Singapore + Beyond in 6 Days on a Budget

Six days buys you two neighbouring countries on top of Singapore’s own hawker trail: a bus ride into Malaysia and a ferry into Indonesia. Prices below are SGD unless a day trip crosses the border, where currencies change. This nests on top of the 5-day itinerary ; a full week available, the 7-day itinerary adds Botanic Gardens and a Changi departure day.

Book these before you go

Where to stay

Capsule hostels near Chinatown or Bugis, SGD 35-55 a night. Mid-range like The Fullerton Bay Hotel or Mandarin Oriental near Marina Bay run well past SGD 300; a boutique hotel in Little India or Chinatown gets you a similar location for a third of that.

Day Focus Distance/travel time Cost
Day 1 Chinatown’s hawker hub - SGD 15-25
Day 2 Katong and Old Airport Road - SGD 15-25
Day 3 Kampong Glam and Little India - SGD 15-25
Day 4 Tiong Bahru and Pulau Ubin ~10 min bumboat each way SGD 15-25
Day 5 Johor Bahru, Malaysia ~45-60 min bus + immigration SGD 10-15 plus a few ringgit
Day 6 Batam or Bintan, Indonesia 45-60 min (Batam) / 70 min-2hr (Bintan) ferry SGD 58-92 return plus fees

Day 1: Chinatown’s hawker hub

Land at Changi, MRT into the city (about 35 minutes, SGD 1.50-2.20). Morning: Chinatown’s shophouse streets, the free Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, then Chinatown Complex, 700-plus stalls including Liao Fan Hawker Chan (Bib Gourmand chicken rice) and Xiu Ji Ikan Bilis Yong Tau Foo, SGD 4-8 a meal. Afternoon: Maxwell Food Centre, Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, SGD 5-6, then the free Marina Bay waterfront. Evening: Lau Pa Sat for dinner, the satay street behind it after 7pm, and the free Spectra show at Marina Bay Sands.

Day 2: Katong and Old Airport Road

Morning: Katong/Joo Chiat’s Peranakan shophouses (Grab there for SGD 10-15), laksa at 328 Katong Laksa, SGD 5 small, SGD 7 large. Afternoon: Old Airport Road Food Centre, char kway teow or oyster omelette, SGD 4-8. Evening: the free, outdoor Supertree Grove and OCBC Skyway at Gardens by the Bay, skipping the ticketed conservatories (SGD 46 tourist adult combo); the free light show does the same job for less.

Day 3: Kampong Glam and Little India

Morning: the Sultan Mosque and Haji Lane’s independent cafes, coffee SGD 5-8. Afternoon: Arab Street’s textile and perfume shops. Evening: Little India after dark, when it’s genuinely most atmospheric; Tekka Centre for biryani or roti prata, SGD 4-7.

Day 4: Tiong Bahru and Pulau Ubin

Morning: Tiong Bahru’s art-deco estate and Michelin-recognised market, Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice (SGD 3.80-4.80), Jian Bo Chwee Kueh, Hong Heng Fried Sotong Prawn Mee (Bib Gourmand). Best Wednesday to Sunday before 2pm. Afternoon: bumboat from Changi Point Ferry Terminal to Pulau Ubin, SGD 4 each way, cash only, plus SGD 2 for a bike, boats leave once 12 passengers are aboard, roughly 6am to 7pm. Just cycling trails and mangroves, no development. Evening: cheap seafood near Changi Village.

Day 5: Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Bring your passport, this crosses into a separate country with its own currency, the ringgit. MRT to Woodlands, then a public bus (SBS 170X or SMRT 950) over the Causeway for as little as SGD 1.19-2.10 by card; tap out at the checkpoint, walk through immigration, re-board the same bus number on the Malaysian side within 45 minutes at no extra charge. Food is the draw, a meal costing SGD 6-8 in a Singapore hawker centre is a fraction of that in ringgit here. The RTS Link train (Woodlands North to Bukit Chagar, five minutes) is targeted for December 2026, possibly slipping into early 2027, expected fare SGD 5-7, so check whether it’s running yet before planning around it.

Day 6: Batam or Bintan, Indonesia

A different passport stamp on the same trip. Ferries to Batam leave from HarbourFront, 45-60 minutes each way, and are the faster, cheaper of the two Indonesian options, return fares roughly SGD 58-76 plus a fuel surcharge of about SGD 5-10 per leg and terminal fees. Bintan ferries leave from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal instead, up to two hours each way, with round-trip adult fares running roughly SGD 78-92 plus the same surcharge and terminal fees, so it suits a full beach day more than a quick look. Either way, bring your passport, budget half a day each direction for immigration and the crossing, and confirm the day’s fare before booking; ferry pricing moves with season and fuel surcharges.

How much does a Batam or Bintan day trip actually cost?

Batam runs SGD 58-76 return, Bintan SGD 78-92 return, both before the roughly SGD 5-10 per leg fuel surcharge and terminal fees added at checkout. Batam’s shorter crossing makes it the better choice if you only have one day; save Bintan for when you can spend a full day at the resort side.

Should you do Johor Bahru and Batam or Bintan on the same trip?

Don’t try to stack them into the same day, and give each its own full day rather than a rushed half. Both eat a half-day minimum once you count immigration queues on both sides, and rushing either one defeats the point of a budget trip.

Getting around: tap a contactless bank card at the MRT gantry through SimplyGo , no card purchase needed. Fares run SGD 1.28-2.57 a trip, transfers inside 45 minutes on the same tap count as one journey; foreign-issued Visa and Mastercard (not Amex) carry a SGD 0.60 daily admin fee on top of the fare. Grab handles ride-hailing, Uber sold its Southeast Asia business to Grab in 2018 and isn’t an option here.

Currency is SGD in Singapore, it has been an independent country, separate from Malaysia, since 1965. Tap water is safe to drink. Tipping isn’t customary, though restaurants (not hawker stalls) often add 9% GST plus 10% service charge. Chewing gum is legal to chew, only its sale and import are banned. Chope-ing a hawker table with a tissue packet is normal etiquette, not theft.