Malaysia is one of the most unknown countries of Southeast Asia, mostly because of the popularity of its neighbour countries among tourists.
The thing that surprises the most in Malaysia is how well they get along the 3 main different cultures (Malay, Chinese and Hindu), and how this coexistence is reflected everywhere: temples, street food stalls, festivals, etc.
My trip in Malaysia focuses in the West coast of the country, where we can find colonial cities, the overwhelming capital -Kuala Lumpur-, as well as islands and beaches with some amazing fauna.
BOH tea plantation in the Cameron Highlands.
BOH are the largest black tea manufacturer in Malaysia, and their plantations are the largest in all Southeast Asia.
Itinerary
2 weeks are enough time to visit peninsular Malaysia, but you’d want to add a few days more if you want to go to Borneo too.
Day 1 – Arrival
Flight to Kuala Lumpur. It’s very likely that you’ll need to do a layover (probably in the Arab Emirates), which will help you to start getting used to the humid hot you’ll experience once in Malaysia.
Days 2 & 3 – Malaka
From Kuala Lumpur’s airport we go straight to Malaka (either by taxi, bus or car with driver) in order to get to the Southeast point of your itinerary and then have to only move upwards. Try to make your visit to Malaka happen during a weekend, as the night market on Friday and Saturday nights is the most characteristic attraction of this city. During the day enjoy visiting this colonial style city and what’s left of the Portuguese and Dutch colonies.
Day 4 – Kuala Lumpur
Take a public bus from Malaka to get to the capital. Visit Chinatown and the famous Petronas Towers (if you want to go to the top make sure to buy your tickets in advance as they go fast) and don’t miss the Batu Caves (try to go there early in the morning so it’s not so hot and you won’t find crowds).
At night you can try to go to some of the rooftop bars with views to the towers, like the famous Skybar in the 43th floor of the Traders Hotel or the Heli Lounge Bar, an heliport converted into a terrace where you can enjoy cocktails with a view.
Days 5-7 – Cameron Highlands
Route along the wonderful Malaysian roads until you reach the Cameron area (approximately 5 hours from Kuala Lumpur, easily accessible with public bus or renting a car with driver) and stop on the way in some of the waterfalls to see how locals deal with the heat.
In the Cameron Highlands there are several hiking routes you can follow yourself, as well as many agencies that offer tours to enjoy the highlights of this region. You can’t miss the tea plantations, the biggest in Southeast Asia.
This area is the “coldest” of Malaysia, so use your time here to enjoy more comfortable temperatures to walk and enjoy nature.
Day 8 – Ipoh
You can use one day to explore the surroundings of Ipoh as some of the most fascinating caves not only of Malaysia, but of all Asia, are here. An example is Tempurung Cave.
I also can’t recommend enough a visit to Perak Cave Temple, a Buddhist temple excavated in the rock. It is free to enter and one of the most uniques things you’ll find in Malaysia.
Days 9-10 – Penang
A few hours by car and you’ll arrive to one of the highlights of the trip: Georgetown, a colonial city with super famous street art and murals (don’t forget to try to find them all!) and with really good food. If you’re a bit of a sweet tooth like me pay a visit to China House and enjoy somee of their fantastic cakes.
Days 11-14 Langkawi
Getting into these islands is an adventure in summer as the sea is a bit rough and the ferry is an experience in itself, but really worth. You’ll find paradise beaches, mangroves, and really good snorkelling spots. There are tons of agencies who offer tours that can be booked just the day before so just go with the wind and book everything in-situ.
My best recommendation here is to do snorkelling in Pulau Payar Marine Park, an area where the variety of corals, fishes and sharks will leave you with no words.
Day 15 – Return flight
Langkawi has an airport, so you can take a local flight to Kuala Lumpur and then fly back from from there. Or you can do as I did a go a couple of days to Singapore before returning home.
Budget
Malaysia is a cheap country. Street food is incredibly good and varied and the hawker centres an experience you can’t miss (and will save you some precious dollars).
You can eat really yummy food for $2 or $3. Accommodation is also inexpensive. Local buses are pretty cheap and very comfortable and a similar app to Uber called Grab is widely used making local transportation cheap and easy.
Being a mostly Muslim country alcohol is not very cheap, so probably that’s where you’ll need to tighten your budge ?
Return flights
You will find better deals if you do a layover in some of the Arab Emirates.
691€
Travel Insurance
Remember to always have your insurance when you travel. I normally get an annual MultiTrip so it covers me all year round.
35€
Food
This includes breakfast, lunch and dinner for 15 days, as well as all refreshments and snacks.
278€
Local Transport
This included shared UBER to/from the airport, private van with driver for part of the itinerary, local bus tickets, ferries, taxis and shared Grabs for 15 days.
106€
Accommodation
2 or 3 star hotels in double/triple rooms and/or shared dorms.
199€
Entry fees & Excursions
Entrance to monuments, 4x4 excursion in Cameron Highlands to see the tea plantations, mangroves tour by boat in Langkawi, snorkelling in Langkawi...
