We only spent two weeks in Malaysia because we knew we needed to be in Ko Samui on a certain day. We wanted to take our time to travel there and spend time on Ko Lanta before. After only a few days we realised that this wasn’t nearly enough time to discover this amazing country and enjoy its culture and food.

Itinerary

We had three stops: Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown, and Langkawi. It was very easy to travel between those destinations. We spent four full days in Kuala Lumpur, three full days in Georgetown, and two days in Langkawi. Langkawi was ok, but not our favourite place. We had to go there to catch a boat to Thailand, but other than that wouldn’t have chosen to go there. Nevertheless, we spent a nice couple of days.

Top 3

This could have been easy: 1. Georgetown, 2. Kuala Lumpur, 3. Langkawi. But let’s be a little more specific, shall we?

Penang International Food Festival (PIFF)

Malaysia is a great place for foodies, and Georgetown is worth a visit anytime of the year. We wear lucky enough to be there during the PIFF, and in particular the street food festival on the first weekend. If you have a chance to visit Georgetown during that time, please do it! (More about Georgetown here)

Walk around in the area between Masjid Jamek and Pasar Seni (Kuala Lumpur)

It was really difficult to decide on our favourite thing to do in Kuala Lumpur, so we settled on this slightly vague one. This area between and around the two metro stops has a bunch of interesting things: Petaling Street, Central Market, Merdeka Square, Masjid Jamek, Sri Mariamman Temple, Chinese and Indian restaurants… it represents a bit of all the cultures present in this cosmopolitan place, so should you only have a few hours in Kuala Lumpur, we would send you there. In general, we would of course recommend spending a few days in Kuala Lumpur. (More about Kuala Lumpur here)

Langkawi sunsets

We saw three sunsets in Langkawi, and all of them were incredibly impressive. We saw them in Pantai Cenang, one of the busiest (or maybe the busiest) beach on the island, so we can only imagine what it would be like to watch at a quieter place. Further north you wouldn’t see the planes coming in at sunset, which can be a nice spectacle. (More about Langkawi here)

Things to skip (maybe)

Once again it was quite difficult to think of things we really didn’t like. The below just weren’t highlights for us, but know that we still always enjoyed ourselves.

Langkawi

Many people holiday on Langkawi and for sure the island has a lot to offer. For us, it was a little too big, a little too touristy, a little too busy. It was a necessary stop for us and we enjoyed the beaches, the night market, the sunsets, but if we were to choose an island without considering onward travel, we would probably opt for Tioman or Perenthian on the east coast, or maybe Pangkor a little further south on the west coast.

Jalan Alor (KL)

This street is known in Kuala Lumpur for its Chinese food, but we didn’t really like the atmosphere very much, with so many people shoving menus in our face. We can’t judge the food as we didn’t have any. We walked through and decided to go elsewhere.

Chulia Street (Georgetown)

We went to this well-known night food market on a Monday night, so we’re not sure if it was because of that that there were so few stalls. It was also a pretty touristy zone, with bars and hotels around. There may be a different atmosphere on other nights. Otherwise, we preferred the night market on Kimberley Street.

Food

Need we really say more about food in Malaysia? 😉 Our articles about Kuala Lumpur and about Georgetown hopefully had your mouth watering already!

Will we be back?

For sure! Two weeks are not enough. We want to go to an island on the east coast, to Malacca, and we would like to see a Malayan Tapir. We would also happily go back to Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown.

Budget

We spent a total of 830€ for 12 nights in Malaysia, including everything. We paid an average of 25€ per night for accommodation and 15€ for food. The rest went mostly into transport and we also did a bit of shopping.

What else?

The heat

Malaysia is very humid. The Philippines were certainly hot, but in the evenings it would get cooler and it was much less humid. In Malaysia, we were literally sweating out of our knees. And it didn’t matter whether we were in a city or on an island.

It’s free

In Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown, you could do so many things without spending a single penny. Of course, walking around is always free, but also entering mosques and temples, or parks usually was free of charge, or at the most a small entrance or cloak fee. With the food being super affordable, these destinations are pretty light on your wallet.