The high local prices may seem uninviting but a visit to Singapore with kids should be high on any family’s bucket list. Singapore is a vibrant, fun-packed city of culture, history and wildlife. With a little planning and research, you can easily visit Singapore without spending a fortune.

Like our home city Kuala Lumpur, Singapore is a vibrant fusion of Chinese, Indian, Malay and Western cultures and cuisines.

However, unlike KL, Singapore is spotlessly clean, with amazing public transport and state-of-the-art amenities. Of course, it has the prices to support these first-world conveniences. However, that doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot though to enjoy them!

Since moving to Kuala Lumpur with our kids over a year ago we’ve talked about popping down for a long weekend down in Singapore. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that we actually got our act together and headed down to Malaysia’s small but dynamic neighbour for a visit.

Before kids, I’d spent some time in this world-class city. Since my last visit over seven years ago, Singapore has turned its bay area into an urban garden extravaganza. The Gardens in the Bay was what we were here to see. The supertrees are now iconic and recognised around the world. I wanted to see them in person.

We spent an awesome three days in Singapore. Pre-kids we’d explored the museums and shopping malls so now was our chance to see the family-friendly side of the city. SPOILER ALERT: our children loved it! They keep asking to go back!

Below is a snapshot of our 3 days in Singapore with kids itinerary. Our children were 3 and 5 at the time of our visit. A great age for exploring the parks and outdoor spaces.

But before I jump into the details, here’s the logic behind why we picked the cheap, budget activities that we did.

Exploring Southeast Asia with kids? Don’t forget to check out our family-friendly guides to Hanoi | Bangkok | Siem Reap |and Yangon before you go. 

Can you visit Singapore on a budget?

As Singapore is not our main holiday this year, we worked hard to keep the costs down. Singapore is notoriously expensive with an average one-course meal for a family exceeding £100.

To save money we ate only in hawker markets, cheap cafes, food courts – and once a fast joint. As I’ll explain later hawker markets are a fantastic way to experience local culture and cuisine – whilst being very friendly on the purse!

ALL the activities that we did this time in Singapore were FREE (with the exception of the Skywalk at Gardens by the Bay).

All the activities were all amazing, especially for the children. If you want to spend more, I’ll list towards the end some of the more famous (and costly) activities.

We spent a lot of time outdoors exploring parks and seashores.

However, Singapore is hot and sweaty. We’re used to the humidity as we live in Malaysia but if you’re still acclimatising you may wish to spend more time indoors than we did. Remember to pack water, hats and sunscreen in your daypack.

Want to learn about some of the most inspiring and influential women in Singapore? The Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame website runs regular walking tours called “Walking in the Footsteps of our Foremothers”,  around the Bras Basah Bugis Precinct. Check out their website for more details.

3 days in Singapore with kids: Our budget itinerary ideas

Below is the itinerary that we followed for our 3 days in Singapore with kids. We hope that you find it inspiring. It’s easy to adapt it to your own family’s needs and interests.

Day One in Singapore with kids: Low-Cost Ideas

Morning: Marine Cove @ East Coast Beach

Saturday morning is the ideal time to head down to East Coast Beach. While the kids explore the awesome seafront playground, you can pop to McDonald’s or the Tea Leaf and Coffee Bean for takeaway coffees or cheap ice-creams. Position yourself on a bench in the shade overlooking the coarse sandy beach and welcome to Singapore!

There’s so much going on at the weekend here. Locals are out jogging, cycling, skateboarding and there’s a great atmosphere. The surrounding sea is filled with hundreds of container ships. Whilst, not the prettiest view it is fascinating for the little ones to watch.

If you’ve packed the kids’ swimming gear let them have a paddle down on the beach. It is definitely NOT a swimming beach but our two loved running away from the waves lapping the shore. It does get hot so try to grab a spot in the shade if you can.

The facilities next to the playpark are excellent. They include kids’ showers and toilets. Save money by refilling your water bottles here too.

Lunchtime: Robertson Quay

Robertson Quay is a stretch of cafes and apartments next to the river and still very central. We chose a kid-friendly cafe called Kith. The children’s meals were around £5 each and included a drink, stickers and a pen. Adults can grab a toastie for around the same price. The cafe had lots of outdoor seating and a few toys. There are lots of other expat cafes around so definitely check out their meal deals too.

Afternoon: River Walk

Strolling along the beautifully maintained river path from Robertson Quay to Merlin Park was a highlight of our weekend. Yes, you can pay to sail along the river on a traditional bumboat but it’s not cheap. The walk doesn’t take long and is well signposted and paved. Keep toddlers away from the electric scooters and cyclists speeding along.

As long as you keep the river in your sight, you can’t get lost. Meander past the bars and restaurants of Clarke’s Quay along to the Empress Building and the Asian Civilisations Museum.

If the kids have enough energy keep going until you reach Merlion Park. From here, you get an excellent view over Marina Bay and the world-famous Marina Bay Sands hotel (the one that looks like 3 towers holding a surfboard up!)

Money-Saving Tip: If like ours, your kids need some ‘sweet’ encouragement to keep walking buy ice cream from a convenience store or a street stand selling ice-cream sandwiches rather than stopping in a cafe.

Evening: SuperTree Grove Sound and Light Show

For dinner, we headed to Satay by the Bay. This bustling food court is right inside the Gardens by the Bay complex. You can order from the various stalls and enjoy a feast without breaking the bank. We ate mountains of delicious nutty chicken satay sticks and pratas (flatbread) dipped in a spicy curry. Check out some of the Satay by the Bay stalls here.

The Gardens by the Bay are FREE to enter but you will need to pay to enter the conservatories and Floral Fantasy (between $20 – $28 per adult/ $12 – $15 for children). The Sound and Light Show is completely FREE and takes place at 7.45pm and 8.45pm every evening in Supertree Grove.

Feeling sated, we strolled over to the Sound and Light Show. It was incredibly crowded especially as there was a mid-autumn lantern festival taking place. In the end, we grabbed a spot on the pavement. We were all totally captivated by the dazzling lights and atmospheric music. The show lasts around 15 minutes.

After the show, we enjoyed some of the other lantern displays and operatic shows celebrating the mid-autumn festival. Before heading back to the hotel for a late bedtime.

Day Two in Singapore with kids: More Low-Cost Ideas

Morning: Gardens by the Bay

Whilst the Gardens by the Bay are stunning at night, you must see them during the day too. We arrived early and bought tickets for the OCBC Skyway. 9 am is a great time to arrive as it’s not too hot and there wasn’t any queue at all even at the weekend.

The skyway was our only paid activity in the Gardens but was definitely worth it. It’s $8 for adults and $5 for children (3-12). The views are fantastic and you get a completely different perspective from up high.

Far East Organization Children’s Garden

After the walkway, it was time to let the kids run wild in the absolutely brilliant Far East Organization Children’s Garden. This amazing children’s play area is the perfect place to relax for a few hours. I know I’m using a lot of strong adjectives but honestly, it is one of the best children’s play areas anywhere!

There are lots of different zones that children can have fun in as well as a cafe, toilets and changing rooms.

The five interactive play zones are:

Toddler Play Zone – Fish Fountain* – Adventure Trail – Rainforest Tree Houses – Water Play Zone* (make sure you bring swimming gear and towels for the ones marked with a *)

The play zones are surrounded by beautiful plants and trees. Pick up their free Kids’ Stuff! Leaflet for some interesting horticultural facts to share with the kids.

Although there is a cafe at the Far East Organization Children’s Garden, the food didn’t tempt us. Instead, we walked to the Supertree Food Hall. The indoor food court is blissfully airconditioned and the Indian stall does huge portions at pretty reasonable prices.

The Far East Organization Children’s Garden is closed every Monday.

Afternoon: Singapore Botanic Gardens

The Botanic Gardens in Singapore are breath-taking. Right in the heart of the city, this huge expanse of landscaped gardens retains an air of Victorian nostalgia. It’s such a magnificent part of the city that it’s even been dedicated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Botanic Gardens are packed with flora – and surprisingly lots of fauna too. Our very noisy kids spotted a monitor lizard, squirrels, ducks and super-sized koi. There are sculptures, a rainforest walk, cafes and lots of pagodas to rest in. It really is a wonderful walk from one side to the other.

Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

If you’re visiting Singapore Botanic Gardens don’t miss the amazing and FREE Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden. It’s a bit tricky to find but there are signs from the Eco Lake. The Children’s Garden is situated at the Botanic Gardens MRT station end of the Botanic Gardens.

The Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is divided into 8 play zones: Orchard, Farm, Learn, Explore, Grow, Play, Forest and Stream. Our kids absolutely loved the huge playhouse with slides (yes, we really spent 2 hours there) as well as the maze and rope bridge.

As you’d expect in a Children’s Park, there are good amenities including toilets, a cafe and free activity leaflets.

Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is closed every Monday.

Evening: Raffles Hotel and The Sound and Light Show at Marina Bay Sands

Head down to Raffles Hotel. If you don’t fancy spending your dollars on a Singapore Sling at the world-famous bar, it’s still worth soaking up some colonial splendour with a stroll through the courtyards.

The Courtyard at Raffles Hotel is reasonably priced and friendly-family or just cross the street for some more eating options.

After dining, walk ten minutes to Jubilee Bridge to see the awe-inspiring sound and light show at Marina Bay Sands. The colourful laser beams shooting off into the night sky are our son’s favourite memory of Singapore!

Day Three in Singapore with kids: Low-Cost Ideas

Day Three might be the day that you decide to blow the budget on a visit to Universal Studios, the Aquarium or Singapore Zoo. Whilst all great activities, we’ve been to a lot of theme parks and animal attractions on our travels. So we decided to tighten our purse strings.

Morning: Haw Par Villa

We came across an interesting sounding ‘theme park’ Haw Par Villa that was free. Also known as Tiger Balm Garden, this bizarre tourist attraction was built by the sons of the man who created Tiger Balm (the potent medical cream they love in SE Asia!)

In 1937 having amassed a small fortune the sons built an elaborate villa and filled its expansive gardens with thousands of life-size models and dioramas relating to  Chinese heritage and Buddhist beliefs.

Before the theme parks of Sentosa stole the show, this was one of Singapore’s biggest and most popular attractions with hundreds of thousands of visitors. Most adult Singaporeans have been there on school trips (even our Grab driver).

To be frank, we found Haw Par Villa absolutely bonkers! The dioramas are mostly related to morality and sin and are enough to give even adults nightmares. Imagine gruesome battle scenes and a woman breastfeeding an old man. Others are just hilarious like giant sumo wrestlers and even tortoises riding on ostriches.

Fortunately, we read the signs and did not take our 3 and 5-year old into the Ten Courts of Buddhist Hell grotto. Their dad took a look but his photos looked far too nightmare-inducing for me to venture in. Our Grab driver said there used to be a roller-coaster in there. Not for the faint-hearted, I guess!

Haw Par Villa is incredibly different from anything else you will ever see. It’s well worth the visit and totally free. However, I wish the children were a bit older as the statues might be 80 years old but they are very graphic indeed!

Just down the road is West Coast Beach not quite as happening as East Coast Park but it has an amazing playground and a McDonalds (cheap ice-cream and coffee anyone?)

Afternoon: Sentosa Island

On your final afternoon, explore Sentosa Island – the Hawaii of Singapore. Take your bathing suits and stroll over the boardwalk from Vivocity.

At the moment, you can walk across Sentosa Broadwalk to Sentosa Island for free. Although this is set to change in 2020. Head over to the Palawan beach. The pirate cove water play area is shut but there’s still a great beach to relax on as well as cafes.

The beaches on Sentosa Island are FREE. If you want to splash some cash, Sentosa is home to Universal Studios (tickets from $54) and the SEA Aquarium (tickets from $22).

Evening: Experience a local hawker market

For dinner tonight, head out to the hawker market closest to where you’re staying. Our local was Whampoa Drive Food Centre. Only a 5-minute walk from our apartment, it was very convenient as the kids were so tired. Hawker markets are a great place to try famous Singaporean dishes. Make sure you buy from a variety of stalls so you can try different things.

If you’re up for travelling around the city, Newton Night Market comes highly recommended by our expat friends.

Other FREE activities in Singapore

We only had 3 days in Singapore with kids this time so of course, we had to choose our activities wisely. As we live in Kuala Lumpur and we’ve visited Singapore before, we didn’t feel the need to visit Chinatown and Little India.

If you are visiting Singapore directly from outside Asia I would highly recommend that you visit these bustling, vibrant, oriental neighbourhoods. Wander past colourful temples, traditional shop-houses and take in the sights, smells and sounds that make up this corner of SE Asia. And of course, walking is totally FREE.

Chinese and Indian temples are usually free to visit. Some of the most impressive are: Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple and Thian Hock Keng Temple.

And don’t forget Singapore is an urban jungle within a jungle! There are lots of FREE outdoor areas dotted around the island including trails around the popular MacRitchie Reservoir edged by secondary rainforest to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, a bird spotter’s paradise.

Related Post: Fantastically Helpful Tips for Stress-Free Sightseeing with Kids

How to find cheap accommodation in Singapore?

We stayed at Ace Manor in a small 2/3 bedroom apartment that sleeps 5 people. There is a wide range of different apartments available. Some have shared bathrooms. We booked it at Booking.com.

Other options for cheap accommodation are hostels (many have family rooms), use hotel card points (and splashing out at a discount) or even camping. Yes, we saw a campsite down at West Coast Park which is fairly central.

Find out more about how to choose low-cost family hotels at in our post Choosing the Perfect Accommodation when Travelling with Kids.

Where to eat cheaply in Singapore?

Throughout the 3 days in Singapore with kids itinerary, I’ve given you some ideas of where we ate and how we saved money. Essentially, we ate breakfast in our apart-hotel. Mainly cereal and fruit from local shops. Lunch at a cafe and dinner at hawker centres.

Read our post No more chips! How to save money on food according to your family travel style for more ideas on how to eat cheaply when travelling with kids.

How to around Singapore with kids?

Singapore has an excellent and extensive public transport system. There are bus stops and MRT stations close to nearly all areas and attractions. There are also public ferries to reach the Southern Islands.

I have to admit that transport is the one expense that we didn’t curb. We used our Grab account which is linked to our bank account and didn’t look closely at what we were spending. Grab is the SE Asian version of Uber and a great way to get around over here. Download the app before you travel.

In Singapore, you must select Grab Family Cars which come with car seats for children under 125cm tall. It costs extra for more than one car seat. Alternatively, bring your own booster seat.

Related Post: Cars, Buses and Flights: How to save Money when travelling with Kids

How to get to Singapore with kids?

If you haven’t flown directly from outside Asia flying via Kuala Lumpur may be a good option. Firefly Airlines fly from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (a small easily accessible local KL airport) direct to Seletar Airport. 

Seletar Airport is great for children as it’s tiny and has a cheap cafe, a kids play table, really attentive staff and absolutely no queues or crowds. However, it doesn’t have a slide like Changi (Singapore’s main airport) so the kids might be disappointed!

If you’re flying in and out of Kuala Lumpur check out my ultimate guide to KL with Kids.

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