Singapore

[Littlewhistle]

Thinking of gong to Singapore next October but don't know anything about nice/not nice areas to stay etc

Any recommendations - 50s couple, bit of shopping, eating out, not interested in clubbing.

Thanks

You'll have a great time (but it's dear - very dear!) Can you combine it with a trip to Malaysia or Thailand? Singapore is great for four nights but that's probably enough. I can recommend a hotel (but they're probably all good) but I can't remember what it's called. I'll come back to this thread when I can.

We were thinking of going for about 9 days. Hadn't really thought of combining it with anywhere else as I won't to flights withing other countries or using smaller airlines .

Is everything dear? We would probably be looking for B and B in a hotel and eating out every night.

Its been a while, but go to the food courts or hawker centres for wonderful food at very good prices. Not the flashy places.

Get a rough guide from the library. Shopping is the same as anywhere and isn't cheap, don't waste time on that.

Singapore. - land of the plus plus, is very expensive. As Special says, go to the hawker centres.
There are lots of free things to do - botanical gardens, wander around little India, China town etc and the metro is good value, efficient and clean so easy to get everywhere.
You could fly with silk air - not a smaller airline, it's singapore airline's short haul carrier. Also really easy to take the bus to Malaysia - about 6 hours to KL.

Costa Sands, beach hut, singapore, sentosa Island gets mixed reviews but it's cheap & centrally located if not too touristy location. The Night Safari is worthy of a trip as are the butterfly gardens. If you're considering 9 nights then definitely consider visiting Malaysia. Tioman Island is perfect paradise location & only 5 hrs from Singapore (transport arranged the resort, my family would recommend Minang Cove.)

Oh yes, it is expensive, but lovely! And hotter than the sun! 3 nights would be enough though, we combined it with a trip to Bali for our honeymoon was amazing!!

Oh and DEFINITELY do the Night Safari!

Just to add, Minang Cove Resort is 5 hrs away by car & boat. Your driver will pick you up, change cars at border, drive, then get boat from Mersing 1 hrs. We stayed 3 nights and it was idyllic. Singapore's cool but a city state. Your time could easily be divided by the two places. Also a place in Indonesia which is a short hop & skip from Singapore by boat but forget it's name (Bintan perhaps) which have heard good things ... Tioman's nicer though 😊

Just returned from there recently. Are you going with kids? The main thing for us with Singapore was trying to have fun in the heat and humidity. My family doesn't like it too hot, so we tended to choose activities that kept us cool.

The science centre was great - very interactive and cool. We found the zoo a bit of an ordeal - really hot and humid. Try the Palawan Beach pirate ship - great for kids and watery fun and FREE! And after the pirate ship you can take a stroll along the sandy beach. Also check out "Future World" at the Marina Bay Sands Art Science museum. Wonderful for children.

Where to stay really depends on your budget. If you are looking for cheap and clean, Hotel 81 is quite good.

You will be overwhelmed by the variety of food in Singapore. We were on a tight budget but managed to eat very well by eating at food courts.

Go to Camp kilo BBQ and satay by the bay.

City Hall (Bencoolen), Orchard Road(expensive for accomodation), Bugis...all pretty central. Actually, Singapore is so small that nothing is really too far away and the tube there is cheap and fast. Taxis not too expensive.

Zoo with no kids - go in the day. The night safari shows you a lot less.

Changi museum also well worth the trip. Avoid sentosa at weekends or holidays.

Hawker markets for food- cheap and amazing!! There's one by the sea, and it was so beautiful.
Underground to travel around- really clean, efficient and easy.
Wanderlust hotel is AMAZING. We loved it.
Not sure about 9 nights- it's not that big!!
The airport is amazing too.

We went for 10 days. There were still bits we didn't see. Definitely agree with the night safari, we loved it. We did a couple of days in sentosa, one day at the zoo, little India, Chinatown etc. Really interesting visiting the various temples. We were there for the gp so spend an eve doing that too and expected everywhere to be really busy but it wasn't.

We stayed at Hotel Jen Orchard gateway (has a rooftop pool which is great after a long sticky day sightseeing) and thought it was reasonably priced. We enjoyed Marina bay gardens and sentosa island and Raffles. We avoided the Long Bar in Raffles (v touristy) and got flamed up had a wonderful afternoon in the other bar in the hotel, very classy and colonial - had it all to ourselves!

I'm not a fan of the night safari. Too busy and I felt pretty 'processed' by the end. Kids loved it ( albeit preferred river safari) but OP doesn't have kids.

Been there many times, mostly stayed with a friend. It can be quite boring for more than a few days unless you know people.

I would def combine with Malaysia (prob langkawi). Singapore Air flies there and it has many times been voted best airline in the world.

Stay at Raffles for grand luxury. Things to do are mainly shopping but also war museum, water parks etc. Food is amazing from the street markets to ultra expensive Michelin started restaurants.

It's a small country, very safe, no really dodgy areas, and transport around the island is quick and affordable so it hardly matters where you stay. Do all the stuff already suggested (especially eating in hawker centres).

Recommend visit Gardens by the Bay, go into the domes and pleasant walk round park. We saw wild otters in the river. Free music tree display at night. On the other side of the hotel at night there is another free night water display. You can pay to swim in the pool on top of the Marina sands hotel. Also visit little China, little India and the Arabic quarter. Drink Singapore slings on the quays/ river. There is a cat cafe in the Arabic quarter, to enjoy cake and cats!

The Botanical Gardens are lovely.

Thanks for all the info. We have decided to wait until the following year and go in the summer to combine with an onward trip to Australia as I'm not too keen on visiting other parts of Asia.