For the food, the variety and the value. Malaysia's three-way Malay, Chinese and Indian culture has produced one of Asia's great cuisines, and the country packs city life, UNESCO heritage, rainforest, mountains and beaches on two seas into one easy, affordable, English-speaking trip. Kuala Lumpur and George Town anchor most first visits; Borneo's orangutans and jungle rivers reward going further.

How many days do you need in Malaysia?

A week covers the west-coast highlights — Kuala Lumpur and Penang, with their food and heritage, and perhaps the Cameron Highlands or Melaka between them. Ten days to two weeks lets you add the east-coast islands or, better, fly to Borneo for the orangutans, the Kinabatangan River and Mount Kinabalu. Many visitors fold a few days in KL and Penang into a wider Southeast Asia trip.

When is the best time to visit Malaysia?

It depends which coast. The west — Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi — is driest from December to March; the east coast of the peninsula and Borneo are driest from around March to October and wettest from November to February. Malaysia is hot and humid all year with no cool season, and west-coast rain usually comes in short afternoon bursts, so the cities are worth visiting at any time.

Is Malaysia easy to travel around?

Yes — it is one of the easier countries in Southeast Asia to navigate. English is widely spoken, the road and rail networks on the peninsula are good, and budget flights link the peninsula to Borneo and the islands cheaply. Within cities, Grab (the local rideshare) is cheap and ubiquitous, and Kuala Lumpur has an extensive rail network. Distances to Borneo are best covered by air.

Do I need a visa for Malaysia?

Most visitors from the UK, EU, US, Australia and many other countries can enter Malaysia visa-free for up to 90 days for tourism, though rules vary by nationality and change over time, so check the current requirements before you travel. An onward or return ticket and a passport valid for at least six months are usually required. Borneo's states of Sabah and Sarawak have their own entry stamps.

What is the food like in Malaysia?

Malaysian food is the headline reason many people come — a daily blend of Malay, Chinese and Indian cooking found everywhere from street stalls to old kopitiams. Signatures include nasi lemak (coconut rice with sambal), char kway teow, laksa, roti canai and satay, with Penang's nasi kandar and char kway teow among the most celebrated. Hawker centres are the heart of it: cheap, casual and outstanding.

Boutique Hotels in Malaysia - City & Rainforest Stays

Where to go in Malaysia

For most visitors the peninsula's west coast is the natural first trip, and our Malaysian collection sits along it, in the two cities that best repay a stay.

Kuala Lumpur

The capital is the usual entry point — a hot, energetic city built around the Golden Triangle, where the Petronas Twin Towers and the malls of Bukit Bintang meet the older grid of Chinatown. It runs on its food, its shopping and the easy collision of Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures, with the Batu Caves a short ride north and an efficient rail network tying it together. Three days covers the towers, the markets and the street food; it also makes a natural hub for onward travel across the peninsula and the wider region. Our Kuala Lumpur listing is a serviced-apartment hotel, suited to families and longer city stays who want space and self-catering in a central setting.

Penang

A short flight or drive north, Penang is the heritage and food island, and for many the highlight of a Malaysian trip. Its capital, George Town, earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 2008 for a walkable core of Straits-Chinese shophouses, clan temples and colonial mansions, and it is widely held to be the street-food capital of the country. Beyond the heritage streets the island holds the beaches of Batu Ferringhi, the funicular up Penang Hill, and a national park of jungle trails and quiet coves. Our two Penang hotels are both in the heart of George Town, in restored heritage buildings — the kind of characterful, independent stays the city does best.

Beyond the cities

The rest of Malaysia repays more time. On the peninsula, the cool tea plantations of the Cameron Highlands, the historic Portuguese-Dutch-British port of Melaka, and the islands of the east coast — Tioman, the Perhentians, Redang — draw those after hills or sea. Across the South China Sea, Malaysian Borneo is the country at its wildest: the orangutan sanctuaries and Kinabatangan River cruises of Sabah, the caves of Gunung Mulu, the longhouses of Sarawak, and Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak between the Himalayas and New Guinea.

When to go to Malaysia

Malaysia is hot and humid year-round, just north of the equator, with no real cool season — the variation is in the rain. The west coast, where Kuala Lumpur and Penang sit, is driest and most comfortable from around December to March, while the east coast of the peninsula and Borneo see their wettest months from November to February. There is no wrong time to visit the west-coast cities; rain tends to come in short, heavy afternoon bursts rather than settling in for days, and the heritage streets, malls and hawker centres carry on regardless.