A Solo Traveller's Guide to Singapore

Join one of Singapore’s many tours that cater to different interests. Check out Singabites, a culinary exploration through Singapore’s expansive hawker scene that will have you sampling the best dishes across Singapore’s iconic food neighbourhoods. For something more active, check out Biking Singapore which offers tours curated by locals and run by cycling guides. Choose from the Best of Singapore, a trip around Pulau Ubin, Singapore’s last traditional village and many more options besides.

The Singapore Pub Crawl organises events every weekend in the Lion City. Meeting at the Fat Pigeon in Boat Quay (near Raffles MRT), the group works with local bars to provide discounts for the participants. It’s a great way to make friends with locals and travellers alike, assuming you can remember them the next day! Tickets for the Pub Crawl are $45 and include free entry to all the venues, free shots and extended happy hour promotions.

Singapore has an active CouchSurfing community with events planned on a weekly basis. This is a good way to meet people if the pub crawl isn’t really your scene. Visit the community page on the CouchSurfing website where you’ll find weekly yoga and volleyball events as well as travellers passing through looking for people to explore the island and nearby destinations with.

All budget travellers know about the benefits of staying in a hostel, especially in a city that is as expensive as Singapore. But solo travellers with a budget should consider this option as well. Thanks to the booming tourism industry in Singapore, along with budget hotels, there are also many flashpackers located around the island which offer many of the comforts of a hotel but also encourages camaraderie among their guests through organised events or a shared cafe/bar space.

Obviously, not all solo travelers are looking to meet large groups of people while they explore, so we’ve included a few activities for solo travelers who wish to embrace their solitude. Have you ever had the experience while you’re shopping where your friend or partner is getting bored and is ready to leave the mall before you are? As a solo traveler, you can spend an afternoon or even an entire day trying on clothes and wandering around Orchard Road, Singapore’s 2 kilometre long shopping street, at your own pace.

Visiting museums is another activity that is generally better to do at your own pace. Nothing is more annoying than someone who insists on reading every single information card in a museum except maybe for the person who doesn’t read any of them and waltzes through the exhibitions like they are running a race! When you visit a museum on your own, you can savour the exhibitions that are interesting to you and skip over any that look boring.

For such a small, densely populated island, Singapore has a lot of options for exploring nature and since the island is so safe, there’s no danger in doing this as a solo traveler. Visit the manicured lawns of the Botanical Gardens, Chinese Gardens and Gardens by the Bay or go for a hike in some of the outlying parks like MacRitchie Reservoir or Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.