Things To Do In Malaysia

This Malaysia travel blog section is getting huge, and with so many posts on Malaysia travel, we need to pull them all together on one page for you to find everything easily. This Malaysia travel page will help you plan your trip to Malaysia and let you know what to expect. We cover how to travel in Malaysia, where to stay, food to try, and more. There are many interesting things to see and do, fun activities, and beautiful places in Malaysia’s cities, towns, countryside, and islands.

This information is from our first-hand experiences visiting Malaysia many times and visiting diverse areas. We’ve actively tried to see as much of Malaysia as we possibly can in Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, and Malaysia’s islands.

Malaysia is not our favorite part of Southeast Asia; we really enjoy Thailand and Vietnam, but Malaysia does have some incredibly interesting experiences to offer.

With plenty of cool things to see and do, along with some special and unique highlights, Malaysia can offer much to travelers or holidaymakers.

Kuala Lumpur is one of our favorite cities in the world, and Kuching and Sarawak, we think, are fabulous destinations. The Malaysian people tend to be some of the nicest on the planet, too, very kind, helpful folk.

We’re able to share with you some Malaysian travel hints, tips, ideas, and suggestions, mostly positive but some negative, because travel in Malaysia hasn’t always been plain sailing for us.

We’ve had a few bad experiences in Malaysia over the years, including theft, terrible hotels, an environmental disaster, and a ferry breaking down.

We joke about our ” Malaysia curse,” and really, you couldn’t make it up. Everything that can go wrong for us in Malaysia does.

Places in Malaysia on the Travel Blog

If you’d like a general overview of what Malaysia offers, we have a post here called Malaysia with Kids; it gives you the best destinations in Malaysia and the practicalities of travel in Malaysia. Below, we run through a few key places to see in Malaysia, which you’ll probably want to include in your Malaysia itinerary.

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is a vibrant modern city where you can visit ancient temples in the morning and be in Chinatown for lunch. At the same time, spend the afternoon in an up-market mall and watch a spectacular fountain display as the sun goes down.

There is much to keep all of the family busy, and Kuala Lumpur with kids is a great choice.

Temples, shopping, architecture, food, art, cultures, history, and colonial architecture are easy to find in bustling KL. Possibly Malaysia’s most well-known tourist attraction, Batu Caves, is just outside KL (see photo above; how to get to Batu Caves from KL here.)

There are some great museums to visit, along with the must-see Petronas Towers. Don’t miss the Botanic Gardens, the huge bird park is almost next door.

Kuala Lumpur was our first stop when we left Australia back in 2013, and we enjoyed it; it was good to be in a modern city for a while, and we loved being able to access authentic Indian food in Malaysia.

We visited Kuala Lumpur again in 2017, 2019, and 2020 and always stayed at one of our favorite places in the world, Back Home Kuala Lumpur.

It’s a solid base in the city with all kinds of accommodations from dorms to family rooms, great food nearby, and always a warm welcome. Take a look at Back Home here on Agoda. (Agoda is an Asia specialist based in Singapore.)

This hotel is also within walking distance of the free KL buses and KL’s “green lung” KL Forest Eco Park.

We have a collection of posts on Things to do in KL below. If you’re lucky enough to be in KL for the annual Thaipusam Festival (usually in February), be sure to take full advantage of that, both in Chinatown and at Batu Caves. The Sun World Waterpark is in, or near, KL.

Malacca

Malacca or Melaka, an easy bus journey to the south of KL, has some beautiful and well-preserved buildings in the old town and a wonderful mix of cultures. You can even book a day trip to Malacca from KL here to see the sights; it’s worth doing if you’re short of time.

It has it all: Chinese, Indian, and Dutch colonial, a remnant of this town’s massive importance in the sea trade routes.

The old town has something of a museum or theme park feel to it and becomes packed with tourists, mostly locals, browsing the shops and large night market.

The museums in Malacca are very interesting, this is where you’ll find the museum shaped like a giant ship, it’s great for kids.

At night, brightly painted cycle rickshaws blaring modern pop music are popular with local tourists. The night markets or walking streets are not to be missed, and there are good shopping opportunities in Malacca’s converted shophouses.

Outside the old town is another modern city with modern conveniences. We have a full post covering Malacca with kids and where to stay in Malacca. (opens in a new tab so you won’t lose your place). We also have a post on how to get to Malacca from KL.

Ipoh

Ipoh is north of Kuala Lumpur, inland, but on the bus route, we took from KL to Penang. We really enjoyed Ipoh and will be back.

Ipoh is a world-famous food destination with visitors arriving for Ipoh white coffee, pandan pastries, tofu, and many other dishes.

Ipoh is also home to The Lost World of Tambun Water Park. We really enjoyed our day there.

If you have the time, there are dozens of temples, caves, and historic monuments to explore, and the Ipoh waterfront walk is very pleasant indeed. Read all about Ipoh Malaysia and things to do in Ipoh in our dedicated post.

The memorial tower to Birch is very interesting indeed. Read about the mysterious “missing” figure on the building in our post above.

Ipoh is also yet another place in Malaysia filled with ancient shophouses and stunning street art murals. Near Ipoh, you will find Kelly’s Castle and some caves to explore.

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