For Vietnamese, Singapore is considered as one of the most convenient destinations to travel in region, just 1.5 hrs from HCMC and 3 hrs from Hanoi by flight. Actually you can fly to Singapore from 3 cities: HCMC, Hanoi, and Danang. However, Danang just newly developed the flight route to Singapore, hence, it’s still very limited flight between Danang and Singapore.
So, what you need to prepare for your first trip to Singapore? Follow some simple tips below to maximize your trip and ensure everything will be smooth.
Step 1: Choose the date for your trip and length of stay
In Vietnam we may have many long public holiday or long weekend holiday, for e.g.: Tet holiday, Liberation Day and Labour Day, etc. You can consider choosing this period to travel to Singapore. Of course, many other Vietnamese may do the same thing, and everything’s cost will be increased, due to the high demand. Instead, you can choose a low peak season, such as March – May, September – November to travel. There will be lots of promotions from airlines and hotels during this period. But no worry, there are still many things to do in Singapore, it’s not as “low” as you thought. 🙂
Tips: If you want to see something different and more photo-worthy, you can consider traveling during festival time, such as: Chinese New Year (same time as Tet holiday), Mid Autumn Festival, Depavali, Hari Raya Puasa, Christmas, etc. Different area of Singapore will be lightened up during each festival. Highly recommend you should try any of them!
The average length of stay for Vietnamese travelers is 4-5 days. But it’s really rush for those who first come to Singapore, as there are so many places for you to visit and the flights really take you a day. This small island is really compact with lots of interesting things. In my opinion, for 1st time travelers you may need around 7 days, and for repeat travelers 4-5 days is sufficient enough.
Step 2: Book the flight
From HCMC: It takes around 1.5hr to fly between HCMC and Singapore. Currently there are 5 airlines provide the flight to Singapore: Singapore Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar, Tigerair, Vietjet. Normally, the cheapest one is Vietjet, the round trip ticket can be up to 1 mil VND (USD45) all in; you can consider if you really want to save cost (of course you’ll get what you pay for). If you prefer full service airlines, you can look for Singapore Airlines & Vietnam Airlines. Normally Singapore Airlines ticket will be more expensive than Vietnam Airlines. However, they often have many promotions for low peak season, or booking 60-90 days in advance, the round trip ticket can be up to 3.5mil VND (USD150) all in (usual price: USD450).
From Hanoi: It takes more than 3hr to fly between Hanoi and Singapore. Currently there are 4 airlines provide the flight to Singapore: Singapore Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar, Tigerair. The flight from Hanoi to Singapore will take longer, hence, the air fare will be more expensive compare to HCMC. Average price of Vietnam Airlines is USD300 all in, Singapore Airlines is USD550 all in. Don’t forget to keep hunting for promotion of those airlines to ensure you have the best price. Noted: the frequency of daily flight from Hanoi to Singapore is lesser than from HCMC, do check the schedule and timing carefully before booking.
From Danang: It takes almost 3hr (2h40′ for direct flight) to fly between Danang and Singapore. Currently there are only 2 airlines provide the flight to Singapore: Silkair and Jetstar. There are very limited direct flights between Danang and Singapore, and currently the frequency is only once day a week you can find the direct flight. Normally you will have to transit at either HCMC or Siemriep/Phnompenh, Cambodia. The average price of Silkair is USD500. If you can catch the promotion, the price will be much cheaper. Noted: If you take transit flight, it will be quite tiring and it takes you the whole 2 days on the plane already. You may need to lenghten your trip to minimum 6 days to ensure you have sufficient time to explore the city.
Tips: You can use website www.skyscanner.com to search for the cheapest airlines during the period you want. It will help you have an overview about the rate during the travel period you want, but all the costs shown there are normally not in the most ideal time and excluding luggage (for low cost carrier airlines). After you check on this website, you’d better go directly to the airlines website and choose everything you need for the flight there.
Step 3: Book the accommodation
After booking air ticket, next step is booking the accommodation. There are many options for you to choose in Singapore. Depends on your budget and your companion, you can choose from a very cheap hostel with dorm bed at SGD25++/night/bed; or a family hotel at average around SGD150++/night; or even a luxury hotel with the rate from SGD500++/night. Noted: in Singapore, ++ is inclusive of 10% service fee and 7% GST, total of 17%.
For tourists who first time travel to Singapore, it’s recommended to choose the hotels near the central areas, such as: Chinatown, Bugis, Clarke Quay, etc. It’s better if you can choose the hotel near the MRT station, it will help you save time and energy after a long day travelling around the city. As public transport in Singapore is very convenient, you can plan your whole trip to all the attractions by MRT or bus. Of course, the hotels nearer to MRT station will be more expensive.
Where to book? Normally I will check one round at http://www.booking.com and http://www.agoda.com, as they are the 2 websites that have the best rate in town. Other websites you can also consider are: http://www.hotel.com; http://www.expedia.com, http://www.trivago.com, etc. Different period is different rate, sometimes if you are loyal member booking.com, you can have really good deal; or if you use Visa card, they often have discount of 10% for booking on Agoda, etc. Noted: during some events, such as: Food Hotel Asia (April), F1 (September), Christmas and New Year (December), etc. They hotels may have extra surcharge of SGD50++/room/night. But yes, if you like festival and party, you have no choice but travel during this period.
Tips: There are quite a few hotels in Singapore start to offer “Handy phone” for hotel guests. With this phone, you can bring it out of hotel during your trip to connect to internet anywhere with 3G, make unlimited local and international calls, refer some local suggestion for your trip, etc. But of course it’s limited to few countries only, depends on which tourists often stay at the hotel. You can save quite a lot from buying sim card if you stay at hotel that offer this, and the hotel rate of those hotels are only around SGD200-300, if you share room, the price actually quite affordable.
Step 4: Plan your itinerary
You need to cover quite a few places in Singapore within a few day, it’s very important to create a must-do list. For those who first come to Singapore, there are few iconic places you shouldn’t miss:
- Merlion Park
- Esplanade Theatre
- Marina Bay Sands
- ArtScience Museum
- Singapore Flyer
- Gardens by the Bay
- Clarke Quay, Boat Quay
- National Gallery Singapore
- Raffles Hotel
Depends on your own interest, you can customize your trip’s theme, for e.g.: Coffee hopping, museum hopping, park hopping, or family with kids theme, etc. I will share with you more detail about each places in another note.
Hopefully after reading this article, you can have a clearer understanding about what to prepare for your first trip to Singapore. I will be back with more interesting information for the on-ground activities in Singapore. Be patient and check it out!
(to be continued…)
Journeys of Life 