The beautiful country of Singapore has so much to see including the famous Gardens by the Bay with the Supertree Grove, Cloud Forest, and Flower Dome as well as the Marina Bay Sands and SO MUCH MORE!
I spent 3 whole days in Singapore and had the most amazing time exploring the big city and small neighbourhoods.
This blog post is all about the ultimate 3-day Singapore travel itinerary.
How many days do you need in Singapore?
Singapore is such a beautiful country but it is not a big country which means if you only have a short amount of time to visit that is alright. Everyone I talked to before visiting said to plan an extended layover in Singapore and that should be enough time and I can agree. I would say you can see all the highlights of Singapore in 2-3 days. This Singapore itinerary will go over what to do if you have three days to explore Singapore but if you only have 2 days I recommend taking out Day 3 Island Hopping off this itinerary and make sure you explore the Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Botanical Gardens, and the different neighbourhoods in Singapore.
How to get around Singapore
Singapore is a pretty walkable city so walking is a great mode of transportation around. But there are a few places a bit further away which is when the public transport is a great option. If you are planning on using public transport a lot throughout your stay in Singapore the Singapore Tourist Pass is a great option as it gives you unlimited access on public transport including trains and busses. If the Singapore Tourist Pass is not right for you, you can also buy a ezlink card where you can upload as much money as you want on the card. The average cost of a ride on the train in Singapore costs around $1 so you can calculate how much money to put on the card.
Where to Stay in Singapore
When I visited Singapore I stayed in Wink Capsule Hostel. I booked this hostel on HostelWorld and they have tons of hostels in Singapore. My stay in Wink was alright the rooms were very comfortable but the shared bathrooms were far from ideal. We did not mind the hostel since we spend most of our time exploring the city and not staying at our accommodations but I would recommend searching on HostelWorld for the best budget accommodation option for you.
If you are not interested in stay in a hostel there are lots of other accommodation options my favourite websites to book though include Booking.com, Agoda, and Airbnb.
Quick Overview of 3-days in Singapore Itinerary:
- Day 1: Gardens by the Bay (Super Tree Forest, Cloud Forest, and Flower Dome) + Marina Bay Sands
- Day 2: Singapores Botanical Gardens + Exploring Singapore Neighbourhoods (Chinatown, Little India, and Kampong Glam)
- Day 3: Island Hopping Adventure (St.John’s Island and Kuza Island)
3 day Singapore Travel Itinerary
Day 1 in Singapore
Morning
Start your first day in Singapore off with a BANG and visit the iconic Gardens by the Bay. The Gardens by the Bay is the location of the famous Supertree Grove as well as the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome. I recommend spending your morning walking around the park and through the Supertree Grove and taking all those Instagram photos. The Gardens by the Bay is one of the best places in Singapore for photos. The Gardens by the Bay in Singapore is 101 hectares (250 acres) in size which takes most people a few hours to walk around.
Afternoon
Once you walk around the Gardens by the Bay and through the Super Tree Forest make your way to the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome for the afternoon.
The Cloud Forest is a beautiful indoor environment that is meant to replicate a cloud forest environment to show visitors the beautiful vegetation that grows in these environments. There is a huge indoor waterfall, beautiful plants, and amazing views of the Marina Bay Sands through the window. I would recommend spending between an hour and two hours walking thought the Cloud Forest.
The Flower Dome is an inside exhibition of a variety of different plants from areas all around the world. I recommend spending around 1 hour walking around and taking in all the beautiful flowers and plants. There are also different art exhibitions like when I went there was an Monet Garden Experience.
If you are looking to purchase tickets for the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome you can find tickets on GetYourGuide, Klook or on Singapore Tickets.
Evening
Once you are done explore everything the Gardens by the Bay has to offer including the Supertree Grove, Cloud Forest, and Flower Dome walk over to the Marina Bay Sands. Get some photos in front of the famous building before going into The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands which is the mall. This mall is home to some of the most luxury brands. I am far from a person that can afford something from these stores but it was fun anyways to walk around this giant mall and window shop for a little bit before grabbing some dinner.
Day 2 in Singapore
Morning
To start your second day in Singapore I recommend you visit Singapore’s Chinatown. Some places I recommend you visit in Chinatown include Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, Sri Mariaman Temple, and the China Town Street Market. All three of these sights to see in Singapore’s Chinatown are all VERY close together only around a 6 minute walk between all three (as you can see in the google maps below). Once you are finished walking around Chinatown I recommend taking the train to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The train from Chinatown to Singapore Botanic Gardens takes around 30 minutes. You can board the MRT Thomson-East Coast Line at Maxwell towards Woodland North and get off at Napier.
There is so much to see in Singapore Botanic Gardens so I recommend planning to spend around 2 hours walking around these beautiful gardens. The Botanic Gardens are free to enter but you do have to pay $5 to enter the National Orchid Gardens. The Botanic Gardens are open from 5am-12am so make sure to go in the mornings. The National Orchid Garden is open from 8:30am-7:00pm. After you are done exploring Singapore Botanic Gardens make your way to Little India for the afternoon. You can take the train again for around 30 minutes if you board the MRT Downtown Line towards Expo, get on at Botanic Gardens and exit at Rochor station.
Afternoon
Once you make it to Little India you need to walk around these beautiful streets and take in some of the AMAZING street art. I recommend walking to Tekka Centre which is a street only around a 11 minute walk from Jalan Besar Station and this street is filled with little shops. Also Little India has some amazing temples to see like Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple and Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple to name a few. I just LOVED walking around Little Indias street and taking in all the sights.
Evening
Once you are done walking around the streets of Little India I recommend walking over to Kampong Glam which is only around a 15 minute walk from Little India. Take in the beautiful views of Sultan Mosque and walk around Malay Heritage Centre.
Also if you are walking around Kampong Glam on a hot day I highly recommend visiting Quenchers and getting one of their drinks. These shakes were DELICIOUS and was one of the highlights from this day (haha can you tell I am a foodie).
Once you are done exploring Kampong Glam I would recommend making your way back to the city centre to visit Merlion Park. To get from Kampong Glam to Merlion Park it is around a 30 minute walk. If you stay at Merlion Park until around 8:00pm you can watch the Spectra Light Show with the views of Marina Bay Sands in the background. If you miss the 8:00pm light show there is also one at 9:00 and 10:00 (on Friday and Saturday). The Spectra Light Show will be a great end to your second day in Singapore.
Day 3 in Singapore
Ferry Schedule
Please use this schedule to help plan your third day in Singapore. I will be recommend ferry time below for weekdays but weekend do give you more ferry time options to choose from.
Morning/Afternoon
If you have a third day in Singapore you can get outside the city with a day of island hopping (I bet you were not expecting island hopping to be on a Singapore travel itinerary). Today you don’t have to wake up super early and rush to see your first sights of the day since these are small island so you do not need tons of time to explore them. If you want to relax on the beaches feel free to leave on the earliest ferry from Marina South Pier to St John Island at 9:00am.
I would recommend getting to Marina South Pier for the 10:00 or 11:00 am ferry to St John Island (the time depends on how much time you want to spend on this island). Make sure to bring snacks and drinks with you to these islands as there are not places to get food. When you arrive at St John’s Island I recommend you visit the Tropical Marine Science Institute Marine Aquaculture Centre to learn about the marine life as well as walk around and enjoy the views this island has.
Be back at the ferry port around 2:30pm to hop on the 2:45pm ferry from St John’s Island to Kusu Island.
Afternoon/ Evening
Once you get to Kusu Island you will only have around an hour before you need to catch the ferry back to Marina South Pier at 4:00pm. During your time on Kusu Island I recommend going to the Tortoise Sanctuary which is a pond with tons of tortoises. There are also a couple of temples on the island I recommend visiting Da Bo Gong Temple and Kramats. The Kramats Temple is at the top of 152 steps and the top has nice views overlooking the water.
Then make sure you are back at 4:00 for the last ferry back to Marina South Pier. And enjoy your last night in Singapore however you please.
That bring us to the end of this 3-day Singapore travel itinerary. I hope this helped you plan your trip to Singapore. Singapore is a beautiful country with lots of amazing sights to see and if you follow this Singapore itinerary I am sure you will have the most amazing time.
