Singapore is expensive but……
With a little research, you can find things to do in Singapore which isn’t going to break the budget and you can discover some real hidden gems along the way.
We got back to nature in the middle of this bustling, thriving metropolis. Walking through bush land parks in the middle of the city was something we were not expecting nor was exploring an island 10 minutes off the coast which made you feel like you were in the middle of nowhere.
The Southern Ridges
The Southern Ridges comprises of a 10km chain connecting Mt Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park, HortPark, Kent Ridge Park and Labrador Nature Reserve.
You can do as little or as much of it as you want and each section offers something different. We loved the Henderson Wave Bridge which is an 80m long bridge which looks like a large wave and is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore.
Henderson Wave Bridge
You can do as little or as much of the trail as you want but we continued onto Kent ridge Park which has a rich wartime history, owing to the many battles fought in the park during WW2.
One of the highlights for us was the impressive Canopy Walk which took us above the tree tops. This links the park to the Reflection at Bukit Chandu which is a museum commemorating the heroic efforts of the troops who fought in one of the last and fiercest battles. Unfortunately the museum is closed one day a week and it just so happened to be the day we walked through! This will be a spot we will be coming back to in future visits to Singapore.
Canopy walk stretches for km’s over the treetops
The whole day out only cost us the MRT rail trip which was not more than $2 each. We were gone for most of the day and clocked up over 15km in the process.
Pulau Ubin Island
Now this day trip was a real treat. We caught the bus close to where we are staying at Joo Chait and travelled around 1.10 hours on the urban bus route, changing buses once along the way. This cost us a total of $1.45 each!
We arrived at Changi Point and boarded the ferry to Pulau Ubin Island. A very interesting captain on board made for quite an entertaining 15 minute ferry ride ($3 each).
Once on the island we rented a couple of mountain bikes ($9 each) and set off along the well signposted tracks.
Palau Ubin is an island off eastern Singapore (with Malaysia main land in the close distance) and often considered the last ‘kampung’ (village) in Singapore. A cycle through Ubin takes you back to Singapore in the 1960’s with the simpler pleasures of life.
An old quarry site now turned into a beautiful lake
The Name Pulau Ubin literally means ‘Granite Island’ in Malay, which explains the many abandoned granite quarries there. They have now all been turned into the most beautiful lakes and the water is an amazing blue unlike anything we’ve seen before.
The rocks on the island were used to make floor tiles in the past and were called Jubin, which was then shortened to Ubin.
Our video below of some of our travels around these two cheap outings in Singapore.
With this blog on having fun in inexpensive ways in Singapore, you really took the weight off the budget travelers’ shoulders. At least, we don’t have to worry about where and how to enjoy without crossing the budget. The Canopy Walk looks very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your feedback. We’ve just spent another 2 weeks in Singapore. If you enjoy walking, we discovered macRitchie Reservoir….fantastic
Thank you for letting me how helpful my blog is for you. I understand the concern of tourists and how important to keep a check on the money for vacationing. No doubt, Singapore is an expensive city where budget could easily go wrong if one is not careful. But when one knows how to find inexpensive ways of enjoying, the city can turn out as a cheap tourist destination.
Cheers!!!