How to get around Singapore 2025

By LINDA JAMES | Updated FEBRUARY 9, 2025 | PLAN

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The best way to get around Singapore is via the public transport system, which is clean, efficient and pretty cheap – one of the best I’ve travelled on – but taxis and Grabs (a type of Uber) are reasonably priced as well.

Singapore is a very walkable city but the noon-day sun and the high humidity get the better of even the most avid walkers.

So, using the city’s two most common transportation types – air-conditioned buses and trains – is a great solution when it comes to getting around Singapore.

I also try to plan my itineraries so most of my walking is done in the early morning and late afternoon and either head back to the hotel in the middle of the day or seek solace in an air-conditioned shopping centre.

To make the most of your holiday, read up on the important things you should know before you go.

The MRT (subway) System

The Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) system is the subway and my favourite way to get around Singapore. It’s similar to those in other major cities such as London and New York.

They’re all colour-coded, which makes it reasonably easy to follow.

The lines crossover all over Singapore making it really easy to get where you want to go and, if there’s no train to get you there, the bus lines certainly will.

Bonus: children 0.9m and under ride free. I’ve never seen anyone whip out a measuring tape but there is signage in some of the MRT station entries that you can use to check yourself.

There are six lines:

• North-South (red), which runs from Marina South Pier to the north of the island and then south-west to Jurong
• East-West (green) connects one side of the island to the other – from Tuas Link in the west to Changi Airport and Pasir Ris in the east.
• Circle (yellow), which is a little odd. At one end it has two different destinations – Dhoby Ghaut (near Bencoolen) and Marina Bay (where you can access Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands). It then goes to Esplanade, the eastern neighbourhoods, north and west, finally going south to the HarbourFront Centre (VivoCity and the Sentosa Express monorail).
• Downtown (blue) runs from Bukit Panjang in the north-west to Expo station in the east doing a loop through Singapore’s central district with stops at Chinatown, Fort Canning, Downtown, Bayfront and Bugis.
• North-East (pink) connects the HarbourFront Centre to Punggol in the north-east.
• Thomson-East Coast (brown) runs from Woodlands North (where you can go to Singapore Zoo and some outlet stores) out to the East Coast. Eventually it will link to Changi Airport.

There are also three light rail transit (LRT) lines – Bukit Panjang, Sengkang and Punggol.

Trains run from 5.30am to around midnight daily every 2 to 3 minutes during peak hour (7am-9am) and 5 to 7 minutes off-peak. Operating hours are usually extended during holidays.

Mobile phones work in the stations, trains and the tunnels, however, there are strict rules about eating, drinking or smoking.

A train trip typically costs between $S1.19 and $S2.50 depending on distance. Nowadays, you can use your Mastercard or Visa credit or debit cards to tap on and tap off (remember you MUST do both).

A trip from Changi Airport to Orchard on the MRT only costs $S2.20.

Single trip tickets were phased out in 2022.

You can buy an EZ-Link card or travel passes from ticket counters or automated machines at the stations. I have a very detailed guide to all the travel cards.

A train trip typically costs between $S0.94 and $S1.99 depending on distance and whether you use a travel card or cash. You can buy them from ticket counters or automated machines at the stations. There are different types of travel cards, which I’ll look at below.

Buses

If you can’t get somewhere by train, you can definitely get there by bus – the network is extensive, runs from 5:30am to 12:30am and tickets cost about the same as trains.

Most buses are air-conditioned and there are double- and single-decker versions. Passengers board at the front.

If you plan to pay cash, beware that change is not given. You drop the cash down the metal chute next to the driver. If you don’t have exact change, you’ll be donating to the Land Transport Authority.

If you use a credit/debit card, EZ-Link or travel pass card, make sure you touch it on the electronic reader on entry and exit. If you don’t, you’ll be charged the maximum fare for the trip.

A lot of the buses have screens that broadcast the upcoming stops and I’ve always found the drivers to be incredibly helpful to travellers.

But, please, only ask questions when the driver has stopped.

Cycling is popular

Buses are airconditioned

Taxis

Taxis are reasonably cheap in Singapore. The flag down rate is $S4.40-$4.80 (except for premium services) and $S0.26 a km every 400m up to 10km.

There are extra charges for phone bookings, peak hour, after midnight and location surcharges for may of the main attractions such as Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, the city and Mandai Wildlife Reserve.

If you have trouble flagging one down, go to the nearest hotel or shopping centre, which will probably have a taxi rank. Taxis have a sign on top stating they’re taxis and showing their availability.

English is spoken by many people in Singapore but it’s probably a good idea to have the address you’re going to written down or on your phone so you can show it to the driver.

I wouldn’t discount taxis as always more expensive than the ride shares.

One taxi company in Singapore, ComfortDelGro, has an excellent app, CDG Zig. I often check the price on their app as well as Grab and just about always save a couple of dollars.

Grab

Uber has been banned in Singapore but you can use Grab, which is pretty much the same thing. There are also some others such as Gojek, TADA and Ryde, but I haven’t used them.

The most important thing is to make sure you download the app and register an account before you leave home because you’ll have to verify your mobile number and won’t be able to do it once you arrive unless you have an international sim card.

As I said above, Grab can sometimes be more expensive than a taxi so downloading the CDG Zig app is a good idea.

Using these apps also mean you can put your credit card in and don’t have to worry about other forms of payment.

Remember to make sure you have a credit card that doesn’t incur foreign currency transaction fees.

Hop On Hop Off Buses

Full disclosure – I’ve never done a hop on hop off bus tour. I’m more of a diy-er.

However, I know a lot of travellers love them. The main reason is that they allow you to “get your bearings” in a new city.

Most people suggest doing a hop on hop off bus on your first day. This way you can get an overview of the key sites and decide what you’d like to go back and see more of.

The main company I’ve seen in Singapore is Big Bus. They have two daytime lines – the City tour (red) and the Heritage tour (yellow) – as well as a night tour.

The City tour (19 stops) does Orchard Road down to Marina Bay Sands where it overlaps with the Heritage tour, which covers Chinatown, Kampong Glam and Little India with 17 stops.

The City tour operates from 9:30am-5:20pm and the Heritage from 9:40am-5:10. They run every 25 to 35 minutes.

The Night Tour starts at Suntec City, takes you to the very popular Lau Pa Sat hawker centre, Gardens by the Bay and Orchard Road.

Prices start from $S42 for the night tour. You can get a combination of day and night as well.

Other Tours

The list of sight-seeing tours you can do in Singapore is extremely long and varied.

There are walking tours of the various neighbourhoods, river cruise tours, “hidden gems”, historical bicycle tours, food tours and even Instagrammable tours.

The best place to check out many of these tours is on the Singapore Tourism Board website.

Driving/Car Hire

You can hire a car in Singapore provided you are over 21 years old and have a valid driver’s licence but there’s probably not a lot of need to unless you plan to do a lot of travel outside of the city and have a family (just to make it easier to carry all the things you need when you have kids!).

Even then it’s probably not worth it given public transport and taxis/rideshare are so cheap.

Singapore has something called electronic road pricing (ERP), which means cars have software installed that reads a stored-value card or EZ-Link card to deduct tolls.

Given the housing density in Singapore, it won’t come as a surprise to know that parking can be expensive.

Cycling

Cycling is probably not something you’d want to do in the centre of Singapore given the traffic but there are loads of green spaces where hiring bikes could be fun.

Singapore is one of the world’s greenest cities and it has many cycling trails. In fact, the Park Connector Network https://pcn.nparks.gov.sg/ is a 380km network of paved trails that connect the different recreational areas, allowing you to ride around the entire island – if you wanted to!

On a smaller scale though, you could ride from Marina Bay Sands to East Coast Park, which has a great hawker centre, or on Sentosa Island.

There are different companies that hire bikes out and the prices vary quite a bit. Some of the main ones are Anywheel, Bicycle Hut, Biking Singapore and SG Bike.

Ferries

If you want to get to some of the islands off Singapore, you’ll need to catch a ferry. The main terminals are at HarbourFront, Tanah Merah and Changi.

Conclusion

So, I think the best way to get around Singapore is whatever suits you. The cheapest – especially for solo travellers – is definitely public transport. However, if there’s enough people in your group, taxi/Grab might work especially for time and convenience.