Singapore has been a bucket list destination for us, and it may bring to mind the movie Crazy Rich Asians. As the most expensive country in Southeast Asia, we were a bit concerned about our budget. But we were pleasantly surprised with our experience spending 5 days in Singapore!
It started with a flight from Istanbul to the world-famous Changi Airport. Unfortunately, our flight arrived in Singapore around 8 AM (if you’re interested in our Turkiye adventures, check out our Cappadocia blog), and we could not check into our hotel until around 3 PM. So, we had a lot of time to kill. Thankfully, Changi has a lot to offer.
Visit The Airport in Singapore
If you’re spending any amount of days in Singapore, you’re likely to visit the airport either on the way in or the way out. But the airport in Singapore is not like most airports – it’s a destination worth visiting all on its own. So we started our 5 days in Singapore, there, at Changi Airport.
We gathered our bags and searched for bag storage. We paid (I don’t really remember what at this point) for them to store all our bags so we could explore the airport unburdened. Then we headed straight for the Jewel. This has the large water vortex and Skytrain passing by. We were there just a bit too early (they started the water at 10 AM). So, instead, we walked the garden a bit and grabbed some coffee.
The airport is really amazing. You can get around to different terminals via a free train service or on foot. We visited almost all of them. Unfortunately, we were exhausted and tried to see as much as possible. There are things you can pay for, like a hedge maze and mirror maze, but we weren’t interested in spending money on them.
How to Make the Most of Your 5 Days in Singapore
Singapore is a fairly small city-state, and many of the main attractions are nearby. Since we only had 5 days in Singapore, unlike most of our destinations, we prioritized the places we really wanted to see.
Catch the Lightshow at Gardens By The Bay
The futuristic super trees are breathtaking—and even more so when lit up. Gardens by the Bay is a huge free outdoor space, but going at night is really special. The light and music show is free, and you can catch it at 7:45 PM and 8:45 PM daily.
We went back twice as the show changed while we were there. They tend to have different themes and music throughout the year. There is plenty of room to stand, sit, or lie down to enjoy the show.
Explore Gardens By The Bay
Besides the light show, walking or biking around the outdoor space is amazing. You can also get tickets for some of the attractions, like the Cloud Forest, Flower Dome, and Skyway. We got tickets on Klook and went for the combo Cloud Forest and Flower Dome, which costs around $45 USD per person.
The Cloud Forest is very cool, and mist is set off every hour or so to give it the feel of being in a jungle. The Flower Dome also has changing themes (I think as of this writing in September 2024, it’s currently Monet). While we were there, it was, funnily enough, Turkey-related.
We also wanted to go up to the Skyway and were told to buy tickets there when we wanted to go because they closed it off depending on the weather. And since Southeast Asia is known for rainy seasons, we worried it would rain if we booked in advance. We wanted to try to get onto the Skyway before the light show. It says the skyway closes at 7 PM, but we saw people watching from above. Unfortunately, the line was too long, and they would not let us buy tickets since they were closing soon. Regardless, we had a great time at Gardens by the Bay, and it’s definitely worth seeing on your days in Singapore.
Walk Around Marina Bay
The marina is so peaceful and beautiful. You’ll also get to see the famous Merlion statue. If you go at night, you can catch a fountain show. We went back several of our 5 days in Singapore and did a ton of walking. Every time we happened to be over by Gardens by the Bay, or Marina Bay Sands, we ended up walking around the marina to get back to our hotel.
Walking over the Helix bridge is very cool. You can also grab a brick of ice cream from the vendor selling at the end (or beginning, depending on which direction you’re going) of the bridge. This was a delicious giant brick of ice cream wedged between two small wafer crackers, very necessary in the hot, humid Singapore.
Eat at Hawker Centers
Trying to make our 5 days in Singapore as budget-friendly as possible, we spent a lot of time eating at Hawker centers. These are like food courts with several booths of food and drink vendors. They are definitely the more inexpensive option compared to restaurants in Singapore. We ate at Market Street Hawker Center, which was not very busy when we went. We also went several times to the famous Lau Pa Sat Hawker Center. The Hawker Center in Chinatown is also very busy and inexpensive, offering delicious food.
Visit Chinatown and Little India
The metro was pretty easy to navigate, but we were a bit confused initially because we didn’t see ticket machines. There are ways to buy a transit card, but we found out you can tap your debit or credit card on the turnstiles to get in and out. It charges a little extra, but we didn’t care.
Anyway, if you’re staying around the marina, you can take the EW or the DT line to Little India in about 20 minutes. And to get to Chinatown, it’s a pretty easy walk (under 20 minutes from where we were staying).
If you go to Chinatown, you should visit the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. It’s free to enter, but make sure to dress modestly. It’s a beautiful structure with about five floors and a rooftop garden. While in that area, we also walked to Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple. Unfortunately, it was closed when we walked by, but the outside is beautiful.
Next, we took the metro to Little India to walk around there. Since we had just eaten, we didn’t get to enjoy the Tekka Centre, an Indian food Hawker center. But we still enjoyed the sights and smells. From there, we walked over to Arab Street, which is a cool area. There are a lot of interesting bars and cafes and tons of street art. After enjoying a refreshing coffee, we went back to our hotel.
Bonus Things We Did in Our 5 Days in Singapore
Enjoy Dinner and a View From Marina Bay Sands
Exploring the city is the main attraction, but it didn’t seem right to leave without trying to get that view from atop the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. After some research, we found out there were a couple of ways you can get the view from the famous hotel. The first requires tickets to the observation deck. Tickets for that seem to cost around $21 USD during non-peak times and $25 USD during peak hours. You can find ticket info here.
The other option, which has the potential to be more expensive, is to have dinner and/or a drink in one of the restaurants/bars. We chose Spago Bar & Lounge. The other option is, I believe, RISE Restaurant. Whatever you choose, make sure to make reservations.
Sean and I chose to have a nice dinner at Spago. Though we could not get a view from the infinity pool (it’s closed off unless you’re a hotel guest), we still got an amazing view from Gardens by the Bay. We were even able to see the light show from above!
Bike the Jurassic Mile to Changi Airport
This is a bit more adventurous for us. The Jurassic mile is obviously not that long, but we biked from the marina to the airport. I think it was around 13 miles or 21 km total and took us 3 to 4 hours to complete. I have to say, it was pretty brutal.
We rented the bikes that you’ll see all over the street. You can rent them via the app associated with the company. I believe it’s either Anywheel or Hello Ride. So we rented these bikes and started our trip. But we took a wrong turn somewhere, and instead of riding on the designated bike path, we managed to ride on some weird road near a construction site. It eventually brought us out to the bike path, but in the meantime, Sean’s bike was not pedaling well, and we were both very sweaty and thirsty (my water was running very low).
Thankfully, it was amazing once we got back on the bike path. There was plenty of shade, the paths were smooth, and several places to stop for water or food. We stopped at East Coast Lagoon Food Village and got some yummy pad kra prao and soursop juice.
After several hours, we finally made it to the Jurassic mile, and that’s when the rain started. We barely managed to make it to the airport when it started to pour. Though it was quite refreshing after that long, sweaty ride. There was a place to put the bikes, so we ended our rides on the app and headed inside the airport for some airconditioning before using the Grab ride-hailing app to take us back to our hotel. There was no way we were biking back!
If you enjoy biking or want a bit of a challenge, I would definitely recommend it. It was probably one of the highlights of our 5 days in Singapore.