Thinking about what to do beyond the Merlion, Marina Bay Sands and Universal Studios in Singapore? Read on to know more about some hidden gems (hiding in plain sight :P) to plan your trip to Singapore!
- 🗓️ High-level itinerary
- 🍜 Food
- 🏡 Stay
- 💰Budget
- ✈️ Flights and Internal transportion
- 💵 Visa and Forex
- 📝 Detailed Itinerary
🗓️ High-level itinerary
Day 1: Land in Singapore, cover Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands observatory
Day 2: Merlion, Financial District, shopping at IMM outlet mall
Day 3: Sentosa Islands – Universal Studios, Sensoryscape, Siloso Beach and Palawan Beach
Day 4: Fort Canning Park, China Town
🍜 Food
- Indian – any place in Little India
- Maxwell Food Centre
- Newton Food Centre
- Ya Kun Kaya Toast – this is a chain, you ca try any of the outlets
- Ice cream sandwich – anywhere in the city
🏡 Stay
💰Budget
| Expense | Cost | Comments |
| Flights to & from India | Rs.20,000 | Round trip |
| Internal Transportation | Rs.10,000 | Public transport is extremely good in Singapore. So this can be even cheaper. We used cabs at a few places. Hence higher |
| Accommodation | Rs.15,000 | Rs. 10k per couple per night |
| Food | Rs.6,000 | |
| Experiences | Rs.15,000 | Universal Studios, Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the bay |
| Miscellaneous | Rs.10,000 | Shopping, visa fees |
| Total Budget | Rs. 75,000 – 80,000 | per person |
✈️ Flights and Internal transportion
Flights – We booked Air India onward and Indigo on our return flight. Both airline operators offer 7kg cabin and around 25kg check-in luggage per person
Internal transportation – Public transportation in Singapore is extremely well-connected with both buses and metro. You can just use your credit card to tap and don’t even need to buy any passes. That’s how convenient it is! To Sentosa, we took the cable car. There is a day pass available (more details on this in the upcoming paras!). For information on bus routes and which bus to take, you can just select the public transport option on Google maps and it will accurately direct you.
If you’re not comfortable with public transport, cabs are also easily available with Grab and you typically get really good cars (SUV grade) – so it’s still worth it.
💵 Visa and Forex
Visa – Singapore Visa is fairly simple to get if you go with an agent like Atlys. While we went with someone in our contacts, we recommend Atlys since they’re reliable and quick.
Forex – The conversion rate for Singapore Dollars (SGD) is ~ INR 70 per SGD (Jan 2026). While you will not need cash anywhere except for some street hawkers etc, you can carry around 200 SGD
📝 Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Land in Singapore, explore Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands
We landed early in the morning (around 7.30 am) and headed straight to our hotel in Albert Court. This place is located at walking distance from Little India. Since we were travelling with our parents, food was a big concern, and hence we chose this. Despite being located close to Little India, this locality is a completely different vibe with a college located in the vicinity, it offers the experience of staying in a Singapore neighborhood. The folks at Ibis Styles were kind enough to offer us an early check-in since rooms were available. If not, they offer you the option of using a shower near the swimming pool area, which is not bad, either.
After freshening up and resting for a bit, we headed to Gardens by the Bay. These are curated gardens in temperature and atmosphere-controlled domes containing hundreds of species of flora and have been divided into multiple themes – Cloud Forest, Flower Dome, Floral Fantasy being the constants. Apart from these, there are new themes opened now and then. You can check out the options here.
Of the options offered, we felt that the Cloud forest and Flower Dome are the best. However, it may vary depending upon what crowd you’re travelling with. If you have kids, then your preferences may change. However, Cloud Forest is something that you should definitely not miss. There is also misting that happens every two hours and that gives you the experience of truly being in a rainforest.
You can buy combo tickets for Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Bay Sands Observatory as well. We would recommend this since it makes sense cost wise as well, as the combo tickets are cheaper
After this, we headed to the Marina Bay Sands observatory at around 5.30 pm so that we could get a view during daylight and stayed until around 7.30 pm to catch the night view as well. You can see the entire financial district from one side of the bay and the sea from the other side. The view is truly a sight to witness! Especially the night view of the financial district is definitely worth it. Since Singapore can be sunny and rainy, it is best to carry umbrellas with you at all times since they can double up for both purposes.
After this, we grabbed a coffee and spent some time at the Marina Bay Sands Mall. Had dinner at Little India and retired for the night.
Day 2: Merlion, shopping and Financial District
Since we were tired with the travel and the walking on Day 1, we took the 2nd day relatively easy and stuck to just exploring some of the other attractions. We went to the famous Merlion in the morning after getting a quick breakfast. The Merlion is basically a view point where you get a view of the Marina Bay Sands and the . We then headed to IMM Outlet Mall in Jurong East by cab and found some great deals for shopping. Steve Madden, Charles and Keith, Nike, Skechers are some things we found were really worth it and came at a great deal.
After spending a good 4-5 hours here, we again came back to the financial district area to explore one of the most legendary Hawkers’ centres of Singapore, the Newton Food Centre. This has been in existence since 1971 and has close to 100 hawker stalls. This is definitely one of our top recommendations. However, one word of caution, while you will find vegetarian food here, you will need to be extremely careful while ordering to ensure it does not have any seafood as well. We tried the Dimsums at one of the stalls and they were delicious! The condiments on the side enhanced the taste and we were glad we got to taste some authentic cuisine after having had Indian food so far 😅
After this, once it got dark, we went around walking in the lanes of the financial district with towering buildings on both sides. We also discovered that the Fullerton Bay Hotel has a lobby that is open to the public and provides access to the deck by the Bay. This is again a must experience. The view of the Marina Bay Sands and the whole skyline from here at night is truly worth seeing. Then we came to the Merlion and sat there for a while enjoying the cool breeze.
Day 3: Sentosa Islands
This was going to be the most eventful day of our entire trip and we started our day early at around 7.30 am to get to the Universal Studios to avoid the crowd. While Sentosa is also accessible by road, we had booked a cable car ticket since this was something that the family was experiencing for the first time and the views of the bay are also great from top. You can get a ticket from here.
The pickup is from Mount Faber and you will need to get here by cab. Once you board the cable car, you will need to get down at the Imbiah lookout station and board another cable car which will drop you at the Merlion station. From there, you need to walk a bit to the Metro station (which almost operates like a shuttle) and get down at Universal Studios stop. You can even choose to walk from the Merlion station to Universal Studios.
While this Universal Studios is much smaller than the ones in USA, some rides are definitely a must-try. The Revenge of the Mummy, Battlestar Galactica, Jurassic World and Transformers 3D ride is also something we really enjoyed.
Apart from these, there are smaller easier rides and live street shows that keep happening every now and then. So it is friendly for even senior citizens.
Since we entered the Island at about 9.30 am, we were able to get into the Mummy and Jurassic rides quite quickly. As it gets later, the wait times can go quite high, with waiting times getting as high as 2 hours.
There are a few dining options available inside the studios as well. However, we chose to dine elsewhere. You are also allowed to carry packed dry snacks and water. There are water dispensers also available at many places where you can fill in your bottles, reducing the need to buy packaged water.
We were done exploring the Universal Studios by around 3 pm. So we decided to explore the rest of Sentosa Islands.
We first started with the Sensoryscape, a collection of Sensory Gardens and it is definitely one of the most unique experiences we’ve had. There are gardens with 6 themes overall – one focussed on the sense of smell which had plants and flowers with various fragrances, one on touch, one on sound, and so on. This took us about an hour after which we went to Siloso Beach, again by cable car. This ride had the best views to offer in our opinion, especially the stretch where the forest ends and the sea opens up. After spending about another hour here, we headed back to the entrance gate by the free shuttle. This takes you through nearly the entire Island and is a good way to explore Sentosa. We then booked a cab from here and headed back to our hotel.
Day 4: Fort Canning Park, China Town
While this place is not as popular among the tourists, the Fort Canning Park is a hit mainly because of its tree tunnel which makes for a really good photo spot. Aside of that, the park itself is a large garden with various species of plants and trees. The queue for the photo itself can get long and hence, it is recommended to get here early. There’s a really good Kaya Toast spot right opposite, so you can club the two.
We then headed to Chinatown, where the Chinese community in Singapore began to take root. The place is a hub for all things culture, food, religion, and shopping. You can buy some really interesting knick-knacks and souvenirs here. The neighborhood is also home to the Buddha Tooth Relic Monastery and Museum. The monastery also houses an orchid garden on the terrace. The Museum also has a huge collection of Buddha statues from across the world and gives great insights about Buddhism. The entire place will take about a couple of hours to explore. The place also has a vegan cafe offering some good food options.
We spent close to 4-5 hours here shopping, eating here and then headed to the airport to catch our flight back home!
Roamantic Affair 