What should we do in Singapore? Help us plan our trip!
Natalya, Svetlana and I are going to Singapore for two days in December. We will be traveling from there to Thailand and need help planning our activities for Singapore.
We plan to spend our two nights at the Conrad Centennial Singapore, which we booked for 40,000 Hilton HHonors points a night prior to the Hilton HHonors devaluation earlier this year. All three of us actually have Hilton Gold status so we’ll be enjoying free breakfast, free internet and a possible room upgrade on our trip.
The one thing that’s pretty much set in stone at this point is visiting the Marina Bay Sands and checking out the world’s tallest infinity pool:
What are some of your favorite Singapore activities, places to eat, things to do? We’d love some suggestions!
The Marina Bay sands is a great idea! There is also a ship-style novel Louis Vuitton store you should check out… I think you’ll love it.
Definitely appreciate that LV tip! :)
Night safari. And this:
http://boardingarea.com/viewfromthewing/2013/08/14/an-introduction-to-singapore-hawker-centers-how-they-work-and-which-one-is-best-for-you/
Thanks, Gary! I think we’ll try to do both!
Night Safari, Singapore Zoo, Sentos Island, Hawker center (outdoor food courts), shopping on Orchard Road, Food: Red Chilli Crab, Cereal Prawn. You can also take a 45 minute ferry ride to Bintan, Indonesia which is a resort island (They have elephant rides there).
That Indonesia island is an idea if we have time! Do need a Visa, though, with American passport for the Indonesia visit?
If are a US citizen, you can get a visa upon arrival. It’s pretty quick. Bintan is definately worth it. You can get a cabana maybe 50 ft from the beach and the rates were under $200/night but prices vary with all the resorts. If you are only going to SG for two days, than I would recommend doing a day trip.
For the elephant ride, they actually provide an elephant show where it does tricks but I think you do the ride first.
So much to do there. If you use public transportation, guy one of the visitor cards at the subway. We loved the Cloud Forest, zoo, botanical gardens with the world’s largest collection of orchids, walking tour of Chinatown and the Wet Market . Here are some other ideas: http://airlandandsea.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/singapores-chinatown-the-wet-market/
http://airlandandsea.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/fun-things-to-do-in-singapore-the-zoo/
The previous posters have pretty much covered everything, but you can add dinner at UDMC seafood center (black pepper crab at Jumbo) — we take all our visitors there and they love it. Then there’s the casinos in case you enjoy that, as well as the new River Safari. You’ll have a good time!
Absolutely do not miss the Night Safari, it is awesome!!!
Hopefully you will have better luck at the Conrad than we did. We have Gold status as well and we were upgraded to a “business” floor, but not to the Executive Level. So there was no club access. But the breakfast by the pool was awesome and the hotel is great as well.
Last, eat as much as you can at as many hawker stalls as you can find. :)
Thanks! Sounds like night safari is moving near the top of the list thanks to everyone’s suggestions. I will be pretty happy with the hotel and breakfast by the pool, but if we get access to the executive lounge as well, definitely a bonus! :)
I love your site. I plan to travel next summer to Asia and now current have about 93k miles in AA. Can you help me plan my trip to SGN from LAX? Thanks
Glad you’re enjoying the site! I actually just posted about how to go about using American Airlines miles to plan a trip to Asia when I was helping my cousin and this may be very helpful to you: Planning a Trip to Asia with American Airlines Miles: Part 1 of 2. In part 2, which should be posted soon, I will go into more detail on how he went through the steps for planning his flights.
I stayed at the Marina Bay Sands in March 2013. It is an interesting hotel but I would not recommend. Regarding access to the pool, as a non-guest, you cannot access. The Observation Deck cost S$20, offers some good views (most popular at sunset), but is a wooden open deck with no shade and no chairs (not very comfortable). In general, the MBS is an interesting concept, but a very sterile environment compared to similar hotels in the same price rage. My two cents.
http://www.marinabaysands.com/Sands-SkyPark/Frequently-Asked-Questions/
I’m not staying at the Hotel. Can I swim in the Infinity Pool?Expand
Access to the Garden and Infinity Pool is for hotel guests only. However, Sands SkyPark Observation Deck is open to members of the public who purchase a ticket.
What happens if it rains?Expand
How much are tickets to Sands SkyPark Observation Deck?Expand
Ticket prices:
$20 for adults
$14 for children (aged between 2 – 12 years*)
$17 for senior citizens (aged 65 years and above)
Children under 2 years may enter for free.
Tickets are valid for a single admittance anytime between 9:30am and 10pm (11pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday), and there is no limit to the time guests may stay.
Thanks for the info!
Do you have a night booked at the Marina Bay Sands? You probably already know this, but, if not, you might be disappointed that they won’t let you check out the pool (swim or hang out by the pool) and you can only go to the obaservation deck without a room reservation.
Also, rooms are expensive, but getting a suite (Orchid Suite) is only marginally more expensive than a regular room. We stayed in an Orchid Suite in Sept, 2012…huge room (has a private gym in the room and 2 giant balconies and 4 flat screen TV’s).
Night Safari is good…show up early and have a burger while you watch the guys playing with fire – fun to see.
Sentosa Island is fun, depending on what you want to do…the aquarium or Universal Studios (much smaller than the ones in the US and can get crowded)…the locals like Sentosa because it’s like a staycation for them. I’d give it a miss, if I were you and only have 2 days.
Chinatown and Orchard Road shopping…if you’re looking for retail deals and you’re from the US you probably won’t find a lot of huge savings in the retail shops…if your baseline is Australia or China, then you might see some big savings, but you could get some trinkets and interesting things in Chinatown.
We will be there for 2 more days in a few weeks and there’s a place called Lockdown that was recommended to us…sounds fun and we’ll give it a try. It’s a puzzle room that they lock your group in and you have to figure out the clues to get yourself out within a certain timeframe…haven’t done it yet, but aske me after October and I can let you know how it went.
Hi Cody, Thanks for all the info! I do already know the infinity pool rules at Marina Bay Sands and I am staying at the Conrad. Shopping is definitely not on my list of things to do as I knew prices are significantly higher for luxury and non-luxury goods than in the US. I hope your group has a nice time at the puzzle!