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Trip Inspiration
A video glimpse into day 1 of landing to Changi Airport from Mumbai International Airport:
Click here for "Singapore TripStori Vlogs Playlist" exploring Singapore Flyer, Little India, Merlion Park, Clarke Quay, Raffles Place, Sentosa Island, Singapore Cable Car, Glimpse of Universal Studio, Siloso Beach
Best Time To Visit
Best time to visit Singapore is all round the year as it is a tourist destination, but the best time to visit is June to January to avoid high humidity and heat. Singapore is a coastal city so usually temperature is range between 25 to 33 degree celsius.
Pro-tips
Essentials things before traveling to Singapore from June 2022 onwards (Updated details from 19th Feb 2023 onwards):
** Sentosa island entry fees and Sentosa Express are free until 31st March 2023 to promote tourism
** Covid restrictions are eased from Feb 2023 onwards so vaccine certificate requirement is excluded for SG arrival pass (Singapore health declaration).
** Remaining all the guidelines remain the same
1) Singapore tourist visa:
To be applied from Singapore consulate approved agent (costs around 3000 - 3500 INR: ~ 2000 INR for visa, 1000-1500 INR agent fees).
Apply 30 days in advance as you have to courier documents and passport to the agent and received them back via courier before your travel. If agent is local to you then apply atleast 7 days in advance.
Singapore tourist visa comes in a printout / email and there will not be any kind of stamp on your passport that can show you ever visited Singapore. This is disappointing for people who love to get their passport stamped from all the countries they visited.
Required documents for visa application:
Passport with minimum 6 months validity
Visa application form
Return Flight ticket booking details
Confirmed hotel booking (Not mandatory to be fully paid booking, cancellable booking also allowed - we used booking.com site)
3 months bank statement with 50,000 INR balance for each person applying for the visa
Travel insurance compulsory of 30,000 SGD (we bought Digit Travel Insurance online)
Fully vaccinated certificate with passport number mentioned in it. ( Covid restrictions are exempted from February 2023 onwards)
Cover letter requesting tourist visa with the purpose of travel (Travel agent need this)
2 Photos - Without Spectacles & Sunglasses, 2 recent & unused photos, 35X45mm, White background, 80% face size
Vaccine certificate of two dose completed 24 days before the travel and mentioning your passport number on vaccine certificate is sufficient. Booster is not compulsory. NO Covid test required before flight or even after landing Singapore airport after 1st May 2022. UPDATE: mid Feb 2023 onwards - NO Covid vaccine certificate required.
Verify details on this link by Singapore government or check the flight operator website if still in doubt.
1.1) Documents to carry for immigration formalities in India and Singapore airports:
Passport with minimum 6 months validity
Boarding pass
Return Flight ticket booking details print
Visa printout
Confirmed hotel booking printout
Travel insurance compulsory of 30,000 SGD - carry print
Fully vaccinated certificate with passport number mentioned in it - they checked ours while Singapore port entry. Update after Feb 2023: they aren't asking nowadays so keep it handy if you have it already else not required.
SG arrival card print - important for port entry to Singapore Immigration counter as health declaration.
3 months bank statement with 50,000 INR balance for each person applying for the visa - imp for visa application only but carry for safer side if you have handy
2) SG arrival online form (online health declaration) to be filled within 72 hours of the flight date, after getting Singapore tourist visa. https://www.ica.gov.sg/enter-depart/entry_requirements/sg-arrival-card
** This is required while port entry to Singapore Immigration Counters. Covid certificate requirement is excluded from Feb 2023. Screenshots below for reference.
3) Forex: Carry 500 Singapore Dollars per person to manage cash expenses and carry remaining amount in USD to convert in Singapore Dollar (as needed) at local money changer at Little India or anywhere outside once you go out of the airport. They give better conversation rate with US dollar. If you carry too much Singapore dollar then you will lose money while converting back to Indian rupee as the rate keeps fluctuating.
Places you will need cash for sure:
1) Singapore Tourist Pass, if you want to save on cab expenses. If you are traveling in group of 3 - 4 people then cab might not be so costly for you.
2) Some restaurants accept cash only when bill is less than 5 dollar
3) Tips if you plan to give
4) Places where your forex card / Credit or debit does not work.
5) Some NETS patment machines fail with international card payments
** My experience: I carried Niyo Global prepaid Forex Card for tap & swipe payments, to avoid carrying cash dollars everywhere and also to avoid keeping change and manage them (no promotion but recommendation based on personal experience). It worked on majority of stores at 711, MRT stations, restaurants, Mustafa Market, tickets purchase on tourist attractions over the counter.
** I bought online tickets for attractions from on Klook.com using my India credit card in India Rupees conversion rates without any extra charges.
Link to get the card: https://www.goniyo.com/forex-card/ or download Niyo Global app from Playstore (Android) or App Store (Apple) > complete formalities with PAN, Aadhar and eKYC-verfication > This will open a savings account with SBM bank and you can instantly apply for Niyo Global Forex Visa Signature Card. It will be shipped at your address in 7-10 days. It is a prepaid forex card so you add money in INR and you can withdraw foreign currency or use it to tap/swipe and pay in foreign country wherever visa cards are accepted. All this without any additional fees and very competitive currency conversion.
4) International roaming (optional based on requirement) "Highly recommended"-
I took JIO international roaming package on top of my India Jio Prepaid connection. This gave me 900 INR balance in 1100 INR cost. Singapore local and calling to India or incoming calls (from Singapore or India) were charged at 50 paisa per minute, with 30 days validity. I freely used my cell during 6 days of Singapore trip and still I was having 600 INR balance while coming back to India.
5) Flight tickets - We booked our flight tickets from Makemytrip.com 2 months in advance. We tried different sites like SkyScanner.com, ClearTrip, EaseMyTrip, vendor sites like Indigo, AirAsia and Singapore Airlines but MMT gave better price that time. Explore all the options while booking with Chrome's incognito mode.
Flight tickets: We paid 25,000 INR for two way ticket per person with seat choice, 7kg cabin and 25kg check-in luggage allowance.
6) Local sim card - Come out of airport and buy from 7 11 store or any other local store for 12 SGD for 7 days validity, 300 GB internet, 200 minutes local calling. Same type of sim card will cost 30 SGD if you purchase from airport.
** I purchased SingTel card from 711 store with above mentioned facilities swiping my Niyo Global Forex Card.
7) Local commute: Singapore Tourist Pass (30 SGD for 3 days unlimited MRT and BUS usage (bought this from Terminal 2 and used for 3 days), with refundable 10 SGD on returning the card by 5th day) or EZ Link pass (available in 7 11 store for 10 SGD)
** After using Singapore Tourist Pass validity was over - We used Niyo card directly on the MRT entry and exit points.
** Any visa credit or debit card, directly on the MRT entry and exit points. Just that Niyo card will be very economical due to lowest conversion rate, no markup charges and will be deducted from amount which you transferred in form of Indian rupees after 24 hours.
** If you just want to try public transport very occasionally in Singapore - Niyo Card or Any international visa card with international transaction enabled will work. We were being charged 2-3 SGD for 2-3 times usage of Metro/MRT.
** If you want to try MRT just once or twice and do not have Niyo Global visa card, then try visa debit card. Visa Credit Card should be the last option due to very high conversion and mark-up charges.
** Singapore MRT system is not linked with any other card provider than Visa - so master card, Amex or any other card will not work. Plus they don't have option to buy tickets by cash. Only options are: Singapore Tourist Pass, EZ-Link Card (available at 711 stores), Niyo Card, International VISA cards.
Comment below if you want me to add any other information or if the information mention here was helpful.
Happy Tripping!!
I keep updating this page so watch out for more updates here