Singapore fits on a one page map, and still most travellers spend their first day zigzagging across it. A temple here, a rooftop there, and in the evening it turns out the light show on the other side of the bay has just started. Shame, because this city rewards you for doing it one neighbourhood at a time. Every area has its own food, its own rhythm and its own best hour.
Hence this itinerary: four days, one piece of the city each day. Day one starts in Chinatown and ends under the Supertrees, on day two you eat your way through three cultures, on day three you hop on a little boat or walk to a beach, and on day four you walk through the treetops before crossing the border into Malaysia. For every day you get what to do in the morning, the afternoon and the evening, and where the money goes.
Less time? Further down there is a two day version, plus a paragraph for anyone just changing planes at Changi. Want to know first which neighbourhood to sleep in and what it all costs? That is on our Singapore page.
The route at a glance
- Chinatown and Marina Bay: temples, hawkers and two free light shows
- Little India, Kampong Glam and Joo Chiat: three cultures in one day
- Pulau Ubin or Sentosa: an island, then the Jewel waterfall in the evening
- Southern Ridges or MacRitchie: the green, then over the border
The order is no accident. If you sleep in Chinatown, day one is all around your hostel, so after a long flight you do not have to go anywhere. Little India is busiest on Sundays: make day two a Sunday if you want to see it at its fullest. And day four ends at the border, so you roll straight on into Malaysia without doubling back.
Day 1: Chinatown and Marina Bay
Start where the locals have breakfast. Tiong Bahru is ten minutes from Chinatown, among the rounded balconies of its white 1930s flats, and at Tiong Bahru Market the queue for chwee kueh and a cup of kopi forms early. Then walk back to Chinatown. South Bridge Road squeezes three faiths into five minutes’ walk, and the two to step inside are the Sri Mariamman, with its colourful tower, and the red Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. Lunch at Maxwell Food Centre, and just join the longest queue.
You spend the hottest part of the day indoors, and here you can do that in style. Gardens by the Bay has two glass domes: the Cloud Forest, where you circle a misty 35 metre mountain of ferns and orchids, and the Flower Dome, the biggest greenhouse on earth without a single pillar. Both domes together cost about €32. That is your big spend for the day, and the only one.
At a quarter to eight you lie down on the paving stones under the Supertrees. Garden Rhapsody lasts fifteen minutes, the trees glow in time to the music, and everyone around you is lying just as flat as you are. Then stroll down to the water, where Marina Bay Sands starts Spectra at 9pm. That is two shows before ten o’clock without opening your wallet. Round it off with satay off the charcoal grill on Satay Street at Lau Pa Sat.
Rather see the skyline from the water? There is a river cruise that includes both light shows. And the OCBC Skyway, the walkway between the Supertrees, is about €10 extra.
Our verdict: the day that sums up Singapore, and the only ticket you really need this week
Day 2: Little India, Kampong Glam and Joo Chiat
Today you eat your way across the city. Start at Tekka Centre with a plate of roti prata. Then walk down Serangoon Road, past flower garland stalls and sari shops, to the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, where the incense reaches you before you are through the door. On Sundays Little India is at its busiest, and that is exactly why you should go then.
A fifteen minute walk on, the city changes colour. In Kampong Glam the golden dome of the Sultan Mosque gleams above Arab Street. Cover your shoulders and knees, or borrow a robe there, and take your shoes off at the door. Behind it is Haji Lane, a narrow alley full of murals and small cafés, where you catch your breath over a coffee.
In the afternoon take the MRT to Paya Lebar and walk into Joo Chiat. This is Peranakan country, home to the descendants of Chinese traders and Malay families, and their houses stand side by side in rows of mint green, pink and yellow. Order a bowl of Katong laksa, the creamy coconut noodle soup you eat here with a spoon. Still got some energy? Walk on to the cycle path along the sea in East Coast Park.
For the evening you have two flavours. Back to Haji Lane for a drink, or the Night Safari up north: tigers, tapirs and fruit bats after dark, for about €40, open from 7.15pm until midnight. Budget an hour on the MRT and a bus to get there, and turn up at 7.15pm sharp or late in the evening: that is when you barely queue for the tram.
Our verdict: the tastiest of the four days, so keep breakfast light and have lunch twice
Day 3: Pulau Ubin or Sentosa
Now you choose: Singapore the way it used to be, or where the city comes to play.
Pulau Ubin: the old kampong life
Catch an early bus from Tanah Merah to Changi Point Ferry Terminal. The bumboat costs S$4 per person, about €3 and cash only, and leaves as soon as it is full. Ten minutes later you walk off a jetty onto an island of wooden kampongs, sandy tracks and wild boar by the roadside. Hire a bike at the jetty, for about €6 to €10 for the day, and ride out to Chek Jawa, where you walk a boardwalk across the wetland and climb the lookout tower. Back at the jetty, fresh seafood is waiting.
Cash is king on Ubin, for the boat as well as the bike.
Sentosa: three beaches, no ticket needed
If you want sand under your feet, take the MRT to HarbourFront, walk through VivoCity and straight onto the Sentosa Boardwalk. That costs nothing. The beaches at Siloso, Palawan and Tanjong are free, and so are the shuttle buses around the island. Via the suspension bridge at Palawan Beach you can tick off the southernmost point of continental Asia, and on Siloso you sit at a beach bar with a drink at sunset. Rather not walk? The Sentosa Express costs about €3, and the cable car throws in the view.
In the evening: the Jewel waterfall
If you were on Pulau Ubin, you are already on the right side of the city. Head to Jewel at Changi Airport in the evening, where the Rain Vortex, the tallest indoor waterfall on the planet, pours forty metres down the middle of a five storey forest. Once it is dark, light and music play across the falling water. It costs nothing to look; the Canopy Park on the top floor is the only paid bit. Coming from Sentosa? Then eat at the hawker centre near your hostel and save Jewel for the day you fly out.
Our verdict: Pulau Ubin is the day you will talk about most back home, Sentosa the day you spend least
Day 4: the green, then over the border
The last morning is for nature, and it is surprisingly close. Walk the Southern Ridges, a trail through the treetops with the wave shaped Henderson Waves bridge as the highlight. Or head to MacRitchie for the TreeTop Walk through the rainforest: it is closed on Mondays, so check what day it is. Want to take it easier? Try the Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015 and free.
Start early. Mornings are the coolest time of day here, and the thunderstorm that often breaks late in the afternoon will find you already dry on the bus.
In the afternoon you cross over. The cheap way is bus CW2 or 170 to the checkpoint, for a few euros. The smart way is the KTM Shuttle Tebrau: five minutes from Woodlands to JB Sentral in Johor Bahru, about €3.50, rolling over the Causeway while the cars stand still. From JB Sentral the electric ETS train gets you to Kuala Lumpur in around four and a half hours, from about €16. Seats go fast on the few departures a day, so book a few days out.
Rather skip the change? The direct bus takes four to five hours to Melaka, from about €18, and five to six hours to Kuala Lumpur. Go midweek if you can. Friday evenings, weekends and public holidays turn the Causeway into one long car park, and that can add a few hours to your trip. Heading for the beach? Take the early bus to Mersing and the ferry to Tioman.
Travelling in 2027? From February the new RTS Link metro is due to take over the hop from Woodlands to Johor Bahru, with the Shuttle Tebrau running for about another six months. Check which of the two is running when you go.
Our verdict: a morning in the treetops and an afternoon over the border, the best goodbye this city can give you
Singapore in two days
Two days is tight, but with the right choices you see the heart of the city. Do day 1 as above, with Chinatown, Maxwell and both light shows. On day 2 do Little India and Kampong Glam in the morning, and in the afternoon swap Joo Chiat for the Botanic Gardens or, with an evening flight, go straight to Jewel. Your backpack can wait in the baggage storage while you watch the Rain Vortex before check-in.
What you miss then are the islands and the Peranakan streets. Exactly the things worth coming back for.
Only a layover?
Even if all you have is a stop at Changi, you can still fit in a slice of Singapore. Transit passengers with five and a half to 24 hours between flights can join the Free Singapore Tour, a bus that loops past the skyline at no cost. Got an evening? Take the MRT to Marina Bay and catch Garden Rhapsody and Spectra back to back. What fits into which layover, and what to sort out before you walk out of the airport, is in Singapore stopover.
Practical: sleeping, getting around and budget
Where to stay
For this itinerary Chinatown is the best base: day one starts and ends round the corner, and two MRT lines take you everywhere else for the rest of the week. Atelier Hostel is in an early 1900s shophouse on South Bridge Road, with capsules that each have a blackout curtain. Want more of a buzz? The Bohemian on Mosque Street is made for backpackers who want to meet other travellers.
Flying out of Changi at the end, or want to start day three on Pulau Ubin? Then Betel Box in Joo Chiat is handier: closer to the airport, with bikes for hire and staff who know every food stall in the area. All the hostels and neighbourhoods are on our Singapore page.
Getting around the city
You need one thing: your own contactless bank card or credit card. Tap it on the gate going into and coming out of the MRT or the bus, and a ride costs you about €0.90 to €1.80. From Changi the train needs half an hour to 45 minutes to reach the centre, with a change at Tanah Merah. And keep your water bottle in your bag on board: no eating or drinking on the MRT. Which card works out cheapest abroad is on travel cards, and how to stay online everywhere on eSIM. More on the metro, buses and Grab is in getting around Singapore.
What do these four days cost?
Budget about €55 a day, with a dorm bed for about €25 and hawker plates from €3 to €4. Most of this itinerary costs nothing: the temples, the light shows, Haji Lane, the beaches on Sentosa, the Southern Ridges and the Botanic Gardens. You pick the big spends yourself: the domes at Gardens by the Bay for about €32 and the Night Safari for about €40. Do one of the two, and drink your beer at the hawker centre, where a big bottle of Tiger is about €6. How to bring the total down further is in backpacking Singapore: cost per day and free things to do in Singapore.
Visa and arrival card
Up to 90 days visa free on most passports, 30 if yours is Canadian. Make sure your passport has six months to run after you leave, and have proof of your onward journey ready: this is how you sort an onward ticket without locking in your route. Fill in the free SG Arrival Card within three days before you arrive, counting the day of arrival, and only through the immigration authority’s website or the MyICA app. Leave vapes and chewing gum at home: they are not allowed into the country. Look up your own passport on our visa page.
Got time to spare?
Add a fifth day and you can eat your way through Tiong Bahru and Chinatown Complex without watching the clock, or cycle from Joo Chiat through East Coast Park all the way to Marina Bay. Rather have someone explain it all? On the bike tour of the highlights you see in a few hours on your first day where you want to go back to, and on the food tour you taste your way through more than twelve tastings in one afternoon. Everything else there is to do in the city is in things to do in Singapore.
Carrying on through Malaysia after Singapore? Then our Malaysia itinerary picks up right where this one ends, and Singapore and Malaysia itinerary shows which way round works best.
Isn't four days too much for such a small city?
No, and three is fine too. With three days you do the first three days of this itinerary and see the skyline, the neighbourhoods and an island. The fourth day is for anyone who wants more than the highlights: the MacRitchie rainforest or the Southern Ridges, and an easy crossing into Malaysia instead of a rushed one.
The difference is the pace. Singapore is hot, humid and around 31 degrees in the day, and if you keep going until the last light show every night, you are done in by day three. With four days you can sit indoors in the afternoon when the thunderstorm hits, and eat at a different hawker centre every evening.
Our advice: take four days if Singapore is the start of your trip. You get used to the heat and the jet lag in the easiest city in the region, then cross the border to Melaka or Kuala Lumpur well rested. Check the best time to visit Singapore to see which month is driest.
