Melaka City
Most visitors pause for a photo here before hiking to the ruined church on Bukit St Paul. Porta de Santiago was built as a Portuguese fortress in 1511;…
Must-see attractions in Malaysia
Melaka City
The highlight of visiting the charming Malay village of Kampung Morten is this living museum within a 1920s kampung (village) house. Visitors (or rather,…
Malaysia
The small state park in the northwest of Perlis runs for 36km along the Thai border. It comprises the Nakawan Range of limestone hills and the Mata Ayer…
Kuala Lumpur
The brief life of P Ramlee, the charismatic singer, actor and movie director who was Malaysia's biggest star in the 1950s, is chronicled at this small…
Sarawak
Shaped like a sapé (a traditional stringed instrument), this stainless-steel monument commemorates the March 1945 parachute drop into Bario by British and…
Melaka City
Roughly 3km east of Dutch Square, this seaside square populated by seafood restaurants is the focal point of Melaka City’s Eurasian community. Many of the…
Sarawak
From Bario it’s a 1½-hour walk to Pa’ Umor, and another 15 minutes to Arur Bilit Farm, home to Batu Narit, an impressive stone carving featuring a human…
Kuching
Turn off Jln India (between No 37 and No 39A) or waterfront Jln Gambier (between No 24 and No 25A) onto tiny Indian Mosque Lane (Lg Sempit) and you enter…
Pulau Langkawi
The story of Mahsuri, a Malay princess who was unjustly accused of adultery and put a curse on Langkawi in revenge, is commemorated at this historical…
Peninsular Malaysia's Northeast
Located 56km southwest of Kuala Terengganu, Sekayu Falls are part of the Sekayu Recreational Forest, a large park popular with locals on Fridays, weekends…
Sabah
Bukit Belanda – Dutch Hill – is a 420m hill located behind the village of Bilit. The land is owned by the citizens of Bilit, who, despite pressures from…
Malaysia
Rimbun Dahan is a private arts centre open to the public only a handful of times each year (check online for dates). The property boasts reconstructed…
Melaka City
This 18th-century, Dutch-period residential house was restored as a model conservation project. A guide is on hand to explain the features and history…
George Town
This museum compound is dedicated to the 1950s and '60s movie star P Ramlee, who was born here. Ramlee was particularly known for his singing; he also…
George Town
This impressive Georgian-style mansion is built on the site of the original residence of Francis Light, founder of the colony and native of Suffolk,…
George Town
This impressive 1903 building, with rows of columns holding up balconies and shaded exterior corridors, is Malaysia's oldest high court. Outside is a…
Melaka City
Fixing an unflinching gaze on Malaysian prisons, past and present, this museum occupies – naturally enough – a former prison. There is interesting detail…
George Town
A typical feature of Malaysian colonial cities is the padang, which is an open playing field surrounded by public buildings. George Town’s padang…
Kuala Terengganu
This city beach is popular with families; children will enjoy flying kites here. However, it’s not the best beach in Malaysia given the strong winds and…
Melaka City
If you're heading up to Bukit China to check out the old graves, it's hard to resist stepping inside this temple at the hill's base. 'Precious Hill Temple…
Melaka
Melaka's zoo has been going for more than 50 years and is home to more than 200 species of animal, from tigers and lions to less ferocious critters like…
George Town
This Thai temple, dating from 1942, is home to the 'Lifting Buddha', a renowned, 100-year-old, gold-leaf-encrusted Buddha statue about the size of a well…
Sarawak
Vendors from Kalimantan (Indonesia) cross the mountains on motorbikes to sell fruit, electronics, handicrafts, rattan furniture and clothes at this…
Malaysia
Next to the brass-domed mosque, visible almost immediately as you turn right onto Sri Menanti's main road from N29, is the royal cemetery, which has a…
George Town
There are all kinds of attractions – most targeted at families – in this major revamp of part of George Town's iconic KOMTAR tower. The biggest draw is…
Sandakan
This small museum near the beginning of the Heritage Walk is a bit neglected but worth a look for the old photos and memorabilia of Sandakan's tumultuous…
Johor Bahru
The marvellous Istana Besar, once the Johor royal family’s principal palace, was flung up in Victorian style by Anglophile sultan Abu Bakar in 1866. It…
Kuching
This homage to the city’s namesake, located 8km north of the centre, features hundreds of entertaining, surprising and bizarre kucing (cat) figurines –…
Penang
This small seaside temple overlooking fishing boats and the second Penang bridge has a shrine dedicated to the legendary Admiral Zheng He. Also known as…
Sarawak
One glance at this rather bizarre medical museum’s exhibits and you’ll be glad saving your life never required the application of early-20th-century…
George Town
Believed to be the oldest single Jewish burial ground in Southeast Asia, here you'll find some 107 graves, the earliest of which dates back to 1835. The…
Museum of Islamic Civilisation
Kota Kinabalu
This collection of historical objects from all over the Islamic world is very engaging. Look out for replica mosques from Melaka and Sandakan, ornate…
Sandakan
This traditional Malay stilt village, located about 3km east of the city centre, is the original settlement Sandakan grew from back in 1879. It's still an…
George Town
Since this splendid collection of modern and contemporary art works, mainly from Vietnam and Cambodia, is displayed in the home of their owner, Adrian…
Melaka City
A Shanghai-based auction house has funded this impressive gallery split between two large converted warehouses facing the Melaka River and entered from…
Melaka City
Melaka's revolving viewing deck looks worryingly like a theme-park ride without the seat belts. Luckily, this is a leisurely thrill ride and one with air…
Johor Bahru Old Chinese Temple
Johor Bahru
Once the centre of JB's Chinese immigrant community, and used by five different ethnic groups to worship five different Chinese gods, this small but…
Cameron Highlands
Not hiking today? Explore a warren of regional miscellany instead. There are displays on wartime history and the 1962 landslide, but this is less a museum…
Melaka Malay Sultanate Water Wheel
Melaka City
In 2006, work on the Menara Taming Sari revolving tower uncovered another part of the city's fortress walls. The revolving tower was relocated further…
Penang
Perched on top of the steep Bukit Batu Maung hill, this former British fort, built in the 1930s, was used as a prison and torture camp by the Japanese…
