Orangutans at Sepilok.
A wild orangutan swinging in to the feeding platform, close enough to meet your eye.
We're shaping this page · Trips already planned on request
Malaysia
Three cultures, one country, endless plates.
Towers over a mosque over a temple, hawker stalls that draw people across the world, island beaches on one coast and orangutans in the rainforest on the other. Malaysia is Southeast Asia's great under-rated mix, and we plan it to span city, heritage and wild.
- Best months
- Mar - Oct
- West coast Dec - Mar, Borneo Mar - Oct
- Ideal length
- 10 - 14 days
- Peninsula to Borneo
- Getting there
- Fly into Kuala Lumpur
- Short hops to Penang, Langkawi and Borneo
- Pace
- Unhurried
- Built around your tastes
Why Malaysia
Southeast Asia's best-kept mix.
Malaysia is three trips in one. The city: Kuala Lumpur, where the Petronas Towers rise over Batu Caves and some of Asia's best street food. Heritage and food: the UNESCO old towns of George Town in Penang and Melaka, where Malay, Chinese, Indian and colonial threads cook into something all their own. And the wild: Langkawi's island beaches on the west coast, and across the sea in Borneo, orangutans, river wildlife and Mount Kinabalu. We braid them into one journey.
The places
Where a Malaysia trip goes.
01
Kuala Lumpur
02
Penang (George Town)
03
Melaka
04
Cameron Highlands
05
Langkawi
06
Borneo: Sepilok
07
The Kinabatangan River
08
Mount Kinabalu
Sample journey · Malaysia · 12 days
A taste of what
we craft for you.
One version of a Malaysia journey, not the only one. Built around your tastes.
1
Day 1-2Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur.
The towers, Batu Caves, and a night eating through the hawker streets.
2
Day 3-4George Town
Penang.
George Town's heritage lanes, the street art, and the food, always the food.
3
Day 5-6Cameron Highlands
Cameron Highlands.
Tea plantations and cool forest, a break from the heat.
4
Day 7-9Sabah
Borneo wildlife.
+ Islands
Moments that stay
Signature experiences.
A hawker-stall crawl.
George Town after dark, plate after plate, the best food of the whole trip for a few ringgit.
The towers at night.
The Petronas Towers lit silver against the KL sky from the park below.
A Kinabatangan dawn.
River mist, proboscis monkeys in the trees, hornbills overhead from a slow boat.
Tea in the Cameron Highlands.
Walking the green plantation rows in cool mountain air with a pot at the end.
Jonker Street lanterns.
Melaka's old trading lane glowing red at night, the night market in full swing.
Good to know
Travel essentials.
An easy, rewarding country to travel, with a couple of things worth knowing:
Getting there
Fly into Kuala Lumpur, then short internal flights link the peninsula to Penang, Langkawi and Borneo; we plan the hops so you are not backtracking.
The arrival card
Yes. Malaysia requires the digital arrival card to be submitted online in the days before you fly, even if you are visa-free; we send you the link and a reminder.
Entry
Many nationalities, including Indian passport holders, travel visa-free for short stays at present; a passport valid six months is required. We confirm the current rule for your passport.
Best time to visit
The two coasts have opposite seasons. The west (KL, Penang, Langkawi) is best December to March; Borneo's Sabah is best March to October, which is also the window for orangutans.
How to plan it
The magic is pairing them: a city and a heritage town for the food, then Borneo for the wildlife. We balance the two.
Pace
Ten to fourteen days lets you cross from the peninsula to Borneo without rushing the jungle.
Work in progress
We're shaping this journey.
We're still adding to this page: our own photos, the stays we trust and a map. The planning doesn't wait for it. We already plan Malaysia trips on request, from scratch, around how you travel.
From the founder
“Malaysia runs from Kuala Lumpur to heritage towns and the rainforest of Borneo. The page is still being shaped, but tell us where you'd start and we'll plan it.”
- Ready
The places
Where a trip goes, and why each stop earns its place.
- Ready
A sample journey
A day-by-day route to start the conversation.
- Ready
Essentials
Seasons, entry and getting around, in one place.
- In progress
Photos and gallery
Our own photos, not stock.
- Coming soon
Stays we trust
Hotels and camps we would book ourselves.
Not Malaysia this time?
Ready to explore now.
Best Jun - SepSignature · India
Ladakh
High passes, quiet monasteries and the long road. Where we began.
Best Year roundEast Africa
Kenya
The plains, the herds and a coast to end on.
Still deciding?
Know your month, not your destination?
Tell us when you can travel and we'll suggest where it's at its best.