Recently, flying to Singapore has become significantly more expensive, especially if you do not have time to buy a ticket on sale in advance. What advice can you give to travelers? Save on transport. For example, you can fly to Kuala Lumpur and drive from there by bus to Singapore. The route is quite simple and cheap. The most difficult thing is to deal with bus transfers when crossing the border between Malaysia and Singapore. I'll tell you in order.
Make sure you have it done before your trip. If not, you don't have to read any further.
The trip from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore by bus will take about 5-6 hours (provided you cross the border quickly). The drive to Johor Bahru takes just over 4 hours.
Where do the buses from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore come from?
From Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, buses go from Berjaya Times Square, KL Sentral, but most buses come from TBS bus station. I already wrote in more detail how to get to TBS.
How to buy tickets to Singapore
Advance tickets can be purchased online at:
(I liked EasyBook better),
However, if you want to leave at the current time, then you will have to buy tickets either at the TBS box office or from a ticket machine. I told you in detail how to buy bus tickets from Kuala Lumpur.
In the photo: when buying bus tickets, pay attention to the departure and arrival stations, and prices are also in ringitts and singadollars
The cost of bus tickets Kuala Lumpur - Singapore depends on specific dates and bus companies, from 40 ringgit per person. On the website you can see photos of the bus interior and additional information.
Please note that prices on the website will be in Singapore dollars (S$) and Malayan ringgits (RM) - it is more profitable to buy in ringgits. For example, RM 45 = approximately S$15.
In the photo: buying bus tickets to Jahor Bahru on the busonlineticket website, Malaysia The main thing you need to decide is whether to take tickets directly to Singapore or take tickets to a border city Johor Bahru. The price is approximately the same (since from Johor Bahru the cost of a ticket to Singapore will then be added), but each of these options has pros and cons:
- Direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.
The advantage of this option is a direct flight.
Cons: there is no guarantee that the bus will wait for you at the border. As a rule, such buses wait only 20 minutes. If you wait in line at customs longer, the bus will leave. - Take tickets to the border town of Johor Bahru, and then take a regular Singapore city bus, then transfer to .
Pros: you don't have to worry about missing the bus.
Minus: you have to visit the stupid Larkin bus station and make two transfers.
However, from my own experience I will say that the lines at customs are long and it’s difficult to complete them in 20 minutes, so the second method is more predictable - I’ll tell you about it later. However, if you choose the first method, I recommend reading to the end and taking note of how to get by bus to Singapore from customs if the bus does not wait for you at the border.
How to get from Johor Bahru to Singapore and cross the border correctly
If you took tickets to Johor Bahru, the bus will take you to Larkin Bus Station, which is located on Google Maps.
Upon arrival in Larkin, do not even enter the bus station building, but immediately go to platform No. 1 and board SBS Transit bus number 170, is already a Singapore city route. The bus runs every 10-15 minutes. Route with all stops of this bus. Pay the driver at the entrance. You can immediately take a ticket to the desired station in Singapore or get off at a metro station.
This bus will take you to Woodland Checkpoint, a huge, angular border patrol building.
At this stop, all passengers will get off the bus (don't forget to take your luggage!) and go to the upper level to go through passport control.
Save the SBS bus tickets you bought in Larkin - they will come in handy!
First, you go through the Malay border guards, take a fingerprint scan, and receive an exit stamp in your passport.
Photo: Passage of the Malayan border in Johor Bahru, Malaysia In general, it may take varying amounts of time to clear Singaporean controls. Some pass the checkpoint in 15 minutes, others are unlucky and spend a whole hour crossing the border.
After passing the border, you again go down to the bus platform, which will already be considered the Singapore side. There you will find a line waiting for bus 170. Don’t try to find the exact bus you came here on, just get on any next bus 170, show your ticket and that’s it - the buses come one after another.
The section of Highway 3 between Kuantan and Johor Bahru is already busier and hitchhiking is faster there. When leaving Kuantan, it is convenient to catch a car going to Pekan or further. Pecan is 40 km away, already on a straight road, after all the suburbs and turns. The route is surrounded by forests, which, due to the high temperature and drought at the time of our trip, were burning in places and there was haze all around; I immediately remembered 2010, when forests were burning in central Russia. In general, the route is good and quickly passable, except for some small towns that it passes through, you can hang out in them.
At the entrance to Johor Bahru, there is a Tesco, where, as usual, there are all the benefits for a traveler, discounts, a toilet, Wi-Fi and the opportunity to leave backpacks. Only it is located at the very beginning of the city limits and is very far from the city center, about 13 km. You can hitchhike, but it’s difficult to find a position; a very large flow of cars and the lack of a roadside make it difficult to hitchhike there. We decided to take the bus, most buses have a zone fare and go to the central station. The journey cost us 2.40 MYR per person, which is about 26 RUB. The bus is air-conditioned, large capacity, payment to the driver. You need to give money without change, if there is no change, then you pay what you have, the driver will not give change. The bus arrives at the central station, this is a large station complex that includes cars, railway stations, many shops, cafes and a border crossing to Singapore. All transport to Singapore, which is located just a kilometer away across the strait, departs from this station. In general, Johor Bahru itself is not an interesting city; all foreigners mostly come here in transit to Singapore, but we did not plan to go to Singapore due to its visa requirements for Russian citizens. Without a visa, Russians can enter the territory of this country only for the purpose of transit for up to 96 hours, as proof of which they must have a purchased air ticket to a third country from Singapore. True, there is information on the Internet that not everyone is allowed in even if they have an air ticket, but our friends, a month later at the beginning of April 2014, managed to enter Singapore through this border, presenting tickets from Singapore to Indonesia. We may visit Singapore next year, flying from there to Indonesia for a home for everyone. You cannot cross this border on foot, there is a bus that will take you across it, it costs relatively inexpensively 4 MYR, but from the border to the city of Singapore it is still about 20 km. Therefore, you won’t be able to look at the famous Singapore skyscrapers from Malaysia; you can only see the island itself, but nothing particularly interesting can be seen there.
As for Johor Bahru itself, all the interesting places are probably concentrated in the center not far from the station. There is an Indian and Chinese quarter and, accordingly, markets, prices are average, there is a choice. There are a lot of Indians, Burmese and other migrants from poorer countries in the city. There is also a large Sikh temple where they feed two or three times every day. Surely there is a lunch schedule, but we didn’t recognize it, because every time we came and asked: will there be lunch today? - they answered it will be, we asked when? - they spoke right now and called us to eat. The attitude was very hospitable, they even invited us to stay overnight, but we were already leaving the city that day, so everyone who will be in Johor Bahru, be sure to visit the Sikhs and find food and accommodation. Apparently, for some reason, travelers don’t visit them often, so they are happy to see them. You can also leave your backpacks with them for the day if you don’t want to pay 10 MYR (104 rubles) for a storage room at the station. The temple is located a couple of hundred meters from the station on parallel Trus street. Near it there are Chinese and Indian temples. You can exchange currency in Chinatown and in the station building, the rate is approximately the same, but small dollar bills in denominations of $5,10,20 are exchanged at a reduced rate everywhere, on average the rate is 3-5% less. (This is true in most Asian countries, so if you keep your money in small denominations, take only euros with you to Asia! Their exchange rate does not depend on the denomination) Exchange rate as of 03/12/2014 3.20 MYR for 1 $, large denomination 50, $100. And from 3 to 3.10 MYR small 5,10,20 $. But the Thai baht here, unlike Kuala Lumpur and other cities in the North of Malaysia, is better not to change their purchase rate here is very low. The most famous landmark of the city is the palace of Sultan Ibrahim, which is located west of the station and the Sikh temple on the mountain. Now there is a museum in the palace, we did not visit it. From the outside it is nothing special, but on the southern slope of this mountain you can spend the night with a tent, almost no one goes there and there is no lighting there. In the city center this is the most convenient place, but beware of the ants there are a lot of them, at night they attacked our tent and found food packed in a backpack, this happened to us for the first time in Southeast Asia, despite often spending the night in a tent.
Johor Bahru is the southernmost city in Eurasia, and a little to the west of it, 70 km, is the southernmost point of Eurasia - Cape Piai, but we didn’t go there because... There’s nothing particularly interesting there except the sign, but we’ve been to the southernmost city in Eurasia.
We were in Johor Bahru on March 12, 2014, four days after the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines Boeng-777 on flight MH370 Kuala Lumpur - Beijing, and in many shopping centers we saw boards of support/memory or condolences for the passengers of this flight. The plane has not yet been found, although 2 months have passed since that moment... At that moment I thought that it had fallen, then there were thoughts that it had been hijacked and landed somewhere in the steppes of Kazakhstan, but this would have been unlikely; a serious takeoff was needed - landing strip, and now I don’t even know what to think, there’s some kind of mysticism with him...
The large industrial center of Johor Bahru is an attractive place for business and trade. Thanks to the difference in exchange rates and the dam built back in 1924, Singaporeans come here for shopping and entertainment. Tourists should do the same and not stay more than 2-3 days.
Johor Bahru is very nice in places - greenery and parks are present here, but garbage on the streets is also taken for granted. Significant mosques for the city, museums and a huge number of shopping galleries and restaurants - that’s the whole package for an introductory walk.
Travelers use Johor Bahru only as a transit point for trips to the local Legoland, the historical city of Malacca and the beaches of Tioman Island. In the meantime, all that remains is shopping, a number of attractions and the search for non-spicy food. This schedule is ideal for a temporary stay in Johor Bahru, which will be remembered from the best side and will not have time to get boring.
Flights to Johor Bahru
Departure city
Enter your departure city
Arrival city
Enter your city of arrival
There
!
Back
!
Adults
1
Children
Up to 2 years
0
Up to 12 years
0
Find a ticket
Calendar of low prices for air tickets
How to get to Johor Bahru
The easiest way to get to Johor Bahru is by bus or taxi from Singapore, as the cities are connected by a causeway. The destination is very popular and therefore extremely busy, especially on weekends.
Express buses depart from stops opposite Kranji and Boon Lay MRT stations, as well as Queen Street and Jurong bus interchange terminals. Buses from the Singapore carrier SBS Transit also go to Johor Bahru - No. 160 from the Jurong East Interchange terminal and No. 170 from the Kranji metro station.
Flights from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru are operated by Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Firefly and Malindo Air. This type of travel will cost more than traveling over the dam overland.
Hotels in Johor Bahru
City
Enter the name of the city
arrival date
!
date of departure
!
Adults
1
Children
0
up to 17 years oldFind a hotel
There are a sufficient number of hotels of various categories in Johor Bahru. Hostels here are not as common as in Malacca, Kuala Lumpur or George Town, but budget accommodation in the central district is possible from 40 ringgit per night. Hotels outside the city will be even cheaper. Currently, there are about 12 budget hotels in the Jalan Meldrum area - Hotel Dragon Inn, Gateway, Grand Paradise, Hanyasatu, Hawaii, Hong Kong, J.B., Meldrum, T-Hotel, Citrus Hotel. In each of them you can find a double room for less than 100 ringgit.
The average price range from RM150 can be found in the following hotels: Bliss Boutique Hotel, JB Central Hotel, Tropical Inn, Straits View Hotel and New York Hotel. As a rule, such hotels have a good restaurant and their own swimming pool. A room in luxury hotels starts from 200 ringgit. Five-star comfort in Johor Bahru is offered by: Grand BlueWave Hotel, M Suites Hotel, Grand Paragon Hotel, Crystal Crown Hotel, Mutiara Hotel and others.
Shopping in Johor Bahru
Johor Bahru has a large number of shopping galleries, but they all cater to local and visiting Singaporeans. On holidays and weekends, the city is literally flooded with tourists from Singapore who love to shop and relax here. Due to the difference in exchange rates, Malaysian prices are much lower in Johor Bahru, which makes shopping, restaurants and other entertainment much more attractive.
For small shopping, you can head to the city center at Dataran Bandaraya Square or the popular Festive Street Mall. It is best to look for clothing, shoes, electronics, children's goods and accessories in large city malls. Holiday Plaza Shopping Center (Jalan Dato Sulaiman) is located 5 km from Johor Bahru and has about 440 stores. You can’t count on restaurant food there; for a snack there is only a fast food area.
City Square Shopping Center is considered one of the best places for shopping, primarily due to its proximity to the Johor-Singapore Dam. It contains about 270 shops, a cinema and a food court. The largest shopping complexes include KSL City Mall (Jalan Seladang, 33), which has 350 shops and 70 restaurants, as well as the duty-free shopping center Johor Bahru Duty Free Zone (Jalan Ibrahim Sultan, 88).
For brands, you should go to the Padini outlet near the small town of Kulai. More than 80 brands are collected on its territory, including Guess, Lacoste, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Armani.
Another notable place for shopping is the Night Market (Pasar Malam) with a variety of local products. On Mondays it is open near the Holiday Plaza shopping center, and on Tuesdays it moves to Taman Pelangi Square.
Legoland in Johor Bahru
Legoland is on almost every list of must-see tourist destinations. In Johor Bahru he won an honorable first place. An entire theme park was built here from colored bricks, and it was supplemented with a water park, much needed for the hot climate. You are allowed to fall into childhood throughout the entire territory of Legoland, which is as much as 310 square meters. km and is divided into 7 thematic zones. Attractions in the form of trains, carousels and slides are designed for children, but adults will also be impressed here.
Legoland rides are accessible to children at least 110 cm tall. To avoid
The best time to go to Legoland is on weekdays and in the first half of the day.
The most impressive part of the park is Miniland, where models of the most famous Asian attractions are collected. Each building and its surrounding landscape are assembled from a construction set, while all the toy buses and cars move, creating the impression of a completely real city. The construction of the Malaysian version of the miniatures took 30 million Lego bricks and 3 years of work. Also on the territory of the park there is its own hotel and a company store, where the famous designer is presented in all shapes and sizes. In addition to Legoland, little travelers will be interested in visiting the Sanrio Hello Kitty Town and Angry Birds Activity Park theme parks.
Departure from Malaysia
To cross the Malaysia-Singapore border from Johor Bahru, you need to get to the central bus and train station, which doubles as a customs office. Well, or vice versa. It is located directly 200 meters from the bridge to Singapore.
I was driven to her by a Malayan who lived in a guesthouse and was on his way to work. That's why I ended up there at eight in the morning. You could get to Singapore by taxi, bus or train. I chose the bus because the cheapest option was only one ringit.
The building itself is impressive in size. Plus everything is glass-concrete and modern. A beauty, in general. There are signs everywhere, but I followed the signs that said Woodland.
To get to the bus terminal, you need to cross the railway terminal.
Then just follow the signs. They will take you directly to customs. There are a ton of booths there, so the process of going through is simple and takes about 5 minutes, including standing in line. They took my passport, stamped it and let me through. Further along the green path, because there is nothing to declare, I passed by the checks, which did not even bother to look at my backpack. I took the escalator down to where there were rows of buses. As they fill up, they pull away every couple of minutes. As I said above, they only cost one ringit, but you need to have a one-ringit note or change - they don’t give change. A Malay paid for me because I only had an A. And we went to Singapore.
Singapore visa
At the bus stop, I walked along with the crowd. Along the way, there were posters that described in detail what needed to be declared and what not. From the street we went up to the second floor, filled out the arrival card, which is at the entrance to customs, took out a printout of the ticket to Auckland, stood in line with the customs officer and got ready to explain that I don’t need a visa and I’m traveling in transit - because I’ve read a lot of crap on the Internet, they say they can get to the bottom of transit riders at the ground crossing.
It turned out to be the other way around. They didn’t even look at my ticket, they asked where I would stay - I answered that it was at a guesthouse. — For the first time in Singapore? - Yeah. After that, I asked my colleague something about Russia and put a stamp on my passport. — Welcome to Singapore.
There was no check of funds, hotel reservations, plane tickets or other niggles. Everything went very well. What’s most interesting is that they gave me a stamp in my passport for thirty days! And not a word about transit. I don’t know what they would have told me if I had stayed for 30 days, but the fact remains that according to the documents I can stay in Singapore for 30 days.
However, it is impossible to leave customs on foot - you need to take a bus. Thank God they accept ringgits! Going down the escalator, you need to turn to the right and look at the ceiling - there are signs with bus numbers. You need to sit at 160 and pay 2.5. After that, I got off at the Kranji stop - it is literally a couple of minutes drive from customs. It is also a monorail station, from where you can get to anywhere in Singapore. So at 9:15 I found myself in Singapore!
In Malaysia, cities that consist of two words are called only by the first letters, for example Kuala Lumpur - KL, and the city Johor Bahru- JB. So, the last city borders the country of Singapore, where we did not plan to visit on this trip, but it was interesting to learn about the possibility of getting there. So in the morning we left Johor Bahru and went to Singapore! Yes, that sounds funny. First you need to go through the huge terminal on the Malaysian side and put an exit stamp, then take a cheap bus to cross the bridge that connects Malaysia and the island of Singapore. Currently the state consists of 63 islands. The largest of them is Singapore (the main island).
So, we crossed the bridge and ended up on the island of Singapore. A very large multi-story customs office with many entry points. Long queues, in which, to our surprise, there were many schoolchildren, probably going from Malaysia to Singapore to school! =) Although there were a lot of people, no “white-faced” people were noticed. Everyone is either Chinese, or Indian, or Malay. Probably most tourists fly into the country. We stood our turn, and the woman customs officer, having learned that we did not have a visa, called another woman, who gathered several more “unlucky people” and took them to God knows where. First she opened numerous doors using codes and confirmed actions with a fingerprint on a special scanner (probably instead of the “ button Ok"). The elevator also had a code and fingerprints. We were taken into a separate room and, one by one, called in for an interview. Some people were taken to a room for individual interrogation. They started asking us. We said that we were going to Singapore in order to then fly from there to Indonesia. As proof, they showed us an Indonesian visa, which would expire in a week if we didn’t enter there.
In fact, we decided to checkIs it possible to enter Singapore with a free transit visa, as we were previously advised. As it turned out, without a ticket to a third country, or at least a ticket reservation, this is impossible.They would have let us through if we had shown at least an air ticket reservation (not necessarily paid for).They even offered to book them right there via phone, but ours does not have Internet capabilities, and they did not allow us to use their computer. So we were sent back to Malaysia to the Singapore consulate. We and another woman, who was also not lucky enough to get into the country, were escorted by security to board the bus. We returned to Malaysia and went to the consulate. There they explained to us that a visa cannot be obtained at the consulate, but only at a travel agency and it will cost 110 ringit = 330 UAH = 1300 rubles = 36 dollars. Expensive for such a small country. =) Of course, we did not apply for visas. But we didn’t want to book air tickets and leave Malaysia again and enter back again, since it was time to start saving pages in the passport, and the Malay stamp is not at all small
Although we did not visit the country, we took an interest in its famous and rich economy. Here's a littlefacts about Singapore:
"7 August 1965 as a result of the Singapore conflict came out of Malaysia and, and August 9, 1965 declared independence. Singapore's exit turned out to be painless, since the leadership of the federation believed that its presence as part of Malaysia greatly upset the ethnic balance in favor of the Chinese population. The population of 4.987 million in 2009 differs in ethnic composition from neighboring Malaysia. The majority of the population is Chinese- 76.8%, and only 13.9% Malays. Immigrants from India occupy third place - 7.9%.
At the time of independence, Singapore wassmall poor country, which had to import even fresh water and construction sand. The economic development strategy of the Lee Kuan Yew government was built on transforming Singapore into the financial and trading center of Southeast Asia, as well as attracting foreign investors.
At independence Singapore suffered from highcorruption. Were sharp judges' salaries increased, “the best private lawyers” were recruited to serve as judges. The salary of a Singaporean judge reached several hundred thousand dollars a year (in the 1990s - over $1 million). Triads (organized criminal groups) were harshly suppressed. Civil servants holding responsible positions wages were raised to the level typical of top managers of private corporations. Was created independent body with the aim of combating corruption in the highest echelons of government(investigations were initiated even against close relatives of Lee Kuan Yew). A number of ministers convicted of corruption were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, either committed suicide or fled the country. As a result, Singapore (according to international rankings) became one of the least corrupt countries in the world.
In the 1960s-1970s there was education system reformed. Singapore had many different national schools that were all given the same minimum standards. English has become compulsory learning in all schools, universities were transferred to teaching in English. The government spent large sums on training Singaporean students at the best universities in the world.
The government attached great importance to making the majority of the population homeowners. In the 1960s, a mortgage lending system was created, housing construction increased sharply, and by 1996only 9% of apartments were rented, and the rest were occupied by owners.
The crime rate in Singapore is one of the lowest in the world, while the laws in Singapore are quite harsh (including the death penalty provided and applied). Manifestations of interethnic hostility and hatred are punished (even discussions on the Internet are taken into account).
Some crimesare punishedcaning. Particularly brutal murders and drug trafficking are punishabledeath by hanging. In the period from 1991 to 2004 it was carried out400 death sentences - one of the highest in the world».
