood. These hotels possibly have day rates but will highly suggest to read tripadvisor reviews on these options.

Thank you for the very helpful reply.

It looks like the crowne plaza is right in the airport, so I think that would make

her feel comfortable.

We are leaving Singapore today. We have had three days of taxi, MRT subway, buses, cable cars, boat rides, etc.

Such an easy city to navigates. The locals are so friendly and helpful. Great street food.

So glad we included it on our trip.

Taxi and bus (various companies) services depart from the Queen Street Bus/Taxi terminal that is a 5-10 min walk from "Bugis" subway station.

 

This webpage reviews all the various bus services leaving from the terminal.

http://yqtravelling.com/singapore-jb-bus/

Taxi would be the easiest (but also the most costly):

http://www.taxisingapore.com/singapore-to-malaysia/

 

Do note the immigration queues during the weekends and allocate a good amount of time to clear borders.

Awesome, thanks. We are ther e on a Monday so should be quieter?

Do you think its doable in a day or too much? We are quite used to day trips to another city here in the UK as our trains are pretty good. :)

Also, anything in particular I should do/eat/look for in Johot Bahru?

Yes, a day trip is definitely do-able. Monday should be definitely be better, especially when returning back to SG. Unfortunately, there are no trains currently and buses/private cars are the only option for now.

There is a heritage street (Jalan Tan Hiok Nee) which is a row of quaint shophouses and many lifestyle cafes and traditional restuarants. It's near the border crossing and it's a interesting area to visit. Many people head to Johor as the currency exchange makes shopping/services very affordable.

Awesome, thanks. We are ther e on a Monday so should be quieter?

 

Do you think its doable in a day or too much? We are quite used to day trips to another city here in the UK as our trains are pretty good. :)

 

Also, anything in particular I should do/eat/look for in Johot Bahru?

We are currently in the process of booking our flights from the UK to Singapore and wondering what to do.

To make the most of our first time to this part of the world we’re not sure if we need to add more than couple of nights onto the one night pre cruise stay due to jet lag etc.

Will we have enough time to see the major attractions and experience a taste of Singapore if we land evening of day one around 6.30 pm then we will have three and a half days before we are picked up at noon for transfer to the ship. The ship sails the following day late afternoon.

Any thoughts please.

About to book 4 nights prior to cruise, but would we be better making it 5 or 6. We may never go back to Singapore again. Help!

We are currently in the process of booking our flights from the UK to Singapore and wondering what to do.

To make the most of our first time to this part of the world we’re not sure if we need to add more than couple of nights onto the one night pre cruise stay due to jet lag etc.

Will we have enough time to see the major attractions and experience a taste of Singapore if we land evening of day one around 6.30 pm then we will have three and a half days before we are picked up at noon for transfer to the ship. The ship sails the following day late afternoon.

Any thoughts please.

About to book 4 nights prior to cruise, but would we be better making it 5 or 6. We may never go back to Singapore again. Help!

Oh I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hijack this thread, I pressed the wrong buttons, I meant to start a new thread. So sorry I didn’t mean to offend anyone with my silly actions.

About to book 4 nights prior to cruise, but would we be better making it 5 or 6. We may never go back to Singapore again. Help!

1. Gardens by the bay + Sands Skypark

2. Universal studios

3. Sentosa island (20 activities pass, including S.E.A.aquarium)

4. Jurong bird park (3 shows)

5. Singapore zoo

6. Amazon river safari + Night safari with tram rides and show

7 & 8. Two days for the FREE walking tours of 4 districts including Chinatown, Little India, Marina bay and the waterfront.

Singapore is beautiful with excellent transport (metro and taxis)

I would also add that it depends on your interests. 4 nights (including jetlag) would be good to give a quick overview) but you can certainly make it longer by a night or 2. This will give you time to visit interesting gardens (Botanic Gardens is the world's first and only UNESCO tropical gardens) or take in some of the museums in the afternoon. The humidity also might take some getting used to so take it easy!

We are currently in the process of booking our flights from the UK to Singapore and wondering what to do.

To make the most of our first time to this part of the world we’re not sure if we need to add more than couple of nights onto the one night pre cruise stay due to jet lag etc.

Will we have enough time to see the major attractions and experience a taste of Singapore if we land evening of day one around 6.30 pm then we will have three and a half days before we are picked up at noon for transfer to the ship. The ship sails the following day late afternoon.

Any thoughts please.

About to book 4 nights prior to cruise, but would we be better making it 5 or 6. We may never go back to Singapore again. Help!

Thanks to Pepy and drsel,

I’ve been reading lots about the weather and humidity, not sure how well we will cope with that, we don’t usually do hot climates so we will maybe struggle to do a full on active day and night. Gardens are definately on the top of my list to see, plus the area, not sure about Universal Studios we’re both in our 60s and have done the one in USA many years ago, we love museums and art galleries.

Is the Zoo worth a visit, we are lovers of wildlife and can sometimes get really upset seeing amazing animals in artificial environments, I’ve read about a night visit to the zoo, maybe it would be cooler then?

Is there a mosquito problem there? I have a bad reaction to their bites.

Still excited eleven months to go, I’m on a countdown.

Regards

Julie

Hi Julie,

If you like wildlife, the Zoo would be a great place for visit as it is a 'open concept' - that is to say the animals are housed in open enclosures landscape to resemble their natural habitat. The night safari (zoo) is the first nocturnal wildlife park. It is just next door to the zoo and you can have dinner in between the opening times. Whichever you choose would be great!

Not much a mosquito problem in the urban areas but you may wish to put on a repellent at the gardens.

Any questions, just check and ask!

Thanks to Pepy and drsel,

I’ve been reading lots about the weather and humidity, not sure how well we will cope with that, we don’t usually do hot climates so we will maybe struggle to do a full on active day and night. Gardens are definately on the top of my list to see, plus the area, not sure about Universal Studios we’re both in our 60s and have done the one in USA many years ago, we love museums and art galleries.

 

Is the Zoo worth a visit, we are lovers of wildlife and can sometimes get really upset seeing amazing animals in artificial environments, I’ve read about a night visit to the zoo, maybe it would be cooler then?

Is there a mosquito problem there? I have a bad reaction to their bites.

Still excited eleven months to go, I’m on a countdown.

Regards

Julie

Some great info in this thread on places to see and things to do.

As we are only in Singapore pre-cruise for two nights / three days (Saturday and Sunday plus most of Monday) in April, we are thinking of the HOHO bus or maybe just the Tourist Pass and use bus and MRT.

There will be six in our party and although the Grand Copthorne hotel we are staying in has a complimentary shuttle bus between 'sister hotels', Orchard Rd and Chinatown, it is reported to be infrequent and limited to just six guests per hotel, so wouldn't want to rely on this.

At SGD $49 for 48 hours, the Singapore 7 covers all seven HOHO bus routes. We can then choose the places to get off and explore. If nothing else we will see much of the city even if we don't get off.

The only downside of course is the frequency, plus they finish around 6pm. There is one stop near to the hotel.

The Singapore Tourist Pass (2 day $16 3 day $20 with a $10 fully-refundable smart card rental deposit) gives unlimited Bus and MRT travel and is a cheaper option, though this means getting to grips with the bus routes that pass by the hotel. I have found a good website for planning bus routes: https://busrouter.sg/

Has anyone used the Tourist Pass?

Hi there,

Another good website to plan your route if you are using the tourist pass would be : https://gothere.sg/maps

It give you the various "bus only"/"bus + subway"/"taxi options" with estimates of time/cost for each to better plan your route. For the taxi options, each taxi can take 4 adult passengers so if you are in a party of 6, you might need to get 2. Otherwise, get the maxi taxis.

cheers!

Some great info in this thread on places to see and things to do.

 

As we are only in Singapore pre-cruise for two nights / three days (Saturday and Sunday plus most of Monday) in April, we are thinking of the HOHO bus or maybe just the Tourist Pass and use bus and MRT.

 

There will be six in our party and although the Grand Copthorne hotel we are staying in has a complimentary shuttle bus between 'sister hotels', Orchard Rd and Chinatown, it is reported to be infrequent and limited to just six guests per hotel, so wouldn't want to rely on this.

 

At SGD $49 for 48 hours, the Singapore 7 covers all seven HOHO bus routes. We can then choose the places to get off and explore. If nothing else we will see much of the city even if we don't get off.

The only downside of course is the frequency, plus they finish around 6pm. There is one stop near to the hotel.

 

The Singapore Tourist Pass (2 day $16 3 day $20 with a $10 fully-refundable smart card rental deposit) gives unlimited Bus and MRT travel and is a cheaper option, though this means getting to grips with the bus routes that pass by the hotel. I have found a good website for planning bus routes: https://busrouter.sg/

 

Has anyone used the Tourist Pass?

Hi there,

 

Another good website to plan your route if you are using the tourist pass would be : https://gothere.sg/maps

 

It give you the various "bus only"/"bus + subway"/"taxi options" with estimates of time/cost for each to better plan your route. For the taxi options, each taxi can take 4 adult passengers so if you are in a party of 6, you might need to get 2. Otherwise, get the maxi taxis.

 

cheers!

Thank you for the link.

Looking at bus and MRT journeys on your link, it seems most one way fares in town to main areas would be $1 or less and with that in mind I'm thinking the EZ-Link card may be better value than the Tourist Pass, even with the $5 charge.

I believe the EZ-Link card gives reduced fares to offset the charge so I'm not sure we would ride the bus and MRT enough to spend $20 over the three days, especially if we use taxis too.

Would you agree?

 

At SGD $49 for 48 hours, the Singapore 7 covers all seven HOHO bus routes. We can then choose the places to get off and explore. If nothing else we will see much of the city even if we don't get off.

The only downside of course is the frequency, plus they finish around 6pm. There is one stop near to the hotel.

 

The HOHO bus has a package deal where you choose 2 attractions to add to the 2 day pass. If you choose Night Safari and River Safari you save quite a bit. Plus the 2 day HOHO pass includes free walking tours of Chinatown and Little India, and bus transfer out to the zoo area. This is what we're planning on doing.

The HOHO bus has a package deal where you choose 2 attractions to add to the 2 day pass. If you choose Night Safari and River Safari you save quite a bit. Plus the 2 day HOHO pass includes free walking tours of Chinatown and Little India, and bus transfer out to the zoo area. This is what we're planning on doing.

Chinatown and Little India Walking tours are free without any pass.

I recommend buying the top up metro card and using taxis when required.

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Buy the combined pass from the Singapore wildlife site, it's the cheapest.

 

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I think if you are doing the HOHO bus regardless, and you want to visit 2 of the zoo parks, then the HOHO pass is the better deal. (s$95 for the HOHO bus with Night Safari and River Safari, compared to s$49 for HOHO bus + s$65 for the zoos). Yes it would be cheaper to skip the HOHO bus and use the MRT, but if you like the advantage of the buses then their pass seems the better deal (although their 5 attraction pass does not look like a good deal to me).

I am a little unclear on the safari parks sometimes on when the tram/river rides are included in the price or not though (and having to pay for the river ride in addition to your ticket might change the economics of which is the better deal).

I think if you are doing the HOHO bus regardless, and you want to visit 2 of the zoo parks, then the HOHO pass is the better deal. (s$95 for the HOHO bus with Night Safari and River Safari, compared to s$49 for HOHO bus + s$65 for the zoos). Yes it would be cheaper to skip the HOHO bus and use the MRT, but if you like the advantage of the buses then their pass seems the better deal (although their 5 attraction pass does not look like a good deal to me).

 

I am a little unclear on the safari parks sometimes on when the tram/river rides are included in the price or not though (and having to pay for the river ride in addition to your ticket might change the economics of which is the better deal).

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