Singapore is a country often skipped by backpackers. This has everything to do with the fact that it is known as an extremely expensive country. In fact, most of the other countries in Asia are all very cheap. In Singapore, it is indeed more expensive, but worth every cent in our opinion. Below we take you through the expenses we incurred during our 6 day trip in Singapore. These are broken down into accommodation, transportation, food and drink, activities and other.
Content of this blog:
Cost of accommodation in Singapore
This is the biggest expense during your trip in Singapore. Prices for overnight stays are very high, especially when there is a special event in town. You can save quite a bit on lodging by booking well in advance or sleeping in a shared dormitory in a hostel or pod. Because this was our first stop of our world trip, we wanted a private room. We booked this one six months in advance and it cost us over 60 euros per night. The quality of the hostel was very poor because there was mold everywhere (you could also smell this very well). Fortunately, we weren’t there much anyway and it was an affordable option.
Do you have a little more to spend or just really want to take a swim in a rooftop pool 340 meters above sea level? Then be sure to book a night at the famous Marina Bay Sands hotel. You won’t regret it 🙂
Cost of eating and drinking in Singapore
With the various quaint neighborhoods in Singapore, there is something tasty for everyone. The many hawkers and street food stalls make eating in Singapore a lot more affordable. You spend an average of 10 euros here if you want to eat a good meal together. If you go into a restaurant or want to eat something more elaborate, you quickly have to put down between 30 and 40 euros for a meal for two. We ate out twice a day and spent an average of 70 euros a day for the two of us. So we did not hold back on beers and cocktails (alcohol is expensive in Singapore!).
Cost of transportation
Transportation in Singapore is easy, fast and cheap. If you use the subway a lot and occasionally grab a Grab (local Uber), you will spend very little money. On average, we collectively spent €12 per day on transportation. This includes the Grab from the airport to our accommodation (€20).
Activity costs
What also makes Singapore a very nice city is the fact that there are many free activities to do. Consider the beautiful Gardens by the Bay park, a walk in the botanical gardens or any of the other fun sights in Singapore. The only costs for the activities came from the Cloud Forest (€20 per person) and tickets to the Formula 1 race (€160 per person for the whole weekend). This was well worth it and we would do it again in a heartbeat!
Other costs
In addition to the above costs, we spent €10 for a local sim card with 100GB. Of course, we were not going to use it all in six days. Hence, we worked with a hotspot so we only had to buy one SIM card. We also bought some souvenirs and did some laundry. This cost a total of €15.
Average daily budget for Singapore
In 6 days, the two of us spent €923.91 (excluding airfare and Formula 1). This amounts to a daily budget of €77 per person. This is a large amount and you can certainly visit Singapore even on a lesser budget. This was the start of our trip around the world for us, which we had been looking forward to for months. Therefore, we had decided to enjoy ourselves fully and not be concerned with prices (except from the overnight stay). This, of course, varies from person to person.
You can make Singapore as expensive or cheap as you like but you should definitely count on a minimum daily budget of €40-50 per person. When you drink some more beers and want to do fun things you will soon end up with a daily budget of €50 – 80 per person.
Cost summary budget Singapore
Below we have written down the common costs of Singapore. Please note that this is an average, in the high season prices are a bit higher everywhere and obviously lower in the low season. During Formula One, for example, the prices of accommodations were quite a bit higher. The chart below will give you a better understanding of your budget for Singapore.
| Overnight | |
| Dormitory in a hostel | € 20-30 |
| Simple double room | € 40-60 |
| More luxurious double room | € 80-140 |
| Food and drinks | |
| Bottle of water at the supermarket | € 1 |
| Street food meal | € 3-5 |
| Local meal in a restaurant | € 5-8 |
| Western meal | € 10-15 |
| Soft Drink | € 2-3 |
| Beer in the supermarket | € 3-5 |
| Beer in a restaurant | € 4-8 |
| Transportation | |
| Subway ride in Singapore | € 1 |
| Grab ride of 15 minutes | € 5-15 |
