5 Places to Visit in Malaysia
Compared to its neighboring countries like Thailand and Singapore, Malaysia is relatively low-key in tourism. Lately, there is news about the missing airplane and the crash in Ukraine. But where exactly is Malaysia and what are the places to visit in Malaysia? Why should you take a trip to Malaysia?
The country is divided into two, East and West Malaysia. East Malaysia consists of states of Sabah and Sarawak, usually known as the island of Borneo in travel guidebooks. You can take a
two hour 31 minute flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) and
one hour 43 minutes to Kuching (Sarawak).
Malaysia is located south of Thailand and north of Singapore. Singapore was part of Malaysia before 1965.
Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia. It takes
18 hours 5 minutes (not including connecting time) to fly from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur. There are no direct flights to Kuala Lumpur and you can find
17 connecting flights through Travelmath’s calculator.
Take a look at Travelmath’s 5 places to visit in Malaysia:
One: Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is modern with grand colonial buildings, high rise towers and sizzling hot food. The iconic Petronas Twin Towers standing at 88 floors are the tallest twin buildings in the world and most photographed landmark in Malaysia.
You can spend days inside the Twin Towers. Inside are thousands of shops, movie theatres, a Philharmonic Orchestra Hall, restaurants, food courts, science discovery center and the Skybridge. The Skybridge is the world’s highest double-decked bridge at 170 meters high. It links the towers on the 41st and 42nd floors offering views of the city.
For even better views and to be up close to the spire, head over to the Observation Deck on the 86th floor for views of the city and exhibits.
Information:
Petronas Towers
Kuala Lumpur’s colonial buildings include the Railway Station, Merdeka Square, St Mary’s Anglican Cathedral and Royal Selangor Club. For more local touches, visit Batu Caves, Chinatown and Kampung Baru.
Penang
Penang or Pulau Pinang is an island north of Kuala Lumpur. It takes
three hours 59 minutes driving time and
52 minutes flying time to get to Penang from Kuala Lumpur.
Penang is an island paradise since the early 20th century and continues to attract tourists from all over the world. The British named the city center area Georgetown during the British colonization period. The unique culture, architectural heritage and perfect fusion of the East and West made Georgetown one of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites.
Penang has miles and miles of beaches and has the best representation of food in Malaysia.
Information:
Penang Tourism
Melaka (Malacca)
Melaka is another UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in Malaysia. This colonial town was once the most important city for the Portuguese, Dutch and British colonization periods.
You only need a day tour to this historical city to visit the old Portuguese fort called A’Farmosa, Dutch Stadthuys, St. Paul’s Hill and St. Paul’s Church, Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, a Malaysia’s oldest Buddhist temple and shopping in Jonker Street. A day tour usually takes about eight hours. It takes
less than two hours to drive from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka.
Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu is located in Sabah East Malaysia, a
two hour 31 minute flight from Kuala Lumpur. Kota Kinabalu is the gateway to many adventurous tour locations like Mount Kinabalu climb, sea walking or scuba diving in Sapi Island (a 15 minute boat ride from Kota Kinabalu) or white water rafting in Padas River.
Information:
Mount Kinabalu
Pulau Perhentian
Pulau Perhentian is the ideal island to get away from it all for sunbathing, swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing, boat cruising or reading. Located in the east coast of West Malaysia, Pulau Perhentian is divided into two islands, Pulau Perhentian Besar (Big Island) and Pulau Perhentian Kecil (Small Island).
Take a
flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Trengganu, take a taxi to the fishing town of Kuala Besut and take an hour boat ride to the island paradise of Pulau Perhentian.
Information:
Pulau Perhentian
Malaysia is a cultural melting pot in South East Asia with more than half of its population of Malay decent and the rest consist of Chinese, Indian, indigenous people and Eurasian (Asian-European). It is definitely a country not to be missed.
