Bright, clean and colourful, the island city-state of Singapore is full of contrasts. But with lingering COVID-19 restrictions and vaccination requirements, is Singapore still open for travel?
In this helpful travel guide, we will explain how Singapore’s quarantine-free travel works, all the latest Singapore travel restrictions and health requirements, as well as some of the best things to do in this incredible destination.
Exploring Singapore
Futuristic architecture, blooming city gardens, open-air markets and a fusion of vibrant cultures – travelling to Singapore offers so much to explore, with surprises at every turn.
This sunny island is well known as being a financial hub of activity, but as a holiday destination it truly stands apart from other locations across Asia. The food is exceptional, and you’ll love the inexpensive yet incredibly tasty dishes being cooked up at hawker centres.
The skyline is utterly dazzling and you can easily spend a few hours perched at a high-rise bar while sipping on a Singapore Sling. Look down below and you’ll notice how incredibly clean the city is too, with an eye-watering S$1,000 fine for litterers.
And then there’s the culture. Singapore is a melting pot of ethnic cultures and diverse religious traditions, which makes the city-state a picture of multiculturalism and a place to immerse yourself in its heritage.
Can Australians travel to Singapore?
International travellers spent two years wondering when Singapore would lift travel restrictions for overseas entry, and many had to deal with sudden cancellation costs due to border closures. For those with COVID cover, some costs may have been covered by travel insurance. Thankfully, you can now happily return under the Vaccinated Travel Framework (VTF). The Singapore government’s new Safety Management Measures are designed to keep citizens healthy while ensuring overseas travellers can enjoy all the wonders of Singapore in a COVID-safe environment - with the added benefit of Singapore quarantine free travel.
There is no need to enter quarantine so long as you provide proof of your vaccination status, regardless of where you were vaccinated. Before travelling to Singapore from Australia, you will also need to fill out a Singapore Arrival Card (SGAC).
The best news is that fully vaccinated travellers no longer need to take a pre-departure COVID-19 test before enjoying your Singapore travel.
Singapore's travel restrictions and safety measures when visiting
Once you arrive, you are free to move about the country at your leisure. However, there are some safety measures to abide by to ensure Singapore is safe to travel to for the foreseeable future.
Mask wearing is optional in all settings aside from healthcare, aged care and public transport – so be sure to bring fitted masks along for your trip. Although it’s not mandatory, mask wearing is encouraged in crowded settings.
6 things to do when travelling to Singapore from Australia
Despite being a high-density destination, you’ll rarely find a pocket of the city where you are alone. Singapore is full of friendly locals who are polite, good-natured and helpful to curious travellers. It’s also a year-round destination, although the best time to travel to Singapore is often considered to be the dry season between February and April.
Now that you are ready to explore the beauty and history of Singapore, where should you visit? Here are six places to start when looking for what to do in Singapore.
Night safari
If you’ve been wondering whether it is safe to travel to Singapore, you were probably more concerned about coronavirus than coming face-to-face with wild animals in the middle of the night. But that’s exactly what you get at Night Safari, the world’s first safari park for nocturnal animals. Welcoming more than a million visitors each year, the park provides a unique experience where you can see thousands of animals in their night-time habitats.
Travel around the park on a guided tram ride that delves through seven geographical zones, from the foothills of the Himalayas, crossing the Indian subcontinent and along the plains of Equatorial Africa. Feeling homesick? Hop off the tram and trek into the Outback to discover native Australian wildlife in their walk-through habitat.
Lau Pa Sat
Lau Pa Sat – the Hokkien phrase for ‘old market’ – is one the most popular historical sites for Singapore travel, dating back to 1825. In fact, the market’s original wrought-iron structure, imported from Scotland, still stands today.
Here you will find a diverse selection of local food and delicacies – everything from satay and barbecued seafood to Hainanese chicken rice, fish head curry and rojak. Make sure you come here when you are hungry, as it’s a gourmet paradise and a delicious nod to Singapore’s colourful hawker-food culture.
Little India
As the name suggests, Little India is Singapore’s foremost Indian enclave, known to the local Tamil community as ‘Tekka’. A cacophony of car horns, bicycle bells and vibrant chatter, Little India is one of the most vibrant and culturally authentic districts of Singapore, and well worth a visit on your travel to Singapore from Australia.
Its charming, olden-day trades can still be found in back lanes, alleys and roadsides, where you’ll come across fortune-tellers and their parrots, garlands of jasmine, sellers on pushcarts and kachang puteh (roasted nuts).
Kranji countryside
For a change of pace, Singapore’s rural northwest corner is well worth a trip when wondering what to do in Singapore. The Kranji Countryside Association promotes local agriculture, eco-tourism and conservation, and encourages farms to open to the public.
On your rural tour, pay a visit to Bollywood Veggies, a 10-acre farm housing, food museum and cooking school. Connect with the land, enjoy the pleasure of discovering food sources and pop into the farm’s Poison Ivy restaurant to round off the day.
Chinatown
You can’t travel to Singapore from Australia without a visit to Chinatown. It’s so easy to get lost in the splendid markets here, with brightly coloured shop houses and local ingredients at the underground wet market making for an authentic experience. The precinct is as old as Singapore itself and has seen its fair share of history throughout the years.
If you really want to experience the local culture, make sure you stop by the Chinatown Heritage Centre. It offers an authentic depiction of how the early Chinese immigrants lived, worked and played when they first set foot on the island of Singapore.
Makansutra Gluttons Bay
If you’ve spent any time researching what to do in Singapore, you’ve probably seen some spectacular imagery of Marina Bay’s open-air moonlit food centre. Whether you’re looking for spectacular views, retro-inspired food carts or a delicious meal, Makansutra is the place to be – celebrating the original Singapore supper culture with all the bustling noise, mingling smells and cheery stallholders.
After a tiring day of Singapore travel, making a decision about what to eat might be a little overwhelming. That’s when it’s time to try one of the sampler sets. Enjoy up to 10 of the best local dish es such as fried carrot cake, chilli crab, char kway teow and soup kambing. Dishes change with seasons and availability, so you will always be served the freshest, tastiest offerings.
