How Much Does a Trip to Singapore Cost? My 6-Day Budget Breakdown

I recently spent 6 days in Singapore, and since I had just finished my studies and was about to start my first full-time job, I was definitely traveling on a budget. If you’re wondering how much money you need for a 6-day trip to Singapore, keep reading — I’ve broken down my costs by category and day 🙂

A Few Things to Know Before My Budget Breakdown

1. I live in Switzerland, therefore all expenses are listed in Swiss francs (CHF). Luckily, the Swiss franc is nearly on par with the Euro and USD, so if you’re using either of those currencies you can treat the numbers as roughly equal.
2. I used my credit card for most transactions. My listed costs therefore already include credit card and exchange rate fees. I personally used Revolut (highly recommend this card for traveling!), which charges almost no exchange fees and has very low transaction costs. If you use a different credit card, your fees may vary slightly.
3. I didn’t include my flight in this budget because this is highly location dependent. But in case you’re curious, I paid 600 CHF for a one-way flight from Zurich to Singapore (via Bangkok).
4. I was traveling with a friend, so some costs were shared (e.g. accommodation and taxis). All expenses shown here are per person, but if you’re traveling solo some categories might be higher because you can’t split the cost.
5. Lastly, this trip technically included 5 full days of exploring Singapore plus two half-days for arrival and departure, but I’ve counted it as 6 days for easier budgeting.

Now, let’s get into the actual numbers!

Total Cost of 6 Days in Singapore

Category	Total Cost (CHF)	Average per day	% of total cost
Hotel	399	66	57%
Food	234	39	34%
Activities	42	7	6%
Transport	22	4	3%
Total	697	116	100%

In total, I spent 697 CHF for 6 days in Singapore, which comes to about 116 CHF per day including accommodation.

Accommodation in Singapore

The biggest expense was accommodation, which made up 57% of my trip budget. I stayed at Hotel Nuve Elements, a mid-range hotel. If you’re traveling on a very tight budget, you can definitely find hostels or budget hotels for less. Another friend that joined us for the last day stayed at the Galaxy Pods @ Chinatown, which were a little cheaper at around 40 CHF per night. On the other hand, Singapore also has some amazing luxury options if you want to splurge.

Food Costs in Singapore

The second largest category was food, totaling 234 CHF, or about 40 CHF per day. This included all meals and snacks.

Here’s how it broke down by meal type:

Meal Type	Average cost (CHF)
Breakfast	8
Lunch	12
Dinner	17
Snacks	9

As you can see, breakfasts were usually cheap (often picked up at a local bakery), which let us spend a bit more on dinners. For example, one night we had a splurge dinner at LeVeL33, a rooftop restaurant with stunning Marina Bay views — totally worth it!

But I need to note, if you’re on a budget you will need to make some kind of sacrifice, because sit down meals are expensive and will usually cost a minimum of 20 CHF (without alcohol). For example, you could cut food costs on some days by sticking to hawker centers, where meals are usually under 10 CHF.

Activities & Attractions

I spent surprisingly little on activities, namely just 42 CHF total (about 7 CHF per day). This is because we did many free activities in Singapore (check out my Singapore on a Budget blog post!). The two paid activities I did were:

• Entry to the Orchid Garden
• Afternoon High Tea at the Shangri-La

If you plan on visiting more attractions (like Gardens by the Bay, Universal Studios, or the Singapore Zoo), definitely budget more in this category.

Transportation in Singapore

Transportation cost me around 22 CHF for two Grab rides (Singapore’s Uber equivalent) to and from the airport and some MRT (metro system) rides. If you check out my Singapore 5 Day Itinerary you will see based on the step count that we walked A LOT! This category might be higher if you prefer to take rides more often instead of walking everywhere 🙂

Shopping

I only spent 6 CHF on one small souvenir, so this category was almost nonexistent for me. If shopping is a priority for you, your expenses will obviously be (much?) higher 🙂

My Top 3 Highest Single Expenses

1. Hotel – 399 CHF total (66 CHF per night)
2. Dinner at LeVeL33 – 35 CHF for drinks, appetizers, and panoramic views of Marina Bay
3. Dinner at Nanjya Monjya – 25 CHF for dinner and a cocktail

Is it possible to visit Singapore for under 100 CHF per day?

Anything is possible really, right? But jokes aside, there is definitely still some wiggle room in this budget. Looking for a cheaper accommodation would definitely lower costs, perhaps something around 40 CHF / night instead of 66 CHF. However, this might force you to compromise slightly on location and therefore convenience. In this trip we also had a mix of cheap and more expensive meals. You could definitely go full budget here and try to keep meal expenses around 20-25 CHF / day instead of approx. 40 CHF / day.

With these two changes you could easily bring down your budget to under 100 CHF per day!

Final Thoughts: Is Singapore Expensive?

Overall, my cost of 6 days in Singapore averaged to about 116 CHF per day, which is pretty reasonable for a city known to be pricey. With this budget, I was able to enjoy local food, do a few paid experiences, and still splurge occasionally on nicer dinners.

If your budget is similar, you’ll definitely need to watch where you spend, but it’s still possible to treat yourself without breaking the bank.

I hope this budget breakdown helps you plan your own trip to Singapore! If you’ve been, let me know in the comments — did your expenses look similar, or was your budget totally different?