Cities to Visit in Malaysia
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Heritage Towns, Big Cities and the Borneo Pair
Here is the list of 10 Cities to Visit in Malaysia
1. Kuala Lumpur
Known For : Petronas Twin Towers Batu Caves KL Tower
The obvious start and the easiest city in the country to move around, with a rail network that covers most of what a visitor wants. The Petronas Towers and the Batu Caves are the two sights everyone does; Kampung Baru, a Malay village still standing in the middle of the city, Chinatown around Petaling Street and the colonial core at Merdeka Square are where it becomes interesting. Food is the real reason to stay a third night. Two to three nights is right.
Best Time: June to August, December to February
2. Georgetown, Penang
Known For : Penang Hill Kek Lok Si Temple Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
Half of the 2008 UNESCO inscription and the food capital of Malaysia by most local reckoning. The draw is the shophouse grid, the clan jetties out over the water, the street art trail and hawker centres like Chulia Street and New Lane, where you eat standing up for very little. Penang Hill and the Kek Lok Si temple are the two trips out of town. Plan the visit around eating rather than around sights and it will make more sense.
Best Time: December - March
3. Melaka
Known For : The Shore Sky Tower A'Famosa Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum
The other half of the 2008 inscription, and a very different place: smaller, more compact and layered with Portuguese, Dutch and British occupation on top of the Malay sultanate that made it a trading port in the first place. The Dutch square, Jonker Street, the Baba Nyonya houses and the river walk sit within a few blocks. Come on a Friday or Saturday for the Jonker night market. It is three and a half to four hours from Singapore by coach and two from Kuala Lumpur.
Best Time: April to May; October
4. Ipoh
Known For : Perak Cave Temple Concubine Lane Kellie's Castle
The heritage city that has not been discovered yet, two hours north of Kuala Lumpur by train, built on tin money like Georgetown and carrying much the same shophouse architecture with a fraction of the visitors. Old Town is walkable, the white coffee is a local institution rather than a marketing line, and the limestone caves and temples on the edge of the city are the half day out. It is also the gateway to the Cameron Highlands, another two hours on.
Best Time: December - February, June - July
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5. Kuching, Sarawak
Known For : Fort Margherita
The most likeable city in Malaysia and the reason to fly to Borneo. It sits on a river with a long waterfront, a mix of Chinese, Malay and Iban culture that is visible in the food, and the best state museum in the country. The name means cat in Malay, which the city has embraced enthusiastically. What most people come for is what lies outside: Bako National Park, the Semenggoh orangutan centre where the animals are wild and free-ranging, and longhouse visits upriver.
Best Time: June to October
6. Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Known For : Mount Kinabalu Mari Mari Cultural Village Poring Hot Springs
A functional city rather than a beautiful one, and that is fine, because it is a base. The islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman park are twenty minutes offshore by boat, Mount Kinabalu is two hours inland and needs permits booked well ahead, and Sipadan diving is a further flight and a long drive east. In the city itself the night market and the sunset from the waterfront are the evening. Give it one night at each end of whatever you came to Sabah for.
Best Time: February - April
7. Kuantan, Pahang
Known For : Lao Zi Temple Teluk Chempedak
The east coast capital and the city most itineraries skip, which is the honest description rather than a recommendation to reroute for it. Teluk Cempedak is the city beach, there are caves and a waterfall inland, and it is the mainland jumping off point for Tioman. The east coast runs on the opposite monsoon to the west, so November to February is wet and rough here while the Straits side is fine. Come as part of an east coast run rather than on its own.
Best Time: April to September
8. Putrajaya
Known For : Putra Mosque IOI City Mall Putrajaya Putrajaya Botanical Garden
Not a city that grew but one that was built, from the 1990s, to take the federal government out of Kuala Lumpur, and it is worth seeing for exactly that reason. Wide boulevards, a lake, and a set of very large public buildings in a deliberate blend of Islamic and modern architecture, the Putra Mosque and the Prime Minister's complex among them. It is half empty at weekends, which makes it strange and photogenic. Twenty five minutes from KLIA, so it works as a stop on the way in or out.
Best Time: April to August
9. Johor Bahru
Known For : Legoland Malaysia Angry Birds Activity Park Johor Zoo
The southern gateway, right on the Singapore border, and a city most travellers pass through rather than visit. What it has is Legoland Malaysia, a good night food scene, the Sultan Abu Bakar mosque above the strait, and prices that bring Singaporeans across the causeway in their hundreds of thousands every weekend. Desaru and the east Johor coast are ninety minutes away. Cross very early or very late, because the queues at the crossings are the main event.
Best Time: April to June
10. Kuala Terengganu
Known For : Chinatown Terengganu Taman Tamadun Islam Pasar Payang
The most distinctively Malay city on this list, on the east coast, where the pace and the dress are noticeably more conservative than in Kuala Lumpur and the crafts tradition is still working: songket weaving, brassware and boat building. The Chinatown lane, the island mosque and the state museum are the day. It is the mainland gateway to Redang and the Perhentians, which is why most visitors are here for one night. The east coast monsoon closes the islands from about November to February.
Best Time: February to April
Malaysian cities are not interchangeable and they sort into three groups. The first is the heritage group: Georgetown and Melaka, which share a single UNESCO World Heritage inscription made in 2008, plus Ipoh, which has the same shophouse architecture without the crowds. The second is the modern group: Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, which was purpose-built as the administrative capital in the 1990s, and Johor Bahru on the Singapore border. The third is everything east and off the peninsula: Kuching and Kota Kinabalu in Borneo, which are closer to jungle and diving than to any of the above, and the two east coast cities, Kuantan and Kuala Terengganu, which most itineraries skip. Peninsular and Borneo Malaysia are a two and a half hour flight apart, so combining Georgetown with Kota Kinabalu is a bigger commitment than the map suggests.
This post was published by Harshitha
FAQs on Cities to Visit in Malaysia
Which cities should you visit in Malaysia?
Kuala Lumpur for the transport and the food, then Georgetown and Melaka, which together hold a single UNESCO inscription from 2008 and are the two heritage cities worth planning around. Add Ipoh if you want the same shophouse architecture with far fewer visitors. If you are going to Borneo, Kuching is the more likeable city and Kota Kinabalu is the better base for mountains, islands and diving.
How many days do you need?
Ten days covers Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown and Melaka comfortably, with a night in Ipoh if you take the train north. Borneo is a separate trip rather than an add-on: peninsular Malaysia and Kota Kinabalu are about two and a half hours apart by air, so combining them means two internal flights and losing most of two days to airports.
Which is better, Georgetown or Melaka?
Georgetown for food and for the scale of the old town, Melaka for compactness and for the layers of Portuguese, Dutch and British history on top of the Malay sultanate. Georgetown needs three nights and rewards them; Melaka can be done properly in two. If you only have time for one and you care about eating, it is Georgetown.
When is the best time to go?
It depends which coast. The west, meaning Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown, Melaka and Ipoh, is reasonable all year with the driest stretch from roughly December to February. The east coast, Kuantan and Kuala Terengganu, runs on the opposite monsoon and is wet and rough from about November to February, which also closes the Perhentian and Redang islands. Borneo is wettest from November to February.
Is Putrajaya worth a visit?
For an afternoon, and for a specific reason: it is a purpose-built administrative capital from the 1990s rather than a city that grew, so the boulevards, the lake and the very large government buildings in a blended Islamic and modern style are all deliberate. It is twenty five minutes from the airport, which makes it a sensible stop on the way in or out rather than a destination on its own.
Which Malaysian city is most underrated?
Ipoh, without much argument. It has the tin-money shophouse architecture that draws people to Georgetown, a walkable old town, a genuine local coffee culture, limestone caves and temples on the edge of the city, and a fraction of the visitors. It is two hours from Kuala Lumpur by train and two more from the Cameron Highlands, so it fits into a northbound route without a detour.
