4 Days: Singapore and Beyond
Four days from a single Singapore hotel room gets you three countries: Malaysia by bus, and two different parts of Indonesia by ferry. This extends the 3-day route with a second Indonesian island, further out but worth the extra ferry time. Want to spend all four days in the city instead? Our 4-day Singapore itinerary covers that version.
Book these before you go
- Hotel: base near an MRT interchange, compare rates on Agoda
- A Johor Bahru day tour: search Viator
- Bintan Island day trip options: search GetYourGuide
- Batam ferry and day tour options: search GetYourGuide
| Day | Focus | Distance / Time |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Changi arrival, Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay, one hawker meal | In Singapore |
| Day 2 | Cross into Johor Bahru, Malaysia | Bus/KTM shuttle, under 1 hour each way |
| Day 3 | Ferry to Batam, Indonesia | HarbourFront terminal, 45-60 min each way |
| Day 4 | Ferry to Bintan, Indonesia | Tanah Merah terminal, roughly 70 min each way |
Day 1: Singapore, Fast
Changi Airport has taken Skytrax’s World’s Best Airport title again this year, and Jewel Changi is free to enter with no boarding pass required, the HSBC Rain Vortex runs a free light show most evenings. The MRT reaches City Hall in about 35 minutes for roughly SGD 1.50 to 2.20. Go straight for a hawker meal, Maxwell Food Centre or the Chinatown Complex, SGD 4 to 8 a plate, then spend the afternoon at Gardens by the Bay’s free Supertree Grove before the free Spectra light-and-water show at Marina Bay Sands after dark. Our Singapore travel guide covers the deeper in-city version.
Day 2: Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Bring your passport, Malaysia is a different country the moment you cross the Woodlands Causeway. A bus or the existing KTM shuttle train gets you into Johor Bahru in well under an hour; the RTS Link, cutting that trip to about five minutes, is targeted to open by the end of 2026, though some reports point to early 2027. Johor Bahru runs on Malaysian ringgit, not SGD, and prices feel noticeably cheaper once you’re across.
Day 3: Batam, Indonesia
Ferries from HarbourFront reach Batam in 45 to 60 minutes, return fares roughly SGD 58 to 76 plus a fuel surcharge (about SGD 5 to 10 a leg since March 2026) and terminal fees. Bring your passport again, and switch your mental currency to Indonesian rupiah once you land. Book the return ferry before you leave your hotel that morning, weekend sailings sell out.
Day 4: Bintan, Indonesia
Is a second Indonesian island in one trip overkill? Not really, Batam and Bintan feel genuinely different once you’re there. Ferries from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal reach Bintan’s resort side in about 70 minutes, or up to 2 hours to Tanjung Pinang, return fares roughly SGD 78 to 92 plus the same surcharge structure as Batam. Bintan’s coast moves at a slower, more resort-paced rhythm than Batam’s city-adjacent stop, and it’s worth the extra ferry time if you have the day to spare.
Book your return sailing before you leave Singapore that morning; the last ferries back run earlier in the evening than most first-time visitors expect, and missing one means an unplanned night away from your Singapore base.
Practical Notes
- Visa-free entry covers most nationalities for short stays across Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia; check current requirements for your specific passport before you fly.
- MRT fares in Singapore run SGD 1.28 to 2.57 per trip via SimplyGo; Grab covers ride-hail, there’s no Uber option since it sold its Southeast Asia business in 2018.
- Three currencies across four days: Singapore dollars, Malaysian ringgit, and Indonesian rupiah, plus a fuel surcharge on both Indonesia ferries since March 2026.
One concrete tip: pack a single overnight bag you never actually use. Every one of these three crossings is a genuine day trip back to the same Singapore hotel bed, and treating any of them as an overnight move is where this itinerary falls apart.