I read somewhere that taxis were hard to get - did you have any issues? I’ll look into the bus pass & I believe we are close to a MRT station but not sure if thats the best idea with young kids. Did you go to any of the food halls, I’ve been told they have some awesome street foods & the prices are reasonable. With the kids I probably won’t drink much…then again! After Vietnam its very hard to go back to western prices. I’ve already had wallet shock trying to find family accommodation. Some of the room sizes barely count as a broom closets.
I can’t testify at all to the merits of this particular operator (though I absolutely worry when 20 people is described as a “small group”; that’s big bus territory with a consequent lack of flexibility and the challenges of cat herding) but I do note that tours including Israel are really expensive, so this price seems reasonable to me (e.g. see https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/egypt/egypt-jordan-israel-palestinian-territories-116025 as a comparison, but note that particular tour is a maximum of 12 people and you’d be nuts not to get at least 10% off the listed price there).
One slight hiccup is that parts of your proposed tour have different best times to visit: Egypt is nominally best December-February (the dead of winter) but it may be very cold at night in Wadi Rum etc at that time (best months there are perhaps April/May/October).
In principle I support the idea of stringing smaller tours and your own stops together, rather than booking a monolith such as this. If you work out the must-do part of a trip it’s worth then looking at something like https://www.flightconnections.com to see if there is somewhere else nearby that’s a good addition. The cost of flights between some places is dirt cheap and it’s not always obvious!
In this case you fly home via Athens but don’t stop there, which is very silly if you haven’t visited it before and the below is true…
Whether or not it’s this particular tour or not, GO.
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We never had a problem with Taxis, but it is low season and was school holidays so it was quiet on roads. Make sure you have Singapore money when you arrive as Taxis from Airport only take cash. Around Town all take credit cards.
There is a Big Bus Phone app which gives you bus stops and you can buy e-tickets, though you can also buy on the bus. There are five or six different routes, each takes about 60 minutes and you can swap over at any time.
Yep we did a couple of food which had great variety and was cheaper.
Hotels are over-priced and rooms are on the small side. We stayed at Park Hotel Clarke Quay and I would not recommend it. Have a look at Luxury Escape, they often have great deals on Singapore Hotels.
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The trains and buses are great and there are various apps that provide real-time updates.
Yes, in some areas the food is legit cheap and tasty – its prices are rather disconnected to that of accomodation…
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We did AirBnB in Singapore with a 3 year old in tow and it was fine. Basic 2BR apartment, but clean, quiet and functional. And within 5 minute walk of both a supermarket and MRT station. Seem to remember taxis being easy enough to get - just get yourself to the nearest “big” hotel.
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Taxis are not hard to get and are one of the few things that are reasonably priced in Singapore. Travellers can get confused because you can’t hail a taxi in Singapore, the driver and the passenger risk getting a fine. They have dedicated taxi ranks all around the city where you must go to catch one. All the large hotels and touristy areas have taxi ranks. Their MRT is awesome aswell if you get a hotel near by. Plenty of hawker areas for cheap food if you don’t want to eat at restaurants, the smells and sounds in Chinatown make a great evening at a very cheap price for quality food.
The rooms at the MBS are overpriced and not great but it does give you free access to the rooftop infinity pool which has quite possibly the greatest view of a city I’ve seen
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What he said.
The MRT is really efficient and easy to use, but can get super crowded so might not be your best option in peak times with kids in tow.
Sentosa is a great spot to keep the kiddies entertained. Basically an island resort /amusement Park. Also check out the Art & Science Museum. They had a Marvel exhibit plus a couple of other exhibits aimed at the young uns when wifey and I were there in July. Maybe check out Haw Par Villa. Its free and has some funky stuff but some of the content may scare the littlies. The website should give you an idea if its suitable or not.
You should be able to find some fancy restaurants either in the Marina Bay complex or around Clarke Quay. We stuck to the hawker markets which are great value but we did have dinner one night at Bread St Kitchen (owned by Gordon Ramsay). Food was great, but I wouldn’t regard it as “high end”.
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We’re also heading to Singapore next year with our little ones (4yo and 11mo when we go). Has anyone ever used a hire company for baby cots etc? The place we’ve got doesn’t have one and we’d prefer not having to lug one over
Travel safely.
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Cheers. I beeped and waved
In Shepparton now. A few hours to go until touching down at my folks place north of Ballarat.
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Why would you beep… he’d never hear it 
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hahahaha…I did that too once, travelling through there…just to amuse myself 
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Very good point
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Didn’t want to hang around in Shep too long. Always had me on edge that place for some reason
Delhi to Kathmandu + Sri Lanka this coming Feb/March - tips/suggestions welcomed, I’ve never been to the subcontinent.
As mentioned elsewhere, I will fly back via Sydney for the GWS season-launcher.
(I haven’t been to Dubbo for yeeeeears. Sad.)
Planning to do any trekking in Nepal?
How long do you intend to stay in Sri Lanka? It is a great place - its better out of Colombo though.
What have you got against meth heads?
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Can’t help you with Nepal or India. Have only done a couple of days sightseeing in India as part of stopovers and never been to Nepal. Sri Lanka is pretty cool outside of Colombo. The beaches aren’t as nice as you would find elsewhere in Asia and the infrastructure hasn’t fully kicked in yet. The great part is that the tourist boom hasn’t fully exploded yet so you won’t be as crowded and prices are still good.
I’d love to hear how Nepal is as it’s been a bucket list item for a long time but the wife isn’t too keen on it and has no desire to ever return to India
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