Today I arrived to Johor Bahru from Singapore. To travel from Singapore to Johor Bahru is fast, cheap and easy and here is how you do it:
First of all, to arrive to Singapore it is recommended that you have an exit ticket out from Singapore as well. Without this you might not be allowed into Singapore if the border control (or airport) ask you to present it. If the next country you will travel to requires a visa, you also need to show that you already have this. Note that you can be stopped already at the airport in your departure country by the airline you are flying with. This is because they don’t want to fly you back for free if you don’t get into Singapore. Someone who isn’t me almost missed their flight because of this and had to take a picture of the Malaysia railway web site which have a pre-book page that looks like a booking confirmation page and that worked as proof for the airline, but I wouldn’t recommend this solution.
Ok so you got into Singapore, great, first step completed! Now for the easy part. Take local bus 170 from Woodlands to JB Senter (center). You can also catch this bus from several areas of Singapore, so if you are lucky you don’t even need to go to Woodlands first. In other case there are several buses and even a metro train to Woodlands. To get to Woodlands you will pay around 2 Singapore dollar (1,6 USD) and then the same price for bus 170 to JB, which leaves around every 10 minutes.
The bus will let you off at the border, about 10 minutes trip from Woodlands. To cross the border you need a passport which, as usual for all border crossings, doesn’t expire within the next 6 months. Most nationalities will not need a visa for Malaysia, but check online in advance just to be sure. The crossing of the border usually takes 5 minutes and on the other side you wait again for the next bus 170 to arrive, or the same bus you came with if you are lucky. After the border the bus ride is about 5 more minutes before you reach JB Senter.
In JB Senter you will actually arrive within a shopping mall. If you plan to take out money here from your VISA card, be aware that the ATM machines have mirrored number pads.
That’s it, a total trip of about 20 minutes from Woodlands to Johor Bahru center, or approximately 1 hour from Singapore center.
A two year old island and buildings in Singapore
Security outside a metro station in Singapore
Small street in Johor Bahru with street food stalls and tables. Example of prices: 2 Malaysian ringgit (0,7 USD) for a Coca Cola and 4 Malaysian ringgit (1,3 USD) for a noodle and dumpling soup.