🇸🇬 Singapore Part 1 - How I Planned a Solo Singapore Trip Under ₹60,000

🇸🇬 Singapore Part 1 - How I Planned a Solo Singapore Trip Under ₹60,000

Singapore had been on my mind for a while.

But there was always one problem.

Singapore is expensive.

At least, that was the image I had in my head.

Hotels were expensive. Attractions were expensive. Food could be expensive. And once I added international flights from India, the whole idea started looking like something that would easily cross my budget.

Still, I wanted to see if I could make it work.

Not as a luxury vacation.

Not as one of those trips where every morning starts with a hotel breakfast and every afternoon has a paid attraction booked.

I wanted to travel the way I actually enjoy travelling - walking around, using public transport, eating local food, exploring neighbourhoods and spending money only on experiences I genuinely wanted.

So I gave myself a challenge:

Can I do a solo Singapore trip for under ₹60,000?

That question eventually became a flight booking.

And this is how it started.

Why Singapore?

I wanted my next trip to be outside India, but I also didn't want to choose a destination just because it was cheap.

Singapore interested me for a lot of reasons.

The city itself looked interesting to explore. The public transport system meant I wouldn't need taxis everywhere. There were plenty of places I could visit without buying an entry ticket, and Singapore was small enough that I could stay in one place and explore different parts of the country using the MRT.

Marina Bay.

Chinatown.

Sentosa.

Botanic Gardens.

Kampong Glam.

Clarke Quay.

East Coast Park.

Jewel Changi.

The more I researched, the more I realised something.

Visiting Singapore is expensive if you try to do everything Singapore sells to tourists.

But simply experiencing Singapore didn't necessarily have to be.

That distinction basically shaped the entire trip.

First Rule: ₹60,000

Before booking anything, I set the maximum budget at:

₹60,000

And that had to cover almost everything.

Flights.

Accommodation.

Visa.

Transport.

Food.

Attractions.

Forex.

And whatever random expenses inevitably appeared once I was there.

I didn't want to book a ₹25,000 flight and then figure out the rest later.

So I started working backwards.

If I could control the two biggest expenses — flights and accommodation — Singapore suddenly started looking possible.

The Flight Hunt

Flying directly from Mangalore wasn't giving me the kind of prices I wanted.

So I started looking at alternatives.

Eventually, the route became:

Mangalore → Chennai → Singapore

Instead of flying the entire route, I could take a train from Mangalore to Chennai and fly internationally from there.

It added more travelling.

But I didn't mind.

In fact, I liked it.

The trip wouldn't suddenly begin when I landed in Singapore. The journey itself would start from Mangalore.

Eventually, I found my Scoot flights.

Round-trip airfare: ₹20,968.

That was the number that changed the trip from:

"Maybe someday."

to:

"Wait. This might actually work."

I booked it.

Arrival in Singapore:

10 September 2026 — around 10:50 PM.

Return:

16 September 2026.

Singapore was no longer just an idea.

I now had dates.

Getting to Chennai Without Destroying the Budget

There was still the matter of getting from Mangalore to Chennai.

Instead of adding another domestic flight, I booked the train.

My outbound train was scheduled for:

8 September — 11:45 PM

Sleeper class.

Fare:

₹510.

It wasn't glamorous.

But ₹510 to get myself to the city where my international flight departed?

I'll take that.

It also meant the Singapore journey would technically begin almost two days before I landed in Singapore.

Mangalore → overnight train → Chennai → airport → Singapore.

The route was becoming part of the adventure.

Next Problem: Where Do I Sleep in Singapore?

Flights were sorted.

Then I opened accommodation prices.

Singapore immediately reminded me that my ₹60,000 challenge wasn't going to be easy.

Hotels could eat a huge portion of the remaining budget.

And realistically, I didn't need one.

I wasn't travelling to Singapore to spend six days inside a hotel room.

I needed:

A bed.

A shower.

A safe place for my things.

And most importantly, a good location.

That's when I started looking at hostels.

Eventually, I found:

Royal Lodge @ Pagoda Street

Right in Chinatown.

It was a 10-bed mixed dorm.

For six nights, the total came to:

₹8,520.76

That worked out to roughly ₹1,420 per night.

More importantly, I would be staying in Chinatown with easy access to the MRT.

That mattered much more to me than having a private room.

I booked it.

Now the two biggest pieces of the trip were locked.

Flights — ₹20,968

Accommodation — ₹8,520.76

Total so far:

₹29,488.76

Almost half the ₹60,000 budget was already gone.

And I hadn't even entered Singapore.

😂

How Do You Explore Singapore Without Spending a Fortune?

This became my favourite part of planning.

Instead of searching:

"Best attractions in Singapore"

I started searching for:

"Free things to do in Singapore."

And suddenly my itinerary became much more interesting.

There was a surprising amount I could explore without constantly pulling out my card.

Chinatown itself.

Marina Bay.

The Merlion area.

Gardens and waterfront walks.

Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Kampong Glam.

Clarke Quay and Boat Quay.

Mount Faber.

East Coast Park.

Keppel and Labrador.

Walking around Sentosa.

Jewel Changi.

I started building the trip around these places.

Paid attractions would be the exception rather than the default.

If I genuinely wanted to experience something, I would pay for it.

Otherwise, I was perfectly happy walking.

And as I would eventually discover in Singapore, I was going to do a lot of walking.

But I Wanted One Proper Attraction

There was one place I specifically wanted to include:

Singapore Oceanarium

So Sentosa became one of the major days of the trip.

My idea was simple.

Spend less on attractions across the rest of the trip and allow myself one or two experiences I actually cared about.

That felt much better than trying to tick every famous attraction off a list.

I didn't need to experience everything Singapore offered.

I just wanted to experience Singapore.

Chinatown Became My Base

Choosing Chinatown wasn't only about getting a cheap hostel.

Looking at the MRT map, it made sense as a base.

I could wake up and explore Chinatown itself.

Food was nearby.

Temples were nearby.

The MRT was nearby.

And from there, most of the places I wanted to visit were manageable using public transport.

The more I planned, the less interested I became in taxis.

Singapore's MRT and buses were going to be my transport system.

I just had to figure out how to use them.

That sounded easy from home.

We'll come back to that later.

My Singapore Plan Was Taking Shape

By this point, my rough plan looked something like this:

10 September Arrive in Singapore late at night and reach Chinatown.

11 September Start exploring Singapore.

12 September Sentosa + Singapore Oceanarium.

Following days Marina Bay, gardens, neighbourhoods, waterfronts, food, walking, MRT rides and whatever else I discovered along the way.

I deliberately didn't want every hour scheduled.

I wanted enough structure that I wouldn't wake up wondering what to do.

But I also wanted enough freedom to change plans once I was actually there.

That turned out to be a very good decision.

The Budget Looked Possible

After flights and accommodation, I had roughly:

₹30,500 left.

That still needed to handle:

• Visa
• Chennai expenses
• Singapore MRT/bus transport
• Food
• Oceanarium and other activities
• SGD cash
• Card expenses
• Miscellaneous spending
• The return journey home

It was going to be tight.

But it didn't look impossible anymore.

And honestly, that made planning more fun.

Every decision became:

Is this actually worth spending money on?

Sometimes the answer was no.

Sometimes the answer was yes.

And at least once during the actual trip, the answer was apparently:

Yes, spending S$58 on a lobster is completely reasonable.

But we'll get to that later.

🦞

The Trip Was Booked. But I Wasn't Ready.

At this stage, I had accomplished the fun part.

Flights booked.

Train booked.

Hostel booked.

Places saved.

Budget calculated.

A rough itinerary created.

Singapore was happening.

But booking an international trip and being ready for an international trip are two very different things.

I still needed to deal with the Singapore visa.

Bank statements.

Employment documents.

Forex.

Cash.

Cards.

Travel documents.

SG Arrival Card.

Connectivity.

Packing.

And a surprisingly annoying question:

Will my MacBook charger even fit into a Singapore power socket?

The bookings were done.

Now came the paperwork, preparation, purchases, and the countdown.

And that's where Part 2 begins.

Next → Singapore Part 2: Getting Ready — Visa, Money, Packing & the Final Countdown 🇸🇬