Best Time To Visit Cameron Highlands

April and May bring the first of Peninsular Malaysia's two rain peaks. Afternoons close in reliably, so plantation and forest walks need an early start.

The tea terraces look their best now, because the rain keeps them vivid. That is the trade for losing most of your afternoons.

June and July sit between the two rain peaks and are the second-best stretch of the year here.

They are also the Malaysian school holidays. The road up from Tapah and the guesthouses in Tanah Rata both fill, so book ahead rather than turning up.

August and September see the rain building back towards the annual peak. Cloud sits on the ridge far more often, which is what takes the views away.

Mount Brinchang and the Mossy Forest go first. Both are worth saving for the drier months rather than gambling on one clear morning.

November is the wettest month of the year and October is close behind. The approach roads are steep, and rain can slow or close sections, so leave slack in your travel days.

Switching within Malaysia will not help, because these months are wet from George Town to Kota Kinabalu and Genting Highlands. For fixed dates, Hua Hin in Thailand is dry through November.

December is past the November peak but still wet, and it is the coolest part of the year.

It is also the busiest. The year-end holidays fill Tanah Rata and Brinchang, so rates climb before the weather has improved.

The Cameron Highlands sits between about 800 and 1,600 metres, and no month is dry. Even January, the driest, gets steady rain, so a dry forecast is not what you should be waiting for.

Pick your dates on crowds and price instead. The cool air that people come up from Ipoh and the lowlands to find is there in every month of the year.