Immediately upon arrival at Singapore's Changi Airport, that transportation to the city centre is easy and well organised and signposted. Most travellers have only one solution: take the subway, bus or taxi?

👉 Short answer:

• Metro (MRT) - best value for money
• Taxi / Grab - most convenient (especially at night, with suitcases or to a hotel where you would have to change multiple times)
• Bus - no transfer on Orchard Boulevard, but slower

Top 10 hotels in Singapore

How to get from the airport to downtown - a quick comparison

If you don't want to read the whole article, just read this:

Transportation	Price	Time	Transfer
Metro (MRT)	approx. 2,20 sgd	40-45 min	Yes, always
Bus 36	approx. 2,20 sgd	approx. 60 min	No to Orchard Road
Taxi/Grab	23 sgd to 30 sgd	20-30 min	No

💡 From my own experience: if you arrive during the day and don't have extremely heavy luggage, the metro is the best option.

At night or after a long flight, or with large luggage, Grab makes more sense.

Taxi, Grab - most convenient

There are clearly marked taxi ranks outside all terminals, which are available at all hours of the day and night.

There are also cars available to the airport via the popular Grab mobile app. The prices are often the same as conventional taxis, but the advantage is that you always know the price before the ride.

Approximate prices from Changi Airport:

• Marina Bay Sands - 26 sgd
• Chinatown - 29 sgd
• Sentosa - 32 sgd
• Woodlands Checkpoint - 40 sgd

Grab stations are clearly marked (usually in the basement below the terminals) including waiting areas with benches.

Singapore airport is among the absolute best at this - everything is well signposted and convenient.

You need to have a constant internet connection to use Grab. I do eSIM via Airalo, which worked fine for me in Singapore.

When does a taxi make sense

• arriving at night (no metro)
• lots of luggage
• 2-4 people (price is budgeted)
• you don't want to deal with transfers

Metro SMRT - the best price/performance ratio

The cheapest and most convenient way to get from the airport to downtown Singapore is via Singapore's SMRT metro.

How the journey works

1. Board at Changi Airport Station
2. Get to Tanah Merah (10 min)
3. Change to the Green Line (East West Line)
4. Proceed to the city centre (e.g. City Hall)

The whole journey takes about 40-45 minutes.

Find connections and other information on the official website: smrttrains.com.sg or simply via Google Maps.

Get an eSIM to Singapore

• Travel time - 45 minutes to City Hall with a transfer (Tanah Merah)
• Frequency - 5 minutes (evening and early morning up to 10 minutes)
• Fares - 2,14 sgd per station City Hall
• Last train from airport - 23:18 with connection at Tanah Merah station for trains to downtown, or 0:06 with connection towards Pasir Ris)
• First train from downtown - 6:01am from City Hall station (6:29am on Sundays)

How to pay

Easiest solution:

• you attach your own card (Visa / Mastercard / Apple Pay / Google Pay)

You don't have to buy anything, the system works automatically.

Get a Revolut card with bonus

💡 Important:

• there are no daily limits when paying by card
• price is calculated according to distance

Travel to central Singapore and Marina Bay costs around 2,20 sgd. To calculate the exact fare, visit: lta.gov.sg.

If you don't want to pay with your own card, you can buy an EZ-Link card at the machine for 10 sgd to load any amount of money (the initial fee 10 sgd cannot be used for fares).

You can also buy a Singapore Tourist Pass from the machine for unlimited travel on the metro and all city buses.

• 1 calendar day - 17 sgd
• 2 calendar days - 29 sgd
• 3 calendar days - 37 sgd

To purchase full day and multi-day tickets, you must have a Singapore Tourist Pass card from the machine. This is because daily limits do not count when paying with your own contactless card.

Is the Tourist Pass worth it? We compare this in detail in the article Transport in Singapore.

Airport metro station

Changi Airport MRT station is directly connected to the terminals:

• Terminals 2 and 3 - on foot (approx. 10 minutes)
• Terminal 1 - via Skytrain (approx. 15 minutes)
• Terminal 4 - free shuttle bus (approx. 20 minutes in total)

In addition, the Jewel Airport complex, with its famous indoor waterfall and restaurant, is easily accessible. More description here.

Buses

All terminals are also served by public transport buses. Tickets can be purchased simply by attaching your own payment card to the validator inside the bus when boarding.

The Singapore Tourist Pass can also be used on buses.

Fares are calculated according to distance travelled and for travel to the city centre, the bus is slightly more expensive than the metro - approx. 2,20 sgd to the central stop at Raffles Hotel.

For exact fare calculations and maps of bus routes, visit: lta.gov.sg.

Line 36 to the city centre

As an alternative to the subway for traveling downtown and to Orchard Boulevard, the number 36 bus line is an alternative. A slight advantage over the subway is the lack of transfers, but the overall route time is longer.

• Travel time - 60 minutes on Raffles Hotel
• Frequency - 28-12 minutes
• Fares - 2,20 sgd per stop Raffles Hotel
• Last bus from the airport - 23:58
• First bus from city centre - 6:45am from Raffles Hotel stop
• Stops at terminals: 2, 4

Simply pay the fare by attaching your own credit card to the reader when boarding and alighting. Another option is to pay in exact cash at the driver.

Bus line 36 is operated by Go Ahead.

💡 The bus makes more sense if:

• you live directly on the route
• you don't want to deal with a transfer

Other routes

From the airport, there are direct buses to residential areas in the east and northeast of Singapore.

The same fare calculation applies for all routes, and on all carriers you simply pay by attaching your own payment card to the reader when boarding.

• Line 24 - frequency approx. 10-12 minutes, runs from 5:30 to 23:00, operated by SBS Transit
• Line 27 - frequency approx. 5-8 minutes, runs from 5:15 to 23:50, operated by SBS Transit
• Line 34 - frequency approx. 5-12 minutes, runs from 5:30 to 23:45, carrier Go Ahead
• Line 53 - frequency approx. 6-12 minutes, runs from 5:30 to 23:15, carrier SBS Transit
• Line 110 - frequency approx. 10-12 minutes, runs from 5:30 to 23:45, carrier SMRT Buses
• Line 858 - frequency approx. 6-12 minutes, runs from 5:15 to 0:30, carrier Tower Transit

Night public transport

There is no all-night public transport to the airport and you must use a taxi or Grab for first morning departures or late night arrivals.

Transport from the airport to specific areas

These are the most common routes you'll look for, and we've tackled them too.

Marina Bay / downtown

• Metro: approx. 45 min
  • 2,20 sgd
  • Airport line to Tanah Merah station -> Green line to Bugis station -> Blue line to Bayfront station
• Taxi / Grab: approx. 25 min
  • 25 sgd
• 🏨 O ur review of our stay at Marina Bay Sands

Chinatown

• Metro: approx. 45 min
  • 2,20 sgd
  • Airport line to Tanah Merah station -> Green line to Bugis station -> Blue line to Chinatown station
• Taxi / Grab: approx. 35 min
  • 27 sgd
• 👉 Things to do in Chinatown

Sentosa

• Taxi: the best option, about 60 minutes
  • 35 sgd
• metro + monorail: approx. 75 minutes
  • total approx. 7 sgd
  • Airport line to Tanah Merah station -> Green line to the station
• 🎡 A ll attractions at Sentosa

Show all resorts on Sentosa

Transportation to Malaysia

Taxis do not go through the border crossings, however, they will take you to the nearest border (Woodlands Checkpoint) which can be crossed on foot and Grab or book a taxi on the Malaysian side.

Singaporean and Malaysian public transport buses also run across the border.

Transtar Travel's direct bus service TS1 runs from Changi Airport Terminals 1 and 4 to the Malaysian city of Johor Bahru.

Buses run 6 times a day and a detailed timetable can be found on the carrier's website:

Ticket prices are as follows: transtar.travel/cross-border-services.

• Changi Airport -> Johor Bahru Airport: 11 sgd
• Johor Bahru -> Changi Airport: 13 myr

Tickets can be purchased online via the website: transtar.travel.

Cheapest hotels in Johor Bahru

Most common mistakes

1️⃣ Trying to deal with tickets in advance
In Singapore you don't have to - just your own card for the metro, bus and taxis / Grab.

2️⃣ Underestimating night transport
The metro doesn't run after midnight, always count on taxis.

3️⃣ Unnecessary stress of changing trains on the metro
Tanah Merah is an easy transfer, anyone can do it. Just transfer from train to train on the same platform.