Singapore is a fun country to visit. It has the world’s top theme park, wildlife parks, conservatories, light and sound shows and many more fun and entertainment activities. Singapore is a country that everyone wants to visit but doesn’t because of it being an expensive tourist destination. If you check any list of expensive countries to live in, Singapore is always on the list.
Planning a trip from India to one of the world’s most expensive cities doesn’t have to break the bank. While it is common to see couples spending upwards of ₹3 Lakhs for a short 5-day holiday in Singapore, we managed to crack the code.
A trip to Singapore does not have to be that expensive.
Our total Singapore trip cost from India was just ₹1,38,000 for a full 9-day itinerary—including flights, an 8-night hotel stay, food, shopping, and major attractions. That brings the cost down to roughly ₹7,800 per person per day. In this guide, we break down our exact travel expenses and share the tactical budget hacks we used as an Indian couple to visit almost all the top tourist attractions without overspending
Table of Contents
Where We Saved The Money: Tips To Reduce Singapore Trip Cost
We saved the money on everything we could. We stayed in a budget hotel, used public transport, ate cheap, and shopped at the street markets. And that saved us more than ₹1.5 lakhs in expenses. Hey, that’s the budget for another 9 days Singapore trip 😛
Singapore Flight Tickets: How We Saved ₹32,200
The actual roundtrip flight cost was ~ ₹46,000 for two persons but we only paid ₹13,800. I used credit card points accumulated on my HDFC Infinia credit card for flight booking that allows up to 70% of the cost redeemable by points.
Flights are the biggest part of your Singapore trip cost. By booking early and using credit card points, we saved ₹32,200 on airfares alone.
Budget Hotels in Singapore for Couples
We stayed in Hotel Classic By Venue which is a budget hotel. Had we stayed in a 4-star hotel or resort in Sentosa, our hotel expense alone would have been close to our actual total expense of our Singapore trip. Read the review of Hotel Classic By Venue here.
Hotel stays generally accounts for ~30% of total Singapore trip cost. Our 8-night stay at Hotel Classic By Venue only cost us ₹36,800
A standard 4-star hotel in Singapore will easily cost you north of SGD 250 (~₹15,000) per night, climbing higher if you stay in Sentosa. To keep your Singapore trip cost low, look for 2-star hotel chains located in budget-friendly districts like Geylang, Chinatown, and Little India. The rooms will be small and won’t include free breakfast, but they are great value for money. Popular, reliable budget chains include Ibis, 81, and Venue.
Book Discounted Attraction Tickets Online
The attraction tickets are generally available online at a discounted price on Klook. It runs promo offers from time to time which further reduces the ticket price. Buying tickets online also saves time as you will not have to stand in a queue at ticket counters. We booked all the tickets including Universal Studios Singapore online through Klook to save 10-20%.
Use Public Transport To Save Money
Taxis are expensive in Singapore. Using a taxi all the time will slowly add up the cost and make the trip expensive. Instead, use the bus and metro to travel anywhere in mainland Singapore and Sentosa to keep down Singapore trip cost. Singapore has one of the most efficient public transportation systems in the world.
Buy an EZ-Link card or Flashpay card to pay for all public transportation in Singapore. Read our detailed article on the EZ-Link card here. While they don’t offer a direct discount over cash for a single trip, they unlock major distance-based savings. When you transfer from bus to MRT or bus to bus or MRT to bus, the system treats it as a single continuous journey rather than separate rides, calculating a much cheaper overall fare.
We travelled in public transport in Singapore throughout our trip. We even boarded a bus to reach the hotel from the airport. The only time we were forced to use a taxi was when we had to go to the airport on the last day. We were supposed to travel by bus but heavy rain left us no choice. That one taxi ride cost us ₹1000 whereas we paid less than ₹120 per person for the bus ride to Singapore Zoo which was about 25 kilometres away from our hotel.
Food
We avoided eating at restaurants on or near the attractions as much as possible. Eating out near popular attractions places is always expensive as most tourists eat there. And the taste is pretty average also. Mostly, we ate at the food courts (hawker centres) or restaurants near our hotel. We also ate Indian food lots of times which is a bit cheaper than other country’s cuisines.
To keep food costs to an average of SGD 5–7 (~₹300–400) per meal, eat at local Hawker Centres (food courts). There are over 100 hawker centres across the city, and almost all of them feature at least one stall serving hygienic vegetarian meals.
Famous locations include Lau Pa Sat, Newton Food Centre, and Maxwell Food Centre. If you are looking for cheap Indian meals, head straight to Little India.
Note: Not all hawker centres stay open all day, so check their specific timings on Google Maps before heading out.
Budget Shopping
Like all the things in Singapore, even shopping can also be done on a budget. Many street markets in Singapore sell clothes and souvenirs at dirt-cheap prices. We did all our clothing, gifts, and souvenir shopping from street markets in Singapore.
The market at Bugis Street is best for women’s clothing. Megha bought a couple of shorts for SGD 5 (~ ₹300) each. The price is comparable to the Sarojini Street market in Delhi and quality is way much better. Now you see how cheap Bugis Street market is.
Go to Chinatown for souvenir shopping. You should get a good quality souvenir for SGD 5 – 10 (~ ₹300 – 600).
Avoid Buying Bottled Water (Drink Tap Water)
Unlike many other countries in Southeast Asia, tap water in Singapore is perfectly safe and clean to drink. That means, there is no need to spend money to buy water bottles. Just keep an empty water bottle and refill it every time it gets empty. This just not even saves some money and reduce your Singapore trip cost but is also good for the environment.
Buy Snacks and Soft Drinks From Valu$ Stores
Soft drinks and dry snacks like chips, biscuits, and chocolates are expensive in Singapore. All these items are available at far lower prices at Valu$ Stores. The prices of some of the items are even lower than what we have in India.
There are many Valu$ stores in Singapore but we found the one at Lucky Plaza on Orchard Road as the biggest one. We bought all of our snacks and soft drinks from Valu$ stores. This also helped to bring down our Singapore trip cost.
Singapore Trip Cost: Complete Expense Breakdown
| Expense | Cost (₹) |
|---|---|
| Roundtrip flight on Singapore Airlines for 2 people | 13,900 |
| 8-night stay in Hotel Classic By Venue | 36,800 |
| Food | ~17,000 |
| Attraction Tickets for 2 people | ~44,000 |
| Shopping | ~13,800 |
| Local Transport for 2 people (EZ-Link Card Top-up + 1 taxi ride) | ~6,700 |
| Visa for 2 people | 4,400 |
| Health Insurance | 1,600 |
| Local Sim Card | 600 |
| Total | ~1,38,000 |
How much did you spend on your Singapore trip? Let us know in comments below.
Note: This post contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase using one of these affiliate links, we get paid a small commission at no extra cost to you.
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