A taste of Malaysia

You'll see: Kuala Lumpur - Taman Negara National Park - Cameron Highlands - Penang - Langkawi - Map of Malaysia

This two week multifaceted Malaysia adventure itinerary can be booked all year long and includes visits to all of the attractions you don't want to miss. You can do this itinerary either by by shared (mini)bus or private hire car. Starting in the lively city of Kuala Lumpur you'll travel on to the jungle of Taman Negara National Park where you'll be staying in a rustic wooden chalet on the edge of the rainforest which is more than 130 million years old. The higher elevated and cooler tea plantations on the Cameron Highlands are your next travel destination, after which you'll travel back down to the west where you'll be able to live out your tropical island fantasy on the laidback beaches of Pulau Pangkor. Before your holiday comes to an end on white powder sandy beaches scattered with swaying palm trees, you'll also visit the cultural and historic treasures of Penang. You'll spend the last days of your trip on tropical Langkawi before flying back to Australia with a backpack filled with memories and impressions.

Duration:	14 days/ 13 nights Departure daily all year round	Accommodation:	Double room in comfortable and characteristic hotels, lodges, guesthouses and resort. accommodation category 3 and 4
Price:	from $1399 by shared minibus from $1475 self-drive per person - based on 2 people sharing	Includes:	Transport, accommodation with breakfast
Transport:	hire car or (minibus) with driver	Excludes:	Flights - (airport) taxes - other meals - taxis - additional costs for car hire e.g. petrol /additional insurance

Day 1 and 2 - Kuala Lumpur

Most flights from Australia to Kuala Lumpur arrive early in the morning. On arrival at the airport you'll be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel in Kuala Lumpur by car or minibus. After check-in, you'll have the rest of the day to explore the city. Only a short distance from your hotel, you'll find the lively 'Petaling Street'. This street is excellent for endless strolls through small side streets and alleyways. On the day after arrival you'll have all the time you need to discover Kuala Lumpur. A few top attractions you don't want to miss during your stay are the world's highest towers, the Petronas Towers, the neo-colonial Anglo-Moor style train station and the hyper modern Masjid Negara-mosque. Kuala Lumpur also offers quite a lot to often travellers who are more 'West' oriented; from fast food restaurants to large air conditioned shopping malls suitable for seemingly endless shopping sprees.

Malaysia adventure itineraries - Kuala Lumpur

Day 3 - Kuala Lumpur - Taman Negara National Park

At 8:45am you’ll take the luxury bus from across your hotel to the small village of Kuala Tembeling. If you're travelling by hire car, your car will be dropped off at your hotel. All our hire cars are standard equipped with GPS navigation system to help you find your way. Travelling to Taman Negara by car you can stop off oat the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary to join in the daily bathtime with the elephants at 2pm. From there you'll continue on to Kuala Tahan, the headquarters of the Taman Negara National Park, where you'll park the car and cross the river by boat to your resort around 6pm.

Travelling by comfortable bus instead of hire car, the trip from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Tembeling takes about 3 hours. At the port office of Kuala Tembeling you’ll be asked to fill in your personal details for your pass to the Taman Negara National Park. You’ll need to pay extra for your camera (couple of $). Next you’ll step onto a wooden jungle boat for a relaxed boat trip along the Sungai Tembeling river. As you pass the densely overgrown river banks you’ll get a good impression of the Malaysian jungle. After about 3 hours the boat will moor at the jetty of your luxury resort where you’ll be staying during your visit to Taman Negara. In the evening there’s a video presentation about the National Park if you’re interested. The resort has an excellent (buffet) restaurant, but you can also head across the river to one of the floating restaurants in Kuala Tahan.

Travel time: 6 hours

Day 4 and 5 - Taman Negara National Park

This morning enjoy a bit of a lie-in and a leisurely breakfast in the hotel restaurant. There's plenty to do in and around the resort. Make sure you do the Canopy walk, unless you're afraid of heights that is. From the walkway suspended 30m above the ground you’ll get a completely different perspective of the rainforest around you. Despite crowds in July and August we thought it was a spectacular experience. The entire walk takes around 3 hours.

In the afternoon you can relax back at the resort and recover from the tropical heat and exercise. Later on you can go rafting or visit a local village of the Orang Asli tribe, Malaysia’s indigenous inhabitants, go on a sunset cruise or discover the secrets of the jungle at night on the daily night walk. If you're interested make sure you book ahead though, for example at reception when you check in at the hotel. For dinner head to the excellent hotel restaurant, or hop across the river to one of the riverside restaurants in Tahan.

Day 6 - Taman Negara - Cameron Highlands

After breakfast it's time to bid farewell to the jungle and cross the river where you'll find your driver waiting to take you to your next destination the Cameron Highlands. You'll be sharing the minibus with other passengers. If you're travelling by hire car you'll pick up your car in Kuala Tahan and follow the directions of your GPS to the rolling tea plantations. As soon as you start to climb you'll notice that the temperature will begin to drop and tropical vegetation soon makes way for endless hills covered in lush green tea plants. Towards the end of the afternoon you'll arrive in Tanah Rata where you'll find your characteristic hotel in British colonial style... In the evening you can either enjoy dinner at your hotel, or go into town to check out the many tasty dining options there. Try a 'steamboot', a type of Cantonese fondue at a restaurant called Mayflower. The town has a large Indian population so you'll also find lots of excellent curry houses here.

Travel time: 6 hours

Day 7 - Cameron Highlands

Today you might want to go for a nice hike through the rolling hills in the area. You can do this independently; however it may be more fun if a guide can accompany you and tell you all about the area you're walking through. Let us know ahead of time if you would like to participate in an excursion to the Cameron Highlands. If you choose to visit the tea fields, you'll be picked up at your hotel around 10am and taken to one of the largest tea plantations in Malaysia, the Boh Tea Estate. Afterwards you and your guide will head out into the Mossy Forest, so you may want to wear decent walking shoes or sandals today. After visiting the tea factory (which is closed on Mondays by the way) and learning all about the process of making tea, you'll go for a picnic at a lovely spot on the Boh Tea Estate. During the picnic you'll get to taste a wide variety of teas while enjoying the view of the endless terraces of the tea fields. After a while you'll return to the hotel and during the ride back, you'll visit a butterfly garden. Literally hundreds of tropical butterflies flutter around here, one even more colourful than the other.

If you're not going on the tea fields tour, there are several hiking trails in the area. Just ask at reception for routes and maps.

Day 8 - Cameron Highlands - Penang

After breakfast you can spend the rest of the morning chilling on your private veranda or wander into Tanah Rata. Later today you'll board the minibus to the cultural island of Penang. If you're travelling by hire car you'll make your own way across the impressive 8 mile long Penang Bridge to the colourful Georgtetown where your car will be picked up at your hotel.
Penang is a cultural melting pot and a culinary hotspot, even for the local Malaysians. The typical Nyonya cuisine is a delicious mix of Chinese and Malaysian influences. While we're on the subject of food, we definitely recommend having a quick bite to eat at one of the local food stalls. You'll find quite a few at the 'Datuk Keramat Hawker Centre', which is also known as 'Padang Brown'. You'll often find a typical night market here as well. Be sure to ask your hotel's concierge when these markets take place, it differs from time to time. Last, but not least, don't forget a visit to the heart of Georgetown.... Gurney Drive. This hawker's square looking out over the sea is known across all of Malaysia for its' authentic Malaysian cuisine, including dishes such as "Asam Laksa", a salty sour fish soup. Your hotel is located in the heart of Georgtetown within walking distance of all the sights. The hotel has comfortable rooms, a pool and even it's own hawker's centre out front.

Travel time: 4 hours

Day 9 - Penang

If you want to see everything Penang has to offer (and there's plenty), we suggest getting up a bit early. There are several ways to travel around Penang; besides local buses there’s a free shuttle hop-on hop-off service to all the major sights, very useful if you want to visit other places outside Georgetown. You can also take a taxi and ask the driver to take you around the sights. On Penang taxis don't have a meter, so you'll need to agree on a price beforehand.

Within Georgetown (where you'll also be staying) take a trishaw to get about. We can pre-arrange a trishaw ride for you in which case you'll be picked up at your hotel at 9am by your trishaw driver who will take you to some of the most fascinating spots in Georgetown liket he Khoo Khongsi Clan house, Fort Cornwallis and the Goddess of Mercy Temple. In the evening we had dinner at the food court next to the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (Blue Mansion) in Chinatown. It turned into quite a little party later on with live music and the local Chinese having a little dance.

Day 10 - Penang - Langkawi

Today you'll head out early in the morning to Penang's harbour to catch the 08:15 boat to Langkawi; approximately a two hour boat ride. Tickets for the boat will be provided in your travel information pack. There are dozens of taxi cabs at the harbour that can take you to your resort. Your hotel is beautifully situated in the west in Pantai Cenang on a long stretch of beach with restaurants nearby. The resort organises all types of activities: jungle tours, morning and evening cruises, snorkelling-, kayaking- and fishing trips and boat rides to nearby tropical islands.

Of course you can stay at your hotel for dinner; however Langkawi is well known for having exceptional restaurants. A truly wonderful restaurant with an equally amazing view and delicious cuisine (fusion) is the Bon Ton Restaurant, located slightly north of Pantai Cenang. It may mean taking a taxi cab ride to get there, but it's well worth the trip. During our stay on the island we headed north (from Kuah on route to Padang Lalang) and spent an unforgettable evening in 'Barn Thai' which is idyllically located in a stretch of mangrove forest.

Travel time: 2.5 hours

Day 11-13 - Langkawi

You could spend the rest of the day chilling out on the beach, but if you want to do something a little more active there’s plenty to do on or in the water like catamaran sailing or kayaking. Further inland you can take a cable car (approximately $4) to the top of the Gunung Mat Chingchang, the second highest mountain on Langkawi, rising up from the dense green rainforest. If you want to discover the underwater world without getting wet, visit the aptly named Underwater World in Pantai Cenang, one of the largest aquariums in Asia. You can also take a snorkelling trip to one of the nearby islands, visit one of the museums or go hiking to the hot springs of Telaga Air Hangat. For a real thrill, try an 'air trekking experience' (approximately $50), a challenging track high above the ground. If you'd like to find out more about this, just ask your hotel staff.

Malaysia adventure itineraries - Langkawi cocktails

Day 14 - Langkawi - Kuala Lumpur - departure

Your flight from Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur departs late in the afternoon, so you'll have plenty of time to spend in the sun or participating in outdoors activities today. In the afternoon you'll arrange for a taxi cab to pick you up at your hotel and take you to Langkawi Airport. Your domestic flight will take approximately an hour to reach Kuala Lumpur. We will try to book an international flight for you on Malaysia Airlines so that your domestic flight from Langakawi can be added to your flight itinerary and will be operated by the same airline. If there are no seats available on Malaysia Airlines, we'll book a separate domestic flight for you on Air Asia. Once you reach Kuala Lumpur you'll fly on to Australia, and this marks the end of your incredible journey through Malaysia.

Travel time: 1.5 hours to Kuala Lumpur

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