MALAYSIA · SOUTHEAST ASIA
Twin towers, island sun, ancient rainforest.
Kuala Lumpur and the Batu Caves, George Town street food, the islands of Langkawi and the rainforests of Borneo. The day trips, tours and experiences worth booking across Malaysia.
Only in Malaysia
Three days that could only be Malaysia.
A cave temple in a limestone cliff, mangroves that glow after dark, and some of the best street food in Asia. Plan the rest of the trip around these three.
After dark
Mangroves that glow after dark
Up the coast at Kuala Selangor, whole mangrove trees pulse with synchronised fireflies, and the water lights up electric blue where you trail a hand through it. A slow night boat is the only way to see either, and most trips catch both on the same run.
- 1 Kuala Lumpur: Kuala Selangor Fireflies and Blue Tears Tour
- 2 Kuala Lumpur: Fireflies & Blue Tears Tour with Seafood Meal
- 3 Kuala Selangor Fireflies and Blue Tears Tour with Dinner (SIC)
Above the city
A temple inside a limestone cave
272 rainbow steps climb past a 42-metre golden statue into a cavern of Hindu shrines, set in limestone older than the dinosaurs and half an hour from the centre of Kuala Lumpur. It is the most photographed half-day in the country.
- 1 Kuala Lumpur Suburbs: Batu Caves Half-Day Tour (SIC)
- 2 Private Half-Day Batu Caves and Cutural Tour in Kuala Lumpur
- 3 Genting Highland & Batu Cave Guided Day Tour (SIC/Shared Tour)
On Penang
Street food in a heritage town
George Town pairs Chinese clan houses and colonial shophouses with hawker stalls that food critics fly in for. Eat your way between the wall murals: char kway teow, assam laksa, cendol and kopi, all in one UNESCO-listed grid of streets.
- 1 Penang Plates Food Tour with 15+ Tastings
- 2 Penang Hill Funicular Ticket
- 3 Penang Plates Food Tour with 15+ Tastings
Book this first
The one to lock in before anything else.
If you only pre-book a single thing in Malaysia, make it this one. The experience more travellers choose than any other.
The classics
Malaysia's Most Popular Tours
Petronas Towers, Batu Caves, Langkawi and George Town. The experiences most travellers come to Malaysia for.
Planning your trip
Peninsula or Borneo?
Malaysia comes in two halves, and they feel like different countries. Here is how to choose, or how to fit both into one trip.
By region
Pick where the trip happens.
Kuala Lumpur for the skyline and the night markets. George Town for the food. Langkawi for the beaches. Borneo for the rainforest. The highlands when you need to cool down.
By experience
Or pick the kind of day you're after.
Food tours if you came to eat. Boat trips and mangrove cruises for the water. City and heritage walks for the streets. Caves, highlands and rainforest when you want out of the city.
Food
Asia on a single plate.
Malay, Chinese and Indian kitchens have traded recipes here for generations. The result is nasi lemak for breakfast, char kway teow from a roadside wok, banana-leaf curries eaten by hand, and teh tarik pulled at a mamak stall past midnight. Penang alone draws people who plan whole trips around the hawker stalls.
- 1 4-Hour Georgetown Food Tour
- 2 The 10 Tastings of Kuala Lumpur With Locals: Private Street Food Tour
- 3 Kuala Lumpur Local Street Food Private Walking Tour by Night
On the water
See Malaysia from the water.
Island hops off Langkawi, mangrove cruises into the firefly creeks, sunset dinners along the river. Three trips on the water we'd book first.
In the capital
Get your bearings in Kuala Lumpur.
Towers and temples, hawker streets and a mash-up of Malay, Chinese and Indian neighbourhoods. If we had a single day in KL, we'd spend it on one of these three.
Out of town
Easy day trips from the capital.
The tea country of the Cameron Highlands, the theme-park heights of Genting, historic Malacca and the lakeside mosques of Putrajaya. Our favourite days within reach of Kuala Lumpur.
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