Thursday 27 August 2009

Seeing the Sites in Singapore……….by Bus – VERY DOABLE

No, it is NOT a spelling mistake.

As a tourist you need to get around the place and the tourist sites easily, cheaply and quickly. Often that may be on foot, especially in a city area.

In Singapore the MRT and the associated light rail in some suburban areas provides a great way to travel around. But for comfort, avoid morning and evening peak hours……….they get very crowded. Quite a normal experience really. The various MRT stops and interlinked lines are mostly convenient around the main city tourist spots. BUT……..you are underground and really see little.

Although, like many underground systems around the world [Mexico City and Moscow come to mind immediately] they do have quite a bit of art work on the walls and tile art on the floor, especially at Dhoby Ghaut in the interchange walk areas. Singaporeans usually rush past……….take some time and have a look.

But buses around the city are also worth discovering. First principle………assume you can get very close to where you need to go, even if there is a bus change part way. Buy and use one of the current and easily obtained bus and train annual guide books put out by the authorities. You can easily work out the how to get there from where ever quite easily. You can also obtain verification of the routes and bus stops at the actual bus stop itself. It is very common to see locals also checking out this while they are waiting.


Buses are usually reasonably quick for journeys around the main downtown city core areas and within a few kilometres from the central areas. Often they allow you to board at a very close by stop, avoiding the walk to the MRT Station. For some areas eg Parkway Parade / Mercure Roxy Hotel and East Coast area buses are it……….there is no MRT [well not yet anyway].

There are some special tourist buses that offer “get on / get off” passes for a day. Compared to the local buses they are VERY expensive, so do not dismiss the local buses in Singapore. Mostly air-conditioned too.

It is generally possible to get to and from most tourist sites by public transport, with buses offering a reasonable option. Whether it be Changi Point or Changi Chapel or Woodlands Interchange or Woodlands Checkpoint [crossing to Johore Bahru] you can get there by bus.

Try it …………you might like it. Remember that the “touch and go” multi journey stored value MRT / Bus ticket means you do not need to know the fare, just use it on the bus. Makes it very easy.

There are some late night routes that offer a slightly different route to daytime, often combining a few bus routes into one. Not always as convenient, but usually cheaper than a taxi.

Singapore is NOT a late night city for urban public transport, with the MRT having last trains around 1130 pm, and buses around midnight for normal routes. But these night bus routes do offer some extra travel a little later into the early morning.