DETAILED ITINERARY

Day 1: Arrive in Kuala Lumpur & transfer to Malacca

Arrive in Kuala Lumpur airport, where you will be met and transferred 2.5 hours to your hotel in Malacca, located on the Maritime Silk Road.

Check in to your hotel in this city with a rich cultural heritage, which has in turn been colonised by the Portuguese, Dutch and British.

Day 2: Explore Malacca

This morning enjoy a guided tour of Malacca, the birthplace of Malaysia. This city’s strategic location led to an economic boom, great enough to cause many nations to fight for the right to rule it. As a result, 600 years of various European influences have given birth to Malaysia’s unique lifestyle and rich heritage, which includes a mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European cultures. Malacca has been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also where Malaysia’s Proclamation of Independence was announced.

On our tour we visit the famous A'Famosa Fortress to see the Porta de Santiago, St. Paul's Church, Melaka Tree, Melaka Sultanate Palace (from the outside) and the Independence Memorial. We continue to the Street of Harmony to view the Sri Poyyatha Vinayaga Moorthy Temple, the Kampung Kling Mosque and Cheng Hoon Teng Temple.

We also visit Dutch Square to see the famous Stadthuys, Christ Church, Tan Beng Swee Clock Tower and Queen Victoria's Fountain, before continuing to Heeren Street and Jonker Street in search of some local delicacies.

Learn about Malacca’s 16th century Dutch and Portuguese history, whist munching on freshly baked Portuguese tarts and Peranakan delicacies, and discover how this jigsaw puzzle of red Dutch clock towers, Hindu temples, and sumptuous Chinese-Malay merchant houses fits together to form the DNA of modern Malaysia. It may also be possible to continue to Bukit Cina to see the Poh San Teng Temple and Hang Li Poh's Well, before returning to your hotel.

Afterwards you can take an optional ride in one of the city’s colourful trishaws (3 wheeled bike taxis), and sample a smorgasbord of traditional Malaccan cuisine at Jonker Street Night Market.

Day 3: Kuala Lumpur

This morning we drive 2 hours back to Kuala Lumpur, stopping along the way in the planned city of Putrajaya, whose turquoise domes and pink minarets represent a gleaming modern example of Islamic architecture.

Your afternoon is at leisure. We suggest an optional food tour of Kampung Baru, a 120 year-old traditional Malay village nestled amongst the skyscrapers in the heart of the city, complete with tin-roofed stilt houses, free-range chickens, coconut palms and banana trees. Here you can sample classic Malaysian dishes such as nasi lemak, curry laksa and sweet “pulled tea”.

Tonight you may wish to dine at the top of the iconic Petronas Towers, where you can gaze over the twinkling lights of the city.

Day 4: City Tour

Today enjoy a guided tour of Kuala Lumpur, with architecture that ranges from old Chinese houses and British colonial buildings to modern skyscrapers.

We start at King’s Palace (also known as Istana Negara) which sits on a sprawling 97 hectare plot of land in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. It is built in a combination of rich Islamic and traditional Malay styles. We can visit the National Museum and Independence Square to learn more about the culture and history of Kuala Lumpur, as well as the Sultan Abdul Samad Building and Kuala Lumpur City Gallery to see the development of the city after independence.

We then visit the National Mosque (Masjid Negara), which is located in the heart of the city amid lush green gardens. Built in 1965, it is an extremely elegant building and features a spectacular main dome covered in green and blue tiles, as well as 48 smaller domes spread across a Mecca-inspired courtyard.

Lastly, the iconic Petronas Twin Towers offer an ideal photo opportunity to capture unforgettable memories of the Kuala Lumpur skyline on camera. Close by is KLCC Park, a 50 acre garden that provides a touch of greenery near the towers, as well as lovely Lake Symphony with its bridge and water fountains that light up at night.

In the afternoon we continue our sightseeing of Kuala Lumpur, which in its early days enjoyed a legendary reputation for tin mining. We visit the famous Royal Selangor pewter manufacturer and learn about their pioneering production methods.

Our day ends with a visit to the fascinating Batu Caves, where you can climb 272 steps to the shrine of Lord Murugan. This is one of the most important Hindu temples in the world, with dioramas that tell the epic story of the Ramayana. It is visited by over a million pilgrims every year during the annual Thaipusam festival.

Day 5: Boat transfer to Taman Negara

This morning transfer 4 hours from Kuala Lumpur to Labu Sentral Jetty.

Here you will board a traditional longboat for your scenic 2 hour transfer along the Tembling River to the rainforests of Taman Negara National Park.

On arrival you will explore the forest after dark with a ranger, who will point out a variety of spiders, snakes, and other rainforest reptiles and insects.

Day 6: Taman Negara National Park

Today explore Taman Negara National Park with a  guide. At over 130 million years old, it is one of the most ancient ecosystems on the planet.

We walk along a suspension bridge in the treetops (the longest canopy walk in the world) and cruise upriver to a tumbling waterfall, where you can swim in cooling waterfall pools beneath trailing vines. Mammal sightings are rare, but this is an extraordinary opportunity to feel dwarfed by the scale and antiquity of one of earth’s last great forests.

Day 7: Cameron Highlands

Transfer 4.5 hours by road today from Taman Negara to the Cameron Highlands.

Once covered in misty montane forest, these gentle slopes are today covered in tea fields as far as the eye can see. Find out how some of Asia’s finest tea is planted, plucked, rolled, dried and packed at a tea factory, then taste it and see for yourself whether it rivals your own favourite blend.

In the afternoon enjoy a guided walk through the misty, mossy forests of the highlands which are cloaked in lichens and liverworts. Your guide will point out orchids, spices and medicinal herbs growing wild on the forest floor.

Day 8: Transfer to Penang Island

Today transfer 4 hours from the Cameron Highlands to George Town, the colourful multicultural capital of the island of Penang.

If Malacca is a window on the early Portuguese and Dutch heritage of Malaysia, George Town represents the colonial British era, from the end of the 18th century.

Day 9: George Town

Explore George Town today on a ‘beca’ (trishaw) tour. Once an important Straits of Malacca trading hub, it is known for its British colonial buildings, Chinese shophouses and mosques. Beyond the Old Town, it is a modern city with skyscrapers and shopping malls. If you take the funicular up Penang Hill, you will be rewarded with wonderful views over the city.

End your tour at the Red Garden Food Paradise Night Market, where you can eat street food such as barbecued satay skewers and stir-fried seafood noodles, accompanied by the strains of local bands. You can also learn how to make sandalwood joss sticks the traditional way, then burn them at Penang’s oldest Taoist Temple. You can also go hunting for street art.

Days 10 to 12: Langkawi

Transfer to Penang airport for your flight to Langkawi Island, for some beach relaxation.

Here you can relax on some of Asia’s finest beaches and enjoy optional snorkelling trips to spot giant groupers, blacktip sharks and moray eels swimming amongst rainbow coloured coral reefs. You can also take a boat ride through the mangroves looking out for monitor lizards, macaques and tree crabs.

Day 13: Fly Home

Transfer to Langkawi airport for your flight home.

PRICING

Price is based on two adults sharing en-suite accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis. All local transfers, longboat transfer to Taman Negara and one internal flight are included, as well as sightseeing as stated. International flights are not included and will be quoted separately.

We offer a choice of hotels at different prices, so please discuss your requirements with us. All hotels are subject to availability.

It is essential that you have personal holiday insurance. The FCO should also be consulted.