Singapore

Getting around

Singapore has fantastic public transport, with a tangled web of bus and train (MRT) routes taking you to the doorsteps of most sights. The MRT is easy to navigate, but stops are sometimes far apart (walking in 35°C humidity is sweaty work!). The new Circle Line is due to open in 2008. Pick up a free MRT system map at any MRT station, and the Bus Guide & Bus Stop Directory from bookshops (S$3.90). Due to car-ownership limitations, taxis are also considered public transport. For public transport information see www.sbstransit.com.sg.

Boat

Boat & ferry

There are regular ferry services from Sentosa to other southern islands, and from Changi Village to Pulau Ubin. You can also take river cruises, or boat cruises around the harbour.

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Hitching

You’ll get some funny looks hitching in Singapore – but someone might eventually stop. Why bother, though, when the public transport system is so good and relatively inexpensive?

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Car & motorcycle

Car

Singaporeans drive on the left-hand side of the road; it’s compulsory to wear seat belts. Unlike in most Asian countries, traffic is orderly, but the profusion of one-way streets and streets that change names (sometimes several times) can make things tricky. The Singapore Street Directory is essential for negotiating the city.

Rental

If you want a car for local driving only, smaller rental operators usually quote rates that are slightly cheaper than the major companies. Rental rates are cheaper in Malaysia – if you want to drive around Malaysia, it’s better value to hire the car from Johor Bahru.

Rates start from around S$170 a day, while collision-damage waiver will cost about S$20 per day for a small car. Special deals may be available for longer-term rental.

The following companies have branches at Changi Airport and as listed below:

Avis (6737 1668; www.avis.com.sg; 01-17 392 Havelock Rd)

Budget (6532 3948; www.budget.com; 26-01A Clifford Centre, 24 Raffles Pl)

Hertz (1800-734 46646; www.hertz.com.sg; 01-01 15 Scotts Rd)

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Bus & tram

Bus

Singapore’s bus service should be the envy of the world. You rarely have to wait more than a few minutes for a bus, and they’ll take you almost anywhere. Some even have TVs!

Fares range from 60¢ to S$1.50; there are also a few flat-rate buses. When you board the bus, drop the exact money into the fare box (no change is given) or swipe your ez-link card. You need to swipe your card again when you disembark – if you forget, you’ll be charged the maximum fare for the bus journey! Contact SBS Transit (1800-287 2727; www.sbstransit.com.sg) for details.

Tourist buses

CityBuzz (1800-225 5663; www.citybuzz.com.sg) runs double-decker buses on unlimited loops of the city every 10 to 15 minutes between 10am and 10pm, stopping at key attractions. Day passes (S$5) are available from drivers, the Singapore Tourism Board and authorised agents.

Singapore Airlines runs the SIA Hop-On (9457 2965; www.asiatours.com.sg/sia.htm) tourist bus, traversing the main tourist arteries (Orchard Rd, Bugis Junction, Suntec City, the Colonial District, Clarke Quay, Boat Quay, Chinatown and the Botanic Gardens) every 30 minutes daily from 9am to 6pm. Tickets are available from the driver: S$8 for a day pass; S$3 with a Singapore Airlines or SilkAir boarding pass or ticket.

The Singapore Trolley (6339 6833; www.singaporeexplorer.com.sg/trolley.htm), a bus not-so-cunningly disguised as an old-fashioned tram, circles the major tourist areas between 9.40am and 4.55pm. All-day tickets from the driver cost adult/child S$9/7.

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Local transport

Taxi

There are 19, 000 taxis in Singapore; most of the time they swarm like locusts except when changing shift between 4pm and 5pm, when it’s raining and between 10pm and 11pm, when they can be impossible to find. If you order a cab by phone you’ll be asked your name and destination; a message then tells you the licence plate of your cab.

Taxi companies:

City Cab (cash bookings 6552 2222, credit card bookings 6553 8888)

Comfort CabLink (6552 1111)

SMRT Cabs (6555 8888)

Fares start at around S$2.40 for the first kilometre, then 10¢ for each additional 220m. There are various surcharges to note:

From 11.30pm to 6am, surcharge rises incrementally from 10% to 50% of the metered fare.

Peak-hour surcharge of S$1 between 7.30am and 9.30am, and 5pm and 8pm.

S$5 surcharge from 5pm to midnight Friday to Sunday; S$3 all other times for journeys from the airport.

S$2.50 for off-peak telephone bookings; S$4 for peak-hour bookings (less than an hour before needed). For advance bookings you’ll pay S$5 to S$5.20.

S$1 on all trips from the CBD between 4.30pm and 7pm on weekdays and from 11.30am to 2pm Saturdays. You may also have to pay another surcharge if you take the taxi into the CBD during restricted hours.

10% on the fare for payments by credit card.

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Air

Domestic air services

Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines operate frequent flights between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore for one-way stand-by from S$120 from Singapore; seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Malaysia Airlines also connects Singapore to various places on Peninsular Malaysia (like Langkawi and Penang), and Kuching and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo.

Silk Air (6223 8888; www.silkair.com), Singa­pore Airlines’ regional wing, has daily flights between Singapore and Langkawi from S$245.

Going to Malaysia, you can often save some dollars if you fly from Johor Bahru rather than Singapore. Malaysia Airlines runs the SPS Coach (6250 3333) directly from the Copthorne Orchid Hotel (214 Dunearn Rd) to Johor Bahru’s Senai airport (S$12, two hours).

With the considerable difference in the exchange rate it’s much cheaper to buy tickets in Malaysia, so rather than buying a return fare to Kuala Lumpur from Singapore, buy a one-way ticket and then buy the return leg in Kuala Lumpur.

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Bicycle

If you can handle the heat and frenetic traffic, cycling around Singapore isn’t too crazy an idea. Cycling up to Changi Village and then taking the bike over to Pulau Ubin is an excellent adventure, and there’s a great mountain-bike track circling Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

If you haven’t brought your own, pick up some wheels at Treknology Bikes 3 (6732 7119; 01-02 Tanglin Pl, 91 Tanglin Rd; 24hr hire S$35; 11am-7.30pm Mon-Sat, 11.30am-3pm Sun). Bikes can also be rented cheaply at several places along East Coast Park, on Sentosa Island and on Pulau Ubin.

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