2 days in Singapore

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
6
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
6
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
6
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
4
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
8
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
62 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
260th/453
Top 60%
continent
Asia
country
Singapore
Length of time
1-2 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$100 ($100-$250 in 2024 prices)
Time of year visited
October
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Big city Gardens Museums
All Tags
Bustling restaurants Hindu site Market UNESCO world heritage site Waterfalls
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐
Summary

Similar to Hong Kong and Bangkok, Singapore is a place that people tend to pass through rather than visit purely for the city on its own.  But, just like those cities, Singapore is really worth the stop over for a night or two.  More than anything it’s great just to see what the “model city” could look like – wandering around has the combo feel of Disney Land / Truman Show / Stepford Wives meets tropical island functional finance hub, and it all … well … works very very well. Always worth a trip into the future

 

I’ve listed below the top 5 things I really enjoyed doing, plus some extra tips

 

Highlights
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#1 Wandering through the Gardens by the Bay. Home to some 400,000 plants, this futuristic looking area is nice to generally walk through and check out the Super trees (tall structures with heaps of plants that are connected by a skyway) and the giant conservatories (one which has a giant tropical mountain of plants). I wandered through in the morning and the evening. Just found it super peaceful and kind of a must if visiting

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#2 The Asian History Museum - yes, yes it’s a museum and museums tend to be super dull. But this is one of the best I’ve been to. It’s in particular interesting for people who don’t have a strong knowledge of Asian history (which to be honest is the vast majority of westerners), and helps place Singapore’s context in the region

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#3 Going for a walk around the Marina. You get to see many of the key sites and, like all physical activities, get to get a bit of a different feel to the place vs wandering from tourist spot to tourist spot. Best to aim for first thing in the morning or early evening to avoid the heat and sun

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#4 Wandering and getting some food in Little India.  I was pleasantly surprised by just how much like India this place was, including some cracking temples.  And a bit cleaner than the real thing!

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#5 Eating at some of the Hawker Centres. Kind of the thing to do when in Singapore and fun

Travel Tips

  • Singapore is EXPENSIVE. Be prepared
  • Get an EZ-link card. Easiest way for getting around
  • Avoid June and July if there is a bad haze season (from nearby Indonesia). Can get truly awful
  • Would love to do when I next visit:
    • Have a drink on the top floor of the magnificent Marina Bay Sands
    • Visit Sentosa Island. Yes, it looks like an artificial sprawl of theme parks, but it’s also has palm fringed beaches and aquariums. Would be worth checking out for that “model city” vibe
    • Try to time with the Formula 1. Sounds fantastic to experience
Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

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3 days in Budapest for baths, architectural gems and nights out in the ruin bars
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A week in Cape Town
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Score Detail

The scores you see above are really the point of this whole site, rather than just the individual travel review you're seeing above.  They fit into a much bigger summary of 20 years of travel, across 100+ countries, from dirt-poor backpacking to the luxury end, rushed weekends to months on the road.  Every one of the 500+ experiences have a "wow factor" score and a few other scores that add up to a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score.  For more info, have a look at the About page for the travel philosophy that drives them.

But, more importantly, have a play with the map above and on the Home page to see which of these experiences rank as really Maximum Wow-factor all the way down to the proper "Gash".

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