Singapore + Beyond in 7 Days on a Budget
A week is enough to stop rushing and actually work through Singapore’s food geography, plus two neighbouring countries, without spending like it’s Monaco. Prices below are SGD unless a day trip crosses a border. This is the full version of the 6-day itinerary ; want the postcard sights instead of the food-and-border trail, our plain Singapore in 7 days itinerary covers Marina Bay, Sentosa and Mandai instead.
Book these before you go
- Compare capsule hostels in Chinatown or Bugis on Agoda , save the budget for food instead of the room.
- Check a guided hawker food tour for Days 1-3.
- Check Gardens by the Bay conservatory tickets for the Day 2 evening option.
- Check a Johor Bahru day trip from Singapore for Day 5.
- Check a Batam day trip from Singapore for Day 6, ferry included.
Where to stay
Capsule hostels in Chinatown or Bugis, SGD 35-55 a night. A mid-range hotel near Marina Bay or Bugis runs SGD 150-250, save that budget for the food instead and pick a hostel with decent aircon.
| 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 7 | Botanic Gardens, last hawker round, Changi | - | SGD 10-25 |
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, over 700 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 covers the same ground 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, genuinely most atmospheric then; 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. Cycling trails and mangroves, no development. Evening: cheap seafood near Changi Village.
Day 5: Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Bring your passport, this is 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. 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 before planning around it.
Day 6: Batam or Bintan, Indonesia
Another passport stamp on the same trip. Batam ferries leave from HarbourFront, 45-60 minutes each way, the faster and cheaper of the two, return fares roughly SGD 58-76 plus a fuel surcharge of about SGD 5-10 per leg and terminal fees. Bintan ferries go from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal instead, up to two hours each way, round-trip adult fares roughly SGD 78-92 plus the same surcharge and terminal fees, better suited to a full beach day. Confirm the fare before booking, it moves with season and fuel surcharges.
Day 7: Botanic Gardens, one last hawker round, and Changi
Morning: the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and free to enter; add the National Orchid Garden for SGD 15 foreign adult (SGD 5 locals) if you want the famous orchid collection, about 35% cheaper booked online in advance.
Afternoon: use your last hours for the hawker centre you haven’t hit yet, Amoy Street Food Centre or Newton Food Centre both work, SGD 4-8 a dish, and pack any souvenirs from a Chinatown or Little India shop rather than an airport gift shop.
Evening: Changi Airport was named the World’s Best Airport by Skytrax for the 14th time running in 2026, and Jewel Changi is why: no ticket or onward flight required to walk in, and the 40-metre Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, runs a free light-and-sound show most evenings. Eat your last hawker meal in Jewel’s basement food hall before heading to the gate, it’s some of the best airport food you’ll find anywhere, at hawker prices, not airport prices.
How much does a full week in Singapore and beyond cost?
Roughly SGD 105-175 across the five in-city days for food and transit, plus the Johor Bahru bus fare and whichever Batam or Bintan ferry you pick, SGD 58-92 return before surcharges. The two border crossings are the real spend on this trip, not anything inside Singapore itself.
Should you stagger the two border days?
Yes, don’t do Johor Bahru and Batam or Bintan back to back. Immigration queues eat more of your day than the crossing itself, and you’ll want a slow hawker day in between to recover.
Once in town, any contactless bank card or phone wallet taps straight through the MRT gantry via SimplyGo , fares roughly SGD 1.28-2.57 a ride, transfers within 45 minutes on the same tap counting as one journey; foreign-issued Visa and Mastercard (not Amex) carry a SGD 0.60 daily admin fee on top of the fare. Grab is the ride-hail app, Uber sold its Southeast Asia business to Grab in 2018 and has no presence here.
Currency is SGD, Singapore 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.