Getting Around

Singapore has a comprehensive bus network with frequent services and a convenient Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) subway system. Both are cheap and simple to use. There is also a good supply of taxis and all are metered.

There are branches of all major rent-a-car companies here and you can charter bumboats (motorised sampans) to take various tours on the Singapore River. Regular ferry services operate from the World Trade Centre to Sentosa and other islands, while luxurious junk tours can be taken around the harbour.

Rickshaws have disappeared from Singapore's main streets, but can still be found operating in Chinatown and back streets; agree on a fare beforehand.

Getting There

A swag of airlines fly into Singapore's ultramodern Changi international airport - often voted one of the best airports in the world. The departure tax on international flights is US$9.

Lots of visitors to Singapore combine their stay with a visit to Malaysia, which is just a kilometre away across the causeway over the Straits of Johor. You can travel between Malaysia and Singapore very easily by bus or taxi. A second causeway has opened to ease congestion - it links Tuas in Singapore with Geyland Patah - and is known pragmatically enough as the Second Link. It can only be used if you have your own transport.

A vehicle and passenger ferry operates between north Changi and Tanjung Belungkor, east of Johor Bahru, and a daily high-speed catamaran links Singapore with Malaysia's Tioman Island. Immaculate air-conditioned buses link Singapore to almost all large Malaysian cities; fares are generally inexpensive. Singapore is the southern terminus of Malaysia's rail system and there are four trains a day to Kuala Lumpur.

There are no direct passenger ferries between Singapore and the main ports of Indonesia, but it is possible to travel between the two countries via the Indonesian islands of the Riau Archipelago, immediately south of Singapore. Modern ferries link Singapore with the islands of Batam and Bintan in the archipelago. Speedboats link Batam with Pekanbaru in Sumatra, and several ships a week link Bintan with Jakarta.