Recommended Travel Agencies In Singapore

Why People On The Little Red Dot Should Travel

Think about it, sometimes a red dot represents Singapore on some versions of the world map. You have to put a magnifying glass over the spot at the Southern end of Malaysia before you can make out the text – Singapore. Well, it's little wonder why we are called the little red dot.

Singapore On A World Map

Talking about land scarcity, we're really a small country, though power-packed with international companies or brands that encourage consumerism. We'd probably know where these commercial entities hail from, and the representations that the brands want us, their potential customers to know, but it's no where close to experiencing the real cultures in the real places for ourselves.

This is precisely why the people living in Singapore should get out whenever they can, and see the world, be in a different space away from home, meet different kinds of people, experience new cultures, know what's going on out there, all for themselves without a third party filter. Otherwise we risk being that tiny frog in the deep urban well, overloaded with information about the world outside, when we're just looking at the smallest fraction of the impossibly vast sky in our cushy comfort zones.

You have seen a gazillion of articles telling you why you should travel. If you haven't, you can read some of them here:

Well it's about time to stop saying 'but', and start dreaming about the places you want to visit in your lifetime.

Where Are The Best Places to Go?

There's no “best” place to go, because it depends on what sort of a traveler you are or what calls out to you – luxury, nature, city, beaches, backpacking, cruise, hiking, adventure, water sports – or basically, what's your travel scene?

If you have yet to find out what kinda travel really rocks your boat, well then just start with destinations that appeal most to you.

Popular Travel Destinations

Statue of Liberty in New York City

Most Singaporeans are so familiar with Malaysia, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Taipei that sometimes they seem to keep returning to the same places over and over again. Of course there are the other further and costlier favorites such as the U.S., from New York City to Las Vegas, the all time favorite Tokyo and Hokkaido. With the rise of K-pop and K-drama over the recent years, air tickets to Seoul have been selling like hot cakes.

If you're considering more options, or would love to find out what other popular travel places are calling out to the other travelers in the world, you can have a quick read at Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel: top 10 cities for 2012.

Let's face it, not all city dwellers in Singapore choose cities as their first choice travel destination, we have the folks who simply adore beaches and nature (we're talking about mountains and lakes kind of nature, and beaches with clear waters); two things that we can't really find in this garden city.

Beach Bumming

When it comes to beaches, the beach lovers just can't wait to dig their toes into those sun drenched golden sand, and dive into the inviting cool clear waters sparkling under the baking hot sun.

Pulau Tioman

The nearest beach getaway from Singapore would be Pulau Tioman in Malaysian, where the costs of getting there, to the local food, comfortable accommodation won't cause too much damage on your wallet. Then of course, there's are the hot favorites, Bali, and Phuket, which are both quite touristy and can be pretty crowded during peak travel periods. If you're opting for a beach holiday somewhere in Asia that's not too crowded, you can give Phi Phi Island a go, after all it's only 45 minutes off Phuket.

Don't mind going somewhere further? With a bigger budget, you can definitely consider the dream beach paradises such as the Maldives, Bora Bora Island or even Seychelles, where you can decompress, recharge, be completely disconnected with your world by choice. Or you can check out National Geographic's top 10 beaches for some beach bumming inspirations.

Natural Beauties

Plitvice, Croatia

Most Singaporeans always stand in awe in the presence of nature. No we're not talking about the typical floral and fauna we see in Singapore – green grass, leafy trees, well pruned bougainvillea bushes along the express ways. We're referring to nature on a bigger scale such as the Antelope Canyon in USA, Moraine Lake in Canada, Plitvice in Croatia, Table Mountain in Cape Town, or Pamukkale in Turkey, that humbles the proud city slickers who thought they have seen it all, on television or the Internet.

Culture and History

Santorini, Greece

Then of course there are destinations of rich historic and cultural background, that might open the eyes of these citizens from the young nation – well Singapore turned 47 on 9 August 2012 – to see beyond the day-to-day mundane issues they face. Be it Machu Picchu, also referred to as the City of the Incas, which was built around the 1450s, at the height of the Inca Empire. Or it could even be the Great Wall of China, Santorini in Greece, Petra in Jordan, or the first ever theatre in the world – Theatre of Dionysus, Athens.

More Exciting Alternative Travel Destinations

Socotra Island, Yemen

There are always travel destinations out there that we haven't heard of before, because the world is that big. But finding out 'new' places to go to really isn't that difficult. You will be amazed by places such as Socotra Island in Yemen, Luxor in Egypt, The Blue Lagoon in Iceland, Lake Retba in Senegal, Azores in Portugal or even Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.

You can google and find articles such as 25 Cool Places To Visit In Your Lifetime or even Best Trips 2012 by National Geographic.

Planning For Your Trip. What Resources Are There?

The fastest way to book a trip, hassle free, is to engage travel agencies (link to our ten recommended travel agencies) or check out travel fairs such as NATAS. Recommended or well-established travel agencies usually provide you with quality travel advice and tips before and after you book your holiday with them, as well as save you lots of time from attempting to book your own air tickets and accommodation.

But of course, you can choose to book your own holiday with the convenience of the Internet, countless electronic mobile or handheld devices, and not forgetting the abundant online resources these days, where looking for blogs, guides, reviews, information for your pre-travel research is a breeze.

Looking For Cheap Air Tickets And Comfortable Accommodation?

There's countless of comparison, and booking engines out there. It's all a matter of scouring through the Internet for the trusted and most recommended ones, not to say the ones offering cheapest deals as well.

For a start there's comparison engines such as Kayak, Fare Compare, Travel Supermarket, Booking Buddy, Priceline, Momondo which allows you to compare flights, or Hotels Combined which allows you to compare hotels.

Then you have popular one-stop booking websites such as Expedia Singapore and Zuji Singapore.

For air tickets you can also have a look at Price Breaker, Cheaptickets.sg, or budget tickets at the respective budget airlines; Tiger Airways, Air Asia, Scoot Airlines, and Jet Star.

When it comes to booking your accommodation, you can always have a look at Hotels.com, Booking.com, Asia Rooms, or Tablet Hotels for booking boutique and luxury hotels, or Airbnb, a community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world. For the adventurers on a budget, you can always check out Couch Surfing for a completely different travel experience.

Do not forget Trip Advisor, a great site to read through reviews on accommodations, to help you with your decision making process. And of course, Flyer Talk, a travel forum that allows you to find out the most up-to-date information on travel.

For travel deals, you can subscribe to deals sites such as Groupon Singapore, Deal.com.sg, Traveldeals.sg, or Ilovedeals.sg. Trust us, there's way more deals out there.

Learning more about the destination

This should easy, Google will always be your fastest gateway to looking for the information you need on the destination. You can have fun reads at CNN GO, or Squidoo and Hubpages are great places to look for personal experiences, tips, and advice as well.

You can always check out the travel guides such as National Geographic Travel, Lonely Planet, Frommers, Time Out, or hear from seasoned travelers at Travellers Point.

Most of us get overwhelmed with the amount of prep work we have to do before we get to the airport and jet off. And sometimes we would rather head down to established travel agencies who can provide us with the information and advice that we want, allow us to decide where we want to go for our holidays, without spending too much time from our already hectic schedules trying to plan, coordinate, and make the vacation happen. For folks looking for travel agencies who can help you deal with the hassles of booking your trip, you can have a look at the directory here.

Top Ten Singapore

For folks visiting Singapore, you can check out the other pages on our websites to discover the real Singapore.

You can also have a look at Singapore's official tourism website at Your Singapore, find out more about Singapore at Time Out Singapore, CNN GO Singapore, or if you would like to know what Singaporeans actually eat, you can read more at Fifo.sg or Hungrygowhere.

If there's something that you would really know about Singapore and would like the locals to help you out, you can always have a chat with us at our Facebook Page here. More questions and feedback for us? Drop us an email at info@toptensingapore.com, and we'll try our best to get back to you the soonest we can.

Hope to see you around!