Singapore city spread over just 719 sq kms is almost half the size of Delhi. One of smallest countries yet one the most popular tourist destinations, Singapore offers a platter of activities suited for a two year old toddler to a hundred year old. This literally makes 99.5% of world population and Singapore entertainment compatible. Travel to Singapore with kids is super fin, doable and absolutely risk-free. I travelled with my three year old son and it was the best family bonding trip ever.
The key to a comfortable vacation is planning. Package tours aggressively advertise that Singapore can be covered over four days; however, the truth is that if you are a pro traveller (not the one ticking off tourists’ spots, taking selfie with Merlion and moving on types) then spend minimum six days and if travelling with a kid then it makes all the more sense to take it slow and optimize fun.
Travel Singapore Airlines If You Love Your Kid
For kids, vacation journey begins at the airport and Singapore Airline gives you the international feel even before you leave India. The staff is kid friendly and is sensitive to their requirements. The menu is balanced with good kid’s meal options.
Let me share details from our 7 day Singapore trip with our three year old kid.
Managing Singapore City Transport
|
The first thing we did was to purchase MRT cards to facilitate travel on metro and bus. We also downloaded the GRAB app which provides cost effective cab.
MRT ticket is required for kid more than 0.9 Cm.
Discounted Combo Tickets For Singapore City Rides and Sightseeing
Save by NOT purchasing any tickets online from India.
The biggest blunder that people make is to pre-arrange everything and buy tickets online.
Don’t buy even if it shows discount.
Instead once you reach Singapore, visit malls like “Lucky one” on Orchard Street or Little India and purchase combo tickets. Believe me, they are way cheaper than online and have number of combinations that will suit your requirement. Biggest saver for us was, combo ticket of S.E.A Aquarium and Universal Studio that was half the cost. There are various combinations that you can choose from.
Tips To Buy Cheap Tickets
- Some of the tickets are to be redeemed from cable stations so take clear instruction from them.
- For night safari specify the day and time while purchasing tickets. Preferably go for the same day as Zoo trip. Time 19:30 Slot.
- Amazon River Quest has height restriction of 1.06 cm note & buy accordingly.
- Wings of time is a must see in Sentosa. A tad expensive but do buy for the experience of sitting by the beach and enjoying a magnificent light, water and sound show.
- Ask for Priority pass for Universal Studio rides otherwise serpentine lines especially during summer vacation or weekend can kill the fun.
Itinerary Of Singapore Trip With Kid
Day 1: Singapore Zoo and Night Safari
Singapore Zoo, located at Lake Road is part of wildlife reserve and can be comfortably reached by MRT & bus. As you have already purchased tickets you can should time yourself. Get down at Woodland metro stop and take a bus. Added bonus on this route is the street food hub right in front of the station. We enjoyed our breakfast and got the first taste of Singaporean local food. Colourful, vibrant and lovely!
Recommended: Hot dogs and Prawn
Caution: Most of the food is oily and spicy
Singapore Zoo is rated as the best Zoo in the world by TripAdvisor and it rightfully deserves. Spread over 28 acres it has largest dwelling of animals. The entire tour takes about 5-6 hours.
Tips While Visiting Singapore Zoo
- Take a stroller if with small kids otherwise they will get tired and you will not be able to enjoy.
- Take the map from the gate and check timing of activities carefully. Elephant Show is a must. Activities start from morning but are repeated in evening.
- Carry a swimwear for the kid. They will enjoy Rainforest which is also a good place to rest while kids play around safely.
- There are small restaurants inside but the one at the entrance is best. So time yourself accordingly.
- Must carry Mosquito repellent.
Night Safari
Night Safari is conducted in a separate zone and the first slot starts around 18:30 hrs. But it is better that you reach by 17:30 and queue up so you have a head start. There are suggested trails you should take especially the leopard trail is good. So, what essentially happens is that they take you in an open cart in pitch dark with animals on both sides. There is light over animals so you can see them. They are very close and that is exciting. Then they drop you at designated places for a walking trail. It is optional. We only got down for one as we were extremely tired after the day at Singapore Zoo.
Tips While Visiting Night Safari
- Try & take a seat in the front row.
- Must have mosquito repellent.
- Carry water and torch.
- Don’t have high hopes as seen on posters. We found it a bit overrated.
Day 2: River Safari and Jurong Bird Park
River Safari
Located next to Singapore Zoo, River Safari opens at 10am. The entire visit time including the rides will take around 3-4 Hours. Apart for exotic fishes from all around the world it houses brown and white Panda. It is an absolute delight to watch them. The also have Amazon River Quest and Boat ride.
Tips While Visiting River Safari
- You can club River Safari with Day 1 but then it will be at cost of fatigue and by end of day children fall asleep on Night Safari.
- If there is paucity of time choose Amazon Quest over River ride.
- River ride is bit of a disappointment.
Jurong Bird Park
Located at Jurong hill around 19 Km from Singapore zoo, it is not very well connected by public transport from zoo so time to use your Grab app and if it is non-office time then you will get good rates. Try and reach by 12:30 and have your lunch at Hawk Cafe so that you can start your tour by 13:30. The park is fantastic with large number of flying species.
Tips While Visiting Jurong Park
- Check the show times and do not miss the King of skies and High fliers show.
- Move out immediately after last show or else you will get caught in evening traffic.
- Must do – feeding the birds activity especially feeding fish to penguins. My son totally loved it.
- Participate in activities – they are engaging and educative.
- Visit the World Of Darkness – night birds and bats.
Day 3 and 4- Sentosa Island & Universal Studio Singapore
We stayed overnight at Amara Resort to enjoy Sentosa Islands completely. In Sentosa other than regular places, visit to water front adventure cove is a must. On the first day we covered Sea Aquarium and post lunch went to Water front Adventure cove. In the evening we went for Wings of Time show. Fantastic Show! Use the monorail to come to waterfront station for dinner.
Loved the water park. We became kids too! Clean, well-maintained and devoid of any creeps. Proper security and lifeguards at every ride. Absolutely safe! I was more excited than my kid. Thankfully, the rush was quite less and I could repeat the water rides.
Sea Aquarium was yet another fascinating place. Being Bengali, you can imagine our excitement seeing all sorts of fish. Don’t miss the starfish experience activity for the kids.
On Day 2, we thoroughly enjoyed the infinity pool of this amazing Singapore hotel, Amara Resort and after sumptuous breakfast moved to Universal Studio using the bus service.
Tips While Visiting Universal Studio
- For reaching Sentosa Island use cable car and board from Mount Faber cable car station. This ride will take you over the harbour front and give a beautiful overview of bay and Sentosa Island. Keep Your Camera Handy.
- The bus service and mono rail in Sentosa is complimentary so plan yourself and use it.
- Start early for Universal Studio and begin with popular rides like Transformer or else the wait time will increase.
- Carry a change especially for kids even in Universal Studio there are few rides that splash around water.
- Few rides in Universal Studio have height restriction so check before and save your time.
- Madam Tussauds is over hyped and can be skipped.
- Water front arena has good casinos.
- Merlion statue near Beach front is bigger than the original one in the Singapore city.
Day 5- Botanical Garden, Garden By the Bay, Sky Park and Clark Quay
This day was loaded with activities. We visited Singapore Botanic Gardens in the morning. The place is beautiful and has the status of UNESCO world heritage site. Kids can feed the turtle, play in the sand activity area or just run around amidst manicured green gardens. We flew drone and it was an exciting experience.
There is so much to see here that you will need a full day but can’t spare that much time.
Post lunch we went to Garden by the Bay. Theme garden setting is a sight to behold. Cactus garden was my favourite. Huge varieties and systematically displayed.
Just before the sunset we reached the top of sky deck to see Singapore in daylight.
Post sunset we came down to see Garden Rhapsody show scheduled at 19:45 hrs.
Then we went to the iconic Merlion followed by dinner at Clark Quay. The place is great with lot of activities and wears a festive look. We came across performing Michael Jackson and Spiderman.
Tips While Visiting Garden Bay
- Divide the visit to Garden by the Bay in two phases. Visit Flower Dome and Cloud Forest in the afternoon. Then after the sky walk you can visit Super Tree Grove. The walk is long and if you have a kid then take a stroller.
- You might feel a little vertigo at the top of cloud forest. I did.
- Ensure you reach sky walk on time. Don’t miss the sunset views. Perfect photo op too.
- Jumbo is overrated and super expensive for Chilly Crab. Try other authentic places.
Day 6 : Shopping and Food
In the morning we decided to shop and went straight to Orchard Street. The place is a blend of high end brands and budget shopping. Soumen (my hubby) had already set his eyes on a Bang & Olufsen product that he purchased at 50% price as available in India. At Orchard street our experiment with local food went a liltle wrong when we ordered a Malaysian dish called Malaysian Claypot.
After that we wanted some dish that is popular in Singapore and needless to say Chilli Crab was at the top of our food list. For that we travelled to interior & non- commercial part of Singapore, Geylang . Will you believe? The chilly crab price is half of what they were quoting at Jumbo restaurant. The restaurant was very authentic with original recipes. Just in front of restaurant is a place had live frog counter. We didn’t need any further proof of authenticity of place.
In the evening we went to China Town which was bubbling with activities. As the evening progressed, elderly people started collecting near the community centre and what followed was absolutely cute synchronised dance performance by the elderly people.
China town is also the right place to pick souvenirs to gift back home starting from $2 to $20. While you are shopping you will be entertained with some street Lion Dance.
Then we went to People Park food court to enjoy local flavour in authentic style. Smith Street Taps, popular with Singaporeans, offers about 100 varieties of good beer all brewed there. Relish beer with chicken satte, prawns and steam fish head. Deadly combination! We drank our heart out being our last day.
The day did not end there. Next to China town is Ann Siang Hill and Club Street that has bars and restaurants lined up with dinning places right on the street. We chose another famous place Fry Rooftop Bistro for their famous sausages and view of Singapore skyline.
Day 7: Little India & Back To aka India
Last day we kept the itinerary a little relaxed as we had to catch our flight. In the morning, we went to Little India and visited multi level and huge shopping Arcade Mustafa. It is a decent place that has cheap stuff, in particular perfumes. Our sojourn of Singapore ended with an Indian lunch in one of the Singaporean Dhabas munching over-priced parantha but then it was with views of Singapore so we didn’t mind paying the extra buck.
Do share your queries or experiences regarding Singapore trip in the comment below.
If you need any help with Singapore travel planning or have a query, connect with me.
[contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]
7 comments
Thank you for sharing your Singapore travel experience. I’m sure your readers will be inspired to embark on their own family adventures in this vibrant city-state! Your insights and tips will undoubtedly help other families
Thanks a lot. Your blog helped us save time in planning our family trip. God bless!
Hi. Thanks for sharing your experience and your Itinerary. Would you prefer to stay at one place and then travel around to all the city or stay at different places.
Is it possible to suggest some good hotels to stay. We are planning to travel in Mid April with our just turned 4 year old. Appreciate your suggestion
Thanks
Raghu
[…] Abroad & World Bindass Beaches Down South Hilly Borders Offbeat East Rangeelo Rajasthan Spiritual India All Abroad & World […]
Thank you for sharing the experience. It will indeed help me out esp about the tickets. Will let u know my travel experience later in sha allah.
Super! It is readers like you who make it worth blogging. Have a great trip 🙂 Let me know if you need help with bookings. I can refer travel agent who arranged for our trip 🙂
No, i am also a blogger and a wanderer, so we are planning trip by ourself.
Thank you for the help.