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Booking things early

Bookable Attractions

Before your trip, you might want to book some of the attractions that you may want to visit. Some of the benefits for booking it in advance would be of course not just to ensure you have a place but also it may be cheaper if you book it earlier. When it comes to certain popular restaurants, you might need to make plans way in advance or you may not be able to dine at such places.

For attractions, perhaps the only one that requires attention would be Universal Studios Singapore which has a daily limit of tickets and possibly the Marina Bay Sands Skypark which might limit access if they have enough guests during a peak period. However, I have never encountered anyone who has not been able to enter these attractions before. The rest of the attractions in Singapore tend to be quite easy to enter, but bear in mind that during peak seasons, some of the queues for tickets can get a bit long, so it might be helpful to reserve them earlier so that you can maximize your time. These popular attractions might include the aquarium at Sentosa, Mandai Zoo and even the Arts and Science Museum at Marina Bay Sands.

Please note that this section does not even apply to tickets like Formula 1 or music concerts which typically tend to get sold out within minutes of release.

Car Rental

It is possible to rent a car in Singapore. However, due to the wide network and convenience of sitting public transport here and the ease of booking of taxi or a private hire vehicle, it is not a popular option. Unless you want to drive to a very secluded place or get to many places within a single day, there is very little reason for you to rent a car because (1) car rental is pretty expensive, (2) parking can be a hassle (tiny lots and hard to find) and expensive at times (especially in popular places like Orchard Road and the business districts). Lastly, if you do damage your rental vehicle, certain car rental companies do charge exorbitant fees for any dents, scratches, accidental damage to their vehicle. The last thing you want to be stressing about is such issues (on top of any traffic related issues) so I would highly recommend not renting a vehicle unless like I mentioned you need to get to a secluded place (where the taxis and private hire vehicles might not want to go as their return trip is hard to get customers) or if you need the convenience of getting to multiple places as soon as you can (but the counter argument to that is that you probably spend more time finding parking so it defeats the purpose – especially if you are unfamiliar).

Requirements and Traffic Rules

If you do choose to rent a car, please bear in mind the documentation required (usually local driver’s license issued by your country of residence and international drivers permit) as these car rental companies can be quite strict which the production of such documentation due to the strict laws here.

Further, please take note that Singapore is a right hand drive, so the traffic rules are completely opposite of that of the left hand drive countries like the United States. There are also many speed cameras and red light cameras located throughout the island so you will need to pay close attention to the speed limits and ensure that you do not rush a red light at the traffic junctions. The typical speed limit is mostly 50km for small roads and about 80-90km for expressways – but please check the speed limit when driving so you don’t accidentally burst the speed limit (especially if you have no idea where are the speed cameras located).

Singapore’s parking is also automated for the most part, with contactless gantries in most parking so that driving in and out is seamless with it deducting the cashcard located within the vehicle. However, bear in mind that the card is typically a debit card with a fixed amount and if you incur high parking fees, you might need to top-up the card before exiting the gantry or else you might have issues exiting the carpark and cause a jam. You might want to check with the car rental company how these fees are deducted or if they will just absorb any cost for recovery at the end of your rental.

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