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Although it isn’t the most budget-friendly backpacker destination, we found it surprisingly easy to visit Singapore on a budget. The good thing about Singapore is that although accommodation and food are much more expensive than in other Southeast Asian countries, you can see most of the main attractions for free. The metro and bus services are also relatively inexpensive (around 60 to 80p for most routes) and very efficient, making it easy to get around. It was also probably the cleanest and most efficient city I’ve ever visited.
From the iconic Marina Bay Sands to the captivating Gardens by the Bay and the bustling local hawker centres, Singapore is an incredible place to visit. I hope you find this blog post useful 🙂
Guide to visiting Singapore on a budget
How to Get to Singapore from Malaysia
We flew from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore after finding cheap flights on Skyscanner for just £16. Since we were returning to Kuala Lumpur for our flight to Borneo, we left our large backpacks in our hostel and only took a small backpack each—saving us from paying for luggage. The flight took just 50 minutes, and we landed in Singapore around 9:00am, giving us the whole day to explore.
If flights on your dates are expensive, another option is to take a bus from KL to Singapore, which takes about 5-6 hours. We mainly use redBus to book buses and minivans and have found it to be very reliable.
How long do you need in Singapore?
We spent five days in Singapore because we were killing time before our flight to Borneo, but you only really need 2 full days to explore the city’s highlights.
Where to stay in Singapore on a budget
The cheapest option is obviously a hostel, but even hostels here are expensive. We stayed at BEAT Sports Hostel for £14 a night in a six-person dorm, which was the cheapest option we found. Despite its mixed reviews, it actually turned out to be a great hostel—clean, comfortable, and well-located near Little India. It also had a kitchen area with free tea and coffee. Overall, I’d definitely recommend this hostel if you’re visiting Singapore on a budget!
Where to eat in Singapore on a budget
Hawker centres
There are plenty of hawker centres around the city selling a mix of Malay, Chinese, and Indian cuisine at affordable prices (£3-£5 per meal). Our favourite was Lau Pa Sat, not far from Marina Bay, making it a great spot for dinner before the evening light shows. We also really liked Maxwell Food Centre in Chinatown, as it had a huge variety of options.
For breakfast, you can get peanut butter or kaya toast sets for around £2-£3. These usually come with toast, eggs, and tea or coffee, making them great value. We also bought cereal and milk from the supermarket—if your hostel has a kitchen, this is the most budget-friendly option.
Little India
If you like Indian food, I highly recommend eating in Little India. There are plenty of small, local restaurants off the main street, and we had a set meal with rice, dal, soup, veggies and poppadom for just £3 each from Riaz Nasi Kandar. It was so good that we ate there for lunch every day 🙂
Things to Do in Singapore
Jewel Changi Airport (Free with optional extras)
The iconic Jewel at Changi Airport is home to the world’s largest indoor waterfall, surrounded by beautiful indoor gardens. It’s a really cool place to see (and it’s free!). There’s also a large shopping mall and a food court, although food here is (unsurprisingly) quite expensive.
If you’re flying into Singapore, you can walk between Terminals 1-3 or take the free shuttle bus from Terminal 4. The metro into the city is only around £1.20.
Marina Bay – Marina Bay Sands, Merlion, evening light show
One of Singapore’s biggest highlights is walking around Marina Bay to see the iconic Marina Bay Sands and the surrounding skyscrapers. You can do the 3.5km loop around the bay for amazing views and see all the famous attractions.
From the Merlion statue across the bay from the hotel, (the symbol of Singapore) you can get great view of the area.
Every evening at 8:00pm and 9:00pm, you can watch Spectre, an impressive (and free!!) water and light show that takes place at the bay.
SkyPark Observation Deck ($28-$39)
If it fits your budget, you can pay to go to the top of the SkyPark Observation Deck, which costs $28-$39 depending on the time of day. For us, this was too expensive… but we may have snuck into the lift and made it to the 53rd floor for an amazing view. (Not saying you should do that… 😉 ) We got very lucky because guests have to scan their card for the lift to work and it just so happened that the people in our lift were staying on the highest floor…LEGENDS!!
Gardens by the Bay (Free entry with optional extras)
Located next to Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay is another top highlight that’s free to enter. You can walk around during the day and catch the light show in the evening (7:45 PM or 8:45 PM)—we went twice, and it was incredible both times!
If you have the budget, you can pay to walk on the OCBC Skyway, which runs across the super trees. It costs £8.23 for a non-resident and you can just buy your ticket at the ticket office on the day.
Funan Centre rooftop park
We found a great viewpoint of the Marina Bay from the rooftop park at the top of the Funan Shopping Centre. It’s a quiet green space perfect for reading a book or just relaxing and provides a great view of the area. Just take the lift to the top floor and you’ll be there.
Kampong Glam and Haji Street (Free)
Located on Arab Street, Kampong Glam is Singapore’s Muslim Quarter. It’s home to the stunning Sultan Mosque and it’s a great place to wander around. The area has plenty of restaurants (mainly Turkish), market stalls, and souvenir shops. Next to Kampong Glam, we also walked along Haji Lane which is filled with street art, colourful shops and nice cafés.
Raffles Hotel (Free)
A historic national monument, Raffles Hotel opened in 1887 and has hosted many famous figures over the years. It’s also where the Singapore Sling cocktail was invented—you can still buy one today, but it’ll set you back an eyewatering £23!! You can walk around the courtyard for free or have a drink in the bar – we definitely didn’t look like we belonged there in our backpacker attire….lol
Sentosa Island & Fort Siloso (Free)
If you have an extra day, you can walk along a 15-minute boardwalk to Sentosa Island, home to Universal Studios and Fort Siloso.
Personally, I found Sentosa quite disappointing—most of the shops were closed and the whole area felt run-down and empty. There are several walking trails, but next to them are escalators… which kind of defeats the point? A free hop-on, hop-off shuttle bus also runs around the island, so we took it just to see what else was on the around – at least it provided some escape from the relentless heat! We stopped at a rather underwhelming man-made beach before heading to the Fort Siloso Skywalk, which was surprisingly good.
The skywalk leads to Fort Siloso, a national monument built in 1878 by the British to defend the Singapore Strait. Now a museum, it has exhibits on Singapore’s role in WWI and WWII, plus underground tunnels you can look around. We spent around 30 minutes in the museum before heading back to the mainland.
Overall, if you have time to kill and you’re interested in history, then Fort Siloso is worth a visit, but the rest of the island it pretty underwhelming.
Visiting Singapore on a budget: final thoughts
It may not be the cheapest country to go backpacking, but it’s certainly possible to visit Singapore on a budget. Cheap public transport, local hawker centres and free entry to most attractions makes Singapore a great place to visit and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! 🙂