Known as the futuristic city of south east Asia, for the Singapore sling and the unforgiving laws (a local told us the law is so strict that you would get the death sentence for bringing drugs into the country… don’t mess with the Singaporeans!!)
We were lucky enough to spend 3 days there earlier in April this year and what an experience! Filled with beautiful 5* hotels, sky scrapers and designer shopping malls. Singapore is not too common on a backpackers list, especially as one of the first stops.
It’s south east Asia though, surely it’s not that expensive? Oh it is! Based on our accommodation in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, we have had private double rooms with aircon and a private bathroom for under £10 a night between two people. In Singapore we stayed in a hostel for 3 nights and it cost us £117.70 between two so that just shows the difference!
If you had the money to splash, you could live the dream lifestyle… but that wasn’t quite possible for us.
So can you do it on a budget? Of course you can. Firstly, why spend money on transport?! We spent our days there wandering around the streets by foot and we came across so many things we would never have experienced if we had taken a taxi or the underground!
Viewpoints at marina bay sands, why go to the observatory point and spend £20 per person entry fee for 20 minutes… when you can go to the bar a few floors lower for free and order a drink (which, by the way if it’s alcohol you’ll find it won’t be much more expensive than the alcoholic drinks in bars on ground level in the city!!) doing it this way, you can have the amazing views of Singapore for as long as you’d like!
Food, always our number one priority! We ate so cheap but we had some of the best meals ever while we were in Singapore. Singapore has an amazing food scene and even on a budget we were eating in the Marina Bay Sands! All over Singapore there are huge shopping malls which have food courts on the lower level, they are full of so many delicious cuisines ranging from Chinese, Korean, Thai, Malaysian etc! We had the best Indian meal I’ve ever had so don’t knock the food courts until you’ve tried the food... you won't be disappointed!
Yes, Singapore is one of the most expensive cities in the world, but don’t let that put you off, strict budget or not, it shouldn’t be crossed off your itinerary.
What tips do you use to save money in cities? Let us know!
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