There are a handful of drinks in the world that are more famous than the bar that made them. The Singapore Sling isn't one of them. This cocktail and its birthplace are so tangled together that ordering Singapore Slings anywhere else feels a bit like buying a souvenir Eiffel Tower at Chadstone (tacky?).

So, what's all the hype about? If you've ever typed "what’s in a Singapore Sling" into Google at midnight before a trip, here's your answer. The story goes that sometime around 1915, a bartender named Ngiam Tong Boon at the Raffles Hotel Long Bar mixed gin, cherry liqueur, Bénédictine, pineapple juice, lime and a splash of grenadine into something pink and tropical. And, crucially, socially acceptable for women to be seen drinking in public at the time – when a lady sipping a gin was considered scandalous. It looked like fruit juice. It very much was not fruit juice. 

A century on, the Raffles Hotel Long Bar still pours Singapore Slings by the thousand every single day, and the price has climbed to an eye-watering S$44++. That's the bit that makes Aussies think twice before tapping. 

So, is it worth it? Our Head of Marketing and Technology, Zoe, went and found out.

Short answer: yes. But let's talk about what you're actually paying for…

First, let's decode that "++"

This is the single most useful thing you can learn before you land in Singapore, and it has nothing to do with cocktails.

When you see a price advertised with two little plus signs after it (S$44++), it means the number in front of you is not the number you'll pay. You need to add:

• 10% service charge
• 9% GST

And they compound. So, your S$44 Sling becomes:

S$44 × 1.10 = S$48.40
S$48.40 × 1.09 = S$52.76

At the current AUD to SGD exchange rate of around 0.875*, that's roughly A$60 a cocktail. 

We’re not going to pretend that isn't a lot of money for a drink. It is. That's a whole hawker centre dinner for four with change left over for a Milo.

Here's the small mercy though: the Aussie Dollar has had a decent run against the Singapore Dollar over the past twelve months. This time last year you'd have been looking at closer to A$65 for the same glass. Not exactly a bargain, but you're roughly five bucks better off than the version of you who visited in 2025. We take the wins where we find them.

The "++" rule applies right across Singapore – restaurants, bars, hotel room rates, spa treatments. If you budget off the advertised menu price, you'll be about 20% short by the end of the trip. Build it in from day one and thank us later. 

The queue is part of it (and it's not as bad as you've heard)

Zoe turned up expecting the worst – every review mentions the line.

She waited about 20 minutes for a table, and honestly, it moved so steadily that it never once felt like a slog. You shuffle forward, you people-watch, you get increasingly curious about the noise coming from inside. By the time they sat down, the anticipation had done half the work.

If you're queue-averse, aim for the moment the doors open in the afternoon rather than the golden-hour rush. But don't let the line talk you out of it. Twenty minutes is essentially a Bunnings sausage sizzle on a Saturday (IYKYK). 

The bar itself is the thing you're paying for

And this is where the maths stopped mattering. 

The Long Bar is gorgeous. Dark timber, rattan, slow-turning ceiling fans in that colonial-era style, and an old-timey atmosphere that hasn't been focus-grouped into oblivion. It feels like a place with a century of stories in it, because it is.

Then there are the peanuts.

Every table gets a sack of peanuts nuts, and you are actively encouraged to crack them open and drop the shells straight onto the floor. In Singapore! A country where you can be fined for chewing gum. There is something so gleefully anarchic about flicking peanut casings onto the floorboards of one of the most famous hotels on earth that you’ll find yourself doing it far more than any adult should. The crunch underfoot as the staff walk past is genuinely one of Zoe’s favourite sounds of the entire trip.

Was the cocktail good? Yes – sweet, fruity, stronger than it looks.

Was the cocktail A$58 worth of good? No. But you're not buying a cocktail. You're buying an hour inside a piece of living history with a drink in your hand and shells on the floor. Framed that way, it's one of the better-value experiences she had.

Taking the kids? Here's what to expect

Zoe had an 11-year-old with her, and they had an absolutely brilliant time - which was surprising, given she’d mentally filed the Long Bar under "grown-up activity".

They ordered a Singapore Sling Zero, the non-alcoholic version, at S$38++. Same tall glass, same sunset-pink colour, same little garnish, and by their account it tasted better. They got to crack peanuts and throw the shells on the floor like everyone else, which for an 11-year-old is roughly the greatest thing that has ever been permitted by an adult.

The money bit worth knowing: going alcohol-free saves you less than you'd assume. Once you run S$38 through the ++ maths it lands at S$45.56, or about A$52. That's only around A$8 less than the full-strength version. If you're picturing the zero-proof option as the budget choice for the kids, adjust expectations — it's priced as an experience, same as everything else in the room.

Their round of three came to just over S$151, or roughly A$173. Worth building into the day's budget as a single line item rather than something you absorb on the fly.

Don't leave without wandering the hotel

This is the free part, and plenty of people miss it.

After finishing up, they spent a while just wandering the Raffles grounds in awe of the colonnades, the courtyards, the palm-lined verandas, the polished lobby. It's stunning, it's beautifully restored, and it costs you exactly nothing beyond the willingness to walk slowly and look up.

If you're on the fence about the Sling because of the price, remember that the ticket also gets you a very good reason to be at Raffles in the first place. Budget an extra 30 minutes for the wander.

The verdict

Worth it. Once.

It's not a place you go back to weekly, and it's not where you'd go if you just wanted a nice cocktail – Singapore has world-class bars pouring extraordinary drinks for half the price. But as a one-off, do-it-properly, tick-the-bucket-list experience, the Long Bar earned its spot as one of the highlights of the trip.

Just go in knowing it's a A$60 experience, not a A$60 drink, and you'll walk out happy.

Three money tips before you go

• Always choose to pay in Singapore Dollars. When you tap your card at Raffles or anywhere else, the terminal may offer to charge you in Australian Dollars instead. It sounds helpful. It isn't. That's dynamic currency conversion, and the exchange rate baked into it is almost always worse than the one your own card would give you. Pick SGD. Every time.
• Sort your spending money before you fly. Airport exchange counters know you've run out of options, and they price accordingly. Lock in your Singapore Dollars before you go – either as cash, or loaded onto a Travel Money Oz Currency Pass so your rate is set the day you buy it rather than the day you tap. Worth keeping an eye on the exchange rate AUD to SGD in the weeks before you fly, too – buying on a good day makes a real difference once you're converting enough for a whole trip.
• Split cash and card. Singapore is extremely card-friendly, and Raffles certainly is. But hawker centres, older coffee shops and market stalls are still cash-first, and those are where you'll be eating for the other 95% of your trip. A rough 60/40 split between card and cash worked well for the trip. 

Planning your own Singapore trip? Order your Singapore Dollars online 24/7 or drop into your local Travel Money Oz store and have a chat with someone who knows the difference between a good rate and a good-looking one.

^Disclaimer 

^{This blog is provided for information only and does not take into consideration your objectives, financial situation or needs. Travel Money Oz has sought to ensure that the information is true and correct at the time of publication. Prices and exchange rates mentioned are indicative only and subject to change. The rate used in this blog is based on the Travel Money Oz online retail rate for buying SGD on 26 August 2026.  Prices, details and services are subject to change without notice, and Travel Money Oz accepts no responsibility or liability for any such changes, including any loss resulting from any action taken or reliance made by you on any information provided. You should consider whether the information and suggestions contained in any blog entry are appropriate for you, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs. While we take reasonable care in providing the blog, we give no warranties or representations that it is complete or accurate or is appropriate for you. We are not liable for any loss caused, whether due to negligence or otherwise, arising from use of, or reliance on, the information and/or suggestions contained in this blog.}