Visiting Singapore for a day or two and want to see as much as you can? The easiest way to do so is to book yourself a city tour.

Here’s a list of Singapore city tours and how much they cost.

PRICE LIST OF SINGAPORE CITY TOURS

FREE WALKING TOURS SINGAPORE

Let’s start with the free stuff; after that you can decide if you want to pay for more.

There are quite a few free walking tours covering various parts of Singapore’s city centre. You’ll be accompanied by a guide who’ll regale you with tidbits about the areas’ history and point out details you may otherwise have missed.

The city core is quite large though, so you may only be able to cover 1 or 2 districts on each tour. So if you have limited time but an extensive to-see list, this might not be the best option for you.

You’ll also have to be prepared to spend a few hours braving the heat and humidity.

SINGAPORE BOAT TOURS BY SINGAPORE RIVER CRUISE (FROM $25)

Many of Singapore’s most iconic landmarks are best seen from the water, so get your cameras/smartphones/iPads ready as you cruise down the Singapore River on a traditional bumboat with Singapore River Cruise.

You’ll pass through Marina Bay, where you’ll see the iconic Singapore Flyer ferris wheel, Marina Bay Sands, the ArtScience Museum, the Esplanade and the Merlion. You’ll also sail past the CBD and Boat Quay, as well as the Clarke Quay party district.

The same company also organises a laser show cruise in the evenings, which enables you to watch the daily light show that takes place in front of Marina Bay Sands from the comfort of your boat.

This experience should be treated as a scenic cruise rather than a comprehensive tour. The sights are undoubtedly pretty, but it only lasts just 40 minutes. You also won’t learn much and won’t get to see anything outside of the CBD and modern city core.

You can buy tickets at booths located at 9 jetties along the Singapore River, including those at Clarke Quay, Boat Quay, the Esplanade, Merlion Park and Bayfront South.

SINGAPORE DUCK TOURS ($43)

Singapore Duck Tours are quite unique: the tour takes place on an amphibious vehicle that transforms from a bus into a boat. Many of Singapore’s most iconic sights like Marina Bay Sands are best seen from the water, so the Duck Tour is a good option if you prefer to stay seated in your vehicle rather than have to constantly hop on and off.

The tour’s focus is the historic civic district with its colonial buildings, including the City Hall, the Padang and the Civic War Memorial. The aquatic portion of the tour gives you great views of Merlion Park, the Esplanade, the Singapore Flyer ferris wheel, Marina Bay Sands and the ArtScience Museum.

This tour is best for those who want to enjoy great views of the glamorous inner city, but it does not cover the ethnic enclaves of Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam.

Tickets can be booked at their counter at Suntec Convention Centre or online.

SINGAPORE CITY TOUR BUS (FROM $43.90)

City Tours Singapore runs open-top, unlimited, hop-on hop-off bus tours on what is called the FunVee City Hopper. (We can’t figure out what “vee” is supposed to mean…) Once you’ve bought your tickets, you can board and alight from the buses at any stop along the designated routes.

THE GREEN ROUTE OR "CITY HOPPER ROUTE"

This takes you to many of the main inner-city sights, including Merlion Park, the Singapore Flyer ferris wheel, the Esplanade, Chinatown, Clarke Quay, the Botanic Gardens and the Orchard Road shopping street. It also stops at (or near) some major hotels such as the Carlton Hotel, Hotel Jen Tanglin Singapore and Miramar Hotel.

THE ORANGE ROUTE OR "MARINA SIGHTSEEING HOPPER ROUTE"

This covers inner-city sights the Green Route does not. Stops include the iconic Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Little India and Kampong Glam.

The two routes take you past most of the highlights of our island. However, as many of the sights are just not that interesting if you only view them from the vehicle, you’ll have to be prepared to actually hop off the bus at times to make the most of it.

Your ticket also entitles you to take the Sentosa Hopper, an air conditioned shuttle bus that deposits you at Sentosa’s Universal Studios Singapore and the Mount Faber Cable Car Station.

The standard ticket price at the City Tourist Hub (Marina Square Shopping Mall) is $43, but if you book online via the City Tours website, you can save $2 on adult tickets and $1 on child tickets.

LOCAL AIRBNB EXPERIENCE TOURS (FROM $44)

There’s an interesting selection of tours on AirBnB Experiences. Other than the usual culture, history and food walks, we found the following:

• Culture walk with food tasting sessions
• Photo walk with private photo shoot
• Local folklore walk with fortune telling session
• Bicycle tour
• Culture walk through local residential estates

If your priority isn’t to see all the key sights in Singapore but rather to connect with locals and gain some insight into what life here is really like, an AirBnB experience definitely offers you a better chance to see that than a bus tour.

Many of the locals leading these tours are in it for the social interactions rather than just the money, so you might even find yourself with a new friend.

This article was first published in MoneySmart.