Plan a European Holiday in 5 Easy Steps

........with steps within steps, of course!!

A Trip to The Taj Mahal

.......a truly timeless memorial to love!

Friday, March 31, 2017

Singapore - Planning Tips ...Part 3

Singapore, due to the generally short duration of trips, requires good planning. The high price of entry tickets, and the multitude of deals available on them, further emphasize the need for advance planning.


So here are some planning tips based on our experience to help you along.

Hotels

Singapore has a plethora of options, ranging from dorms to luxury resorts, to choose from. The basic process I followed for booking remained the same as for my earlier trips and can be found here. However, the accomodation scene in Singapore has a few peculiarities you should keep in mind.
  • Due to the high value of real estate in Singapore, most rooms are very small. Do not go by the photos, which can be misleading. Most sites give the area of the room - check it to get an idea of the room size.
  • Though there are many budget options in Singapore, read the fine print carefully. Many excellent looking bargains do not provide private bathrooms. You will have to use a shared toilet. Similarly, check that you will not be sharing the room itself with others - dorm style.
  • The location of the hotel is super important. There are many options available in the Geylang area. However, this area is notorious for the prostitution business at night. So it may not be suitable for families.
  • AirBnB may be illegal in Singapore. This is as on Apr 17. Please confirm before booking.

Passes

Being a city geared towards tourism, a large chunk of your expenditure would be on entry tickets for the sights. So doing some research before buying the tickets can substantially reduce your expenses. There are various Singapore City passes available here. However, I did not find any of them to be value for money. These city passes may only be worth it if you are going on a 3 day whirlwind trip. After all my analysis, here are my recommendations.
  • Parkhopper Pass  This pass gives you access to the Singapore Zoo, River Safari, Night Safari and Jurong Bird park. Highly recommended.
  • Garden by the Bay    You save a few dollars per person on buying the combined ticket. Be sure to check the maintenance days on the website prior to buying the tickets. 
  • Sentosa 2 Day Fun Pass     This pass gives you one full day pass for Universal Studios and a day in Sentosa. It includes access to the Sea Aquarium, Madame Tussauds, Trick Eye Museum, etc. There are more than enough activities to keep you busy for two full days.
  • Klook    This is a website providing deals on various attractions. You may not need it if you have taken the Park Hopper and the 2 Day Fun pass. However, it you do not intend to spend a whole day in Sentosa, you may find combinations of passes which suit your requirement. Please keep in mind that on some deals, the actual price is a little higher as they add taxes, delivery charges, etc when you are about to checkout.

Transport

Singapore has a very efficient public transport network. It includes Metros and Buses. Taxis are another option. Though they are much costlier, it is not prohibitively high, and under certain circumstances, it may be worth the savings in time.

The ticket/pass options available for public transport include :-

  • Singapore Tourist Pass   Options include 1,2 and 3 day passes. The 3 day pass is S$20. That means each person needs to do S$6.7 worth of travelling for three consecutive days. It may be worth it for a short trip with lots of transfers. But not value for money if you plan to visit two/three places only everyday.
  • E-Z Link Card     The other option is a simple 'Pay as you Go' card. It is available at many places, including all the 7-11 General stores.

Mobile Prepaid Card

You can choose between Singtel and StarHub. Check their website to see who has a better offer during you period of stay. They SIM cards are reasonable enough for you to buy more than one, so that you can keep in touch if your group splits up. However, I would suggest that you take at least one, for getting data access on the move. This would save you tons of time and effort as you can find the best way to get from one place to another, using your apps (to be discussed in the next section). Please keep in mind that Singapore networks no longer support 2G phones.

Apps

Certain apps  I found very useful during the trip include :-
  • Citymapper     This app is similar to Google Maps, but with a focus on local transport. It is connected to the public transportation network and provides 'to the second' updates on bus and metro timings. It is extremely useful when moving around the city. However, it needs a data connection if you want bus and train arrival times.
  • SplitWise     This app allows you to split your expenses among friends. You can create groups and sync across users. You can split each expense by various methods, so that everyone can pay as convenient, and easily keep track of what is owed to each other.


Thats all for now. In the next post, we will discuss the final suggested itineraries.