Is Singapore expensive? Yes. But not in the way most people think.

The biggest difference from Europe is not in food or transport, but in accommodation. On the other hand, some things (especially food at hawker centre stalls) are surprisingly cheap.

💡Myexperience:
In 3 days we spent about 245 eur per person excluding hotel. With hotel, easily double or more depending on where you stay.

Check hotel prices in Singapore

Quick Answers

• Is Singapore expensive? → Yes, especially accommodation, bars and good restaurants
• How much to take for 3 days? → about 400 sgd to 600 sgd per person
• Card or cash? → card almost everywhere, only some hawker centre stalls take cash only
• Can you save money? → yes, especially by eating out and choosing activities

Singapore dollar (SGD)

In Singapore, you pay with the Singapore dollar.

Coins are worth 5, 10, 20, 50 cents and 1 dollar. Bank notes carry values of $2, $5, $10, $10, $50 and $100.

• International currency code: SGD (numeric code 702)
• Currency symbol: S$, sometimes referred to as $

Can I pay in other currencies in Singapore?

Generally no. The main currency is the Singapore dollar, and other currencies can usually only be used to pay by card at hotels or other tourist services.

Paying by card vs. cash and exchange offices

Singapore is one of the most "cashless" countries in Southeast Asia. Many merchants here accept credit cards, but I still prefer to use cash.

Mainly because of visits to hawker centres with cheap food stalls.

The truth is that about 80% of the stallholders in hawker centres also accept cards, but cash is just always handy just in case.

👉 You can pay by card almost everywhere:

• Hotels
• restaurants (some restaurants even accept only card payments)
• subway, buses, taxis, Grab
• shops

Where cash is handy

• Smaller stalls in hawker centres
• small souvenir purchases
• some local bistros

💡 My experience:
90% of the time we operated with just a card.

ATMs and exchange offices

There are plenty of ATMs in Singapore - both at the airport and in the city (for example, just in hawker centres, department stores or near metro stations).

I've come across ATMs that charge a withdrawal fee approx. 5 sgd. Have you managed to withdraw without a fee at any of the ATMs? Let us know in the comments, thanks!

As always, I used my Revolut card to make ATM withdrawals.

Get Revolut with bonus

I don't recommend using currency exchanges. There are quite a few and they have a higher exchange fee or spread (the difference between buy-sell) than ATM card withdrawals.

Tipping and haggling

If you decide to visit a regular restaurant, you may encounter a tip of 10% of the price. However, this amount is automatically added to the final price (you pay anyway).

It is not common to leave an additional tip beyond this service charge.

In kiosks and street food stalls, there is no tipping at all.

Bargaining in Singapore is also not usually done in markets or hawker centres.

How much does what cost in Singapore?

Although Singapore is a Southeast Asian country, prices here are much higher than in Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia.

However, it is important to know that Singapore is not expensive across the board, but only selectively.

Example of prices in Singapore

How much does basic food, tourist attractions or transport cost in Singapore? Take a look at the indicative price table.

Accommodation

This is where you'll spend the most.

• capsule hotel or hostel in Chinatown - from 70 sgd
• 3-4* hotel - on average 170 sgd to 350 sgd
• better hotel - 800 sgd and more

Where did we stay? Check out my reviews and photos of these hotels:

• 🏨 Marina Bay Sands
• 🏨 Swissôtel The Stamford

Find the cheapest hotel in Singapore

Food - restaurants and hwaker centres

This was my biggest surprise and you can save quite a bit at the same time. Or spend a lot!

• hawker centres - 4 sgd to 8 sgd for a complete lunch
• Expensive restaurants - 75 sgd for a meal.
• casual restaurants (pizzerias, Chinese or Indian restaurants) - between 10 sgd and 15 sgd
• fast-food "Big Mac Index" menu - around 12 sgd
• a cocktail in a better bar - from 22 sgd
• a beer in a restaurant - from 12 sgd

💡 My experience:
We had the best meals for about 5 sgd at hawker centres. I wouldn't go anywhere else in Singapore at all next time.

I wouldn't go anywhere else in Singapore 👉 See the Food in Singapore chapter

Food - supermarkets

The large supermarkets in central Singapore are at a bare minimum and not at all similar to those in Europe or the US.

On the contrary, you'll find 7-Elevens on every corner. But the Singapore ones are significantly smaller and less well stocked than in, say, Thailand, and are really only for very quick snacks.

• Sandwiches - 4 sgd
• onigiri - 2,50 sgd
• water 0.5 litres - 1,50 sgd
• a can of Coca-Cola - 2,50 sgd

Transportation

Public transport is very cheap in Singapore. Cheaper than anywhere in Europe or Australia.

• Metro or bus - 1,30 sgd to 2,20 sgd depending on distance
• Taxi / Grab around downtown - 10 sgd to 15 sgd
• Taxi / Grab to Changi Airport - approx. 25 sgd

Stay online - get a Singapore eSIM

Tourist Attractions

Here, you'll probably be paying mainly for the sights and attractions on Sentosa, or the Michelin star restaurants if you also think of them as a kind of attraction and experience.

• sightseeing terraces - approx. 25 sgd
• Universal Studios - from 85 sgd
• individual attractions on Sentosa - from 20 sgd

How to save in Singapore

Singapore can be quite low-cost, despite what people say about it. It is definitely cheaper to exist here than, say, Hong Kong.

1️⃣ Eat at hawker centres
Biggest savings + best experience- The food here is really cheap and really good!

2️⃣ Choose max 2-3 attractions
Some sights are completely free (tips in the What to See section) and you won't catch all the attractions at Sentosa anyway. Choose only the ones you really want.

3️⃣ Even in Singapore, accommodation is cheap
If you don't need luxury, check out hotels in Chinatown.

4️⃣ Use public transport
Metro and buses are very cheap, modern and safe. And they go everywhere. See the article Transport in Singapore for more information.

How much money to take to Singapore: the reality of my experience

We've dealt with this question too - and truthfully, we expected Singapore to financially ruin us.

It didn't.

The biggest surprise was that outside of the hotel, upscale bars and restaurants, it's actually not that bad.

We had a meal at the hawker centre on our first day for about 5 sgd and figured that if you don't want to just go to fancy restaurants, you can function just fine.

What it looked like for us

• Breakfast in the morning included at the hotel, but realistically you pay quite a lot at the cafe - count around 20 sgd
• Daytime food at the hawker centre - around 6 sgd to 8 sgd
• In the evening we tended to go to better bars and restaurants, so we didn't skimp here - even more than 150 sgd per night
• Transport? Practically nothing - metro and buses daily to 5 sgd

When is it going to get expensive?

• you start going to restaurants instead of hawkers.
• add more attractions (especially on Sentosa Island)
• you start taking taxis instead of public transport.
• stay in expensive hotels

Biggest trap: hotel

This is the most important thing in the whole chapter.

You can deal with food, transportation, everything, but the hotel will decide that budget for you

The difference between a decent hotel further out from downtown and a good hotel downtown is easily a few hundred dollars a night.

Choose a hotel by price

So how much to take?

If I had to answer quite simply, I would budget for 1 day per person as follows.

The most expensive hotel will be if you want to stay at the world's most infamous hotel as it would be - check prices at Marina Bay Sands.

	Accommodation	Food	Public transport	Attractions	Total price
Low-cost	45 sgd	20 sgd	5 sgd	0 sgd	70 sgd
Ordinary traveller	85 sgd	25 sgd	5 sgd	45 sgd	160 sgd
Expensive option	400 sgd	250 sgd	55 sgd	200 sgd	905 sgd