10 Great Holiday Destinations in Malaysia

1. Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, better known as KL, is a successful capital city of Malaysia where the charm of its colonial past has been well retained. A mix of old and new, KL features some of the world's highest buildings and diversity of religious buildings and grand colonial structures interspersed by attractive and welcoming gardens and parks. This modern city has boasts numerous worthwhile attractions and iconic landmarks, including the enormous Petronas Twin Towers and equally impressive KL Tower. Merdeka Square is the core of KL's historical buildings which has significant historical importance for every Malaysian. While, nearby Chinatown adds that extra kick to KL's already multicultural persona. There's also a Little India in KL, around the area occupied by Jame Mosque, where you'll find flower stalls, Indian Muslim and Malay costumes, and traditional items. The Lake Gardens, a large sanctuary that houses Kuala Lumpur's bird park, butterfly park, National Museum, National Mosque, Orchid Garden, Hibiscus Garden and other attractions, is one of most tourists visited places.

The so called 'Golden Triangle' is a large area that encompasses a number of major streets which bordered by three roads, Imbi, Sultan Ismail and Raja Chulan. This area consists many shopping malls, shops and outlets, bars and restaurants, world class hotels and many high-rise and commercial buildings, especially in the area of Bukit Bintang Street.  KL is dotted with numerous sites of religious importance. On of the most famous location is Batu Caves where tourists may have the opportunity to witness the ancient traditions of the Thaipusam festival (usually in late January or early February each year). A visit to the Chinese Thean Hou Temple is also a great choice. As the addition, a journey with an hour drive to Genting Highland to enjoy the fun of indoor and outdoor theme parks and casino facilities with a cooler climate, is the bonus attraction to those who visits KL.           

2. Penang Island

The island of Penang (also known as ''Pearl of the Orient'') is one of most iconic tourist destination in northwestern coast of Peninsula Malaysia. This small island renowned as top holiday destination in Southeast Asia through its natural beauty, unique cultural heritage, delightful cuisines and a great shopping paradise. The main tourist attractions include the scenic views of this fascinating island from Penang Hill, beautiful sandy beaches in Batu Ferringhi, famous Penang Butterfly Farm, Tropical Spice Garden and Tropical Fruit Farm in Teluk Bahang and enjoy a natural beauty of coastal hill dipterocarps, mangrove forest, beaches and rocky shores in Penang National Park. Georgetown is the capital of Penang state and listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in July 2008. This capital city is rich of heritage and historical buildings includes the famous Khoo Kongsi, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, Fort Cornwallis and more. The Penang Island also home to many popular religious buildings such as Kapitan Keling Mosque, Kek Lok Si Temple, Mahamariamman Temple, St. George Church, Wat Chaiyamangkalaram Temple and others. Due to the unlimited  tourist attraction, millions of tourists around the region continuously visiting this lovely island each year without any disappointment.

3. Cameron Highland

Cameron Highlands is located in Pahang state is one of Malaysia's top tourist destinations, a collection of peaceful townships perched 1500 meters high on a nest of Titiwangsa Mountain Range. Cooling resorts, tea plantations, strawberry farms, flower farms and other vegetable farms sprawl lazily across lush valleys and meandering hillslopes, the perfect setting for a relaxing holiday. The beautiful tranquil tea plantation, pleasant landscapes and cold climate impart a special experience upon the multitudes of visitors each year. Meanwhile, a different world lies hidden away among the natural surroundings - a rainforest ecosystem rich with the wonders of nature, long held with fascination by researchers and naturalists across the world.

4. Langkawi Island

Officially called as Langkawi, is an archipelago of 100 islands, about 30 km off the coast of northwest Malaysia. These islands with beautiful tropical beaches, soothing breeze, crystal clear waters, rich and varied marine life, delicious seafood and plenty of leisure options, have become a good holiday spot for family vacationers, leisure travellers, adventure seekers as well as honeymooners. To enhance the interesting, Langkawi is also a tax-free island with offers a fantastic opportunity to do extensive shopping. Along with local handicrafts especially 'Batik' silk prints, there are numerous shops selling clothes, jewellery, paintings and much more. Langkawi delights the taste buds of the tourists with lip-smacking seafood along with some of the finest cuisines of the world. In addition, the plethora of leisure activities enthrals the visitors a lot. Due to the unlimited attractions provided by these lovely islands, Langkawi has become 'a must visit tourist destination' while travelling to Malaysia.

5. Taman Negara National Park

Taman Negara National Park is a perfect holiday destination to those who loves the nature of rainforest. This national park is one of the oldest unspoilt rainforests in the world, and it is estimated to have evolved over 130 million years. Spanning an area of 4,343 square km with largely encompassing Pahang states and also straddles the borders of two other states, Kelantan and Terengganu, Taman Negara is the largest park and the most extensive protected rainforest area in Malaysia. It is home to more than 10,000 species of plants, 350 species of birds and local mammals including mouse deer, barking deer, tapirs, wild boars, elephants, leopards, tigers, and monkeys. The Peninsular Malaysia’s highest mountain in the Tahan Range, namely, Gunung Tahan at 2,187m is also located in this area. Each year, many travellers and adventure seekers come far away to explore and experience its natural treasures of unspoilt verdant jungles, rivers and mountains. The park is a great place to enjoy trekking along the network of jungle trails with expert guides available. Other activities include bird watching, cave exploration, white-water rafting, guided nature walks, fishing and mountain climbing.

6. Perhentian Island

Perhentian Island (or Pulau Perhentian in Malay language) locating just 21km off the northeast coast of Terengganu in Peninsular Malaysia, this beautiful island is famous for its palm-fringed white sandy beaches, turquoise blue sea and a laid back lifestyle. The island comprises Pulau Perhentian Besar (The Big Island) and Pulau Perhentian Kecil (The Small Island). The island is accessible from the small fishing port of Kuala Besut via a 40-minute sea journey by speedboat. The islands have a number of activities on its beaches and forests, with the most popular being snorkeling and scuba diving. The more relaxing pursuits are sunbathing and swimming and, apart from these, the island also offers activities like canoeing, jungle trekking, fishing and island hopping. Owing to the islands' protected status, the main tourist activities have minimal environmental impact. This makes Pulau Perhentian famous in the region for its stunning preserved natural world and diverse marine life.

7. Kinabalu National Park

Kinabalu National Park is Sabah’s oldest park and covers an area of 745 square km around Mount Kinabalu and encompasses a variety of habitats, elevations and vegetation zones. It was designated as a protected national park in 1964, and later in 2000 it was marked as Malaysia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the incredible richness of its tropical rainforests and biodiversity combined with its unique geological, topographical and climatic conditions. There are six major topographical features occur within the park. These include peaks and plateaus, gullies, rivers, streams, waterfalls, hot springs, caves and granitic slabs. The main attraction in this national park is Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in Malaysia which is 4,095 m above sea level. Each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors come from different regions to experience the fascinating of this national park where there is no other place on the earth.

8. Malacca

Malacca is one of Malaysia's most popular tourist destinations due to its historical wealth. It was listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site title in 2008 and has seen an enormous redevelopment and influx of visitors. Located down in the south-west of the Malay Peninsula, Malacca has a quaint river flowing through its centre and an enviable coastal positioning. This historical city was loaded with numerous monuments and old buildings long time ago from past colonial powers; Portuguese, Dutch and British. Until now, they are all well preserved. Among them are Stadhuys (oldest Dutch building), Christ Church (Dutch church), Red Square, Porta de Santiago or A Formosa (old Portuguese fort) and St. Paul's Church (originally built by Portuguese, after Dutch siege it became St. Paul's). A part from that, Malacca city also boasts decent shopping, a noticeable night-time tourism buzz, river cruise with much of the activity being centred around the vibrant districts of Chinatown (especially around the Jonker Walk Night Market), Bukit China and Little India, as well as along the Jalan Taman Melaka Raya. Due to its historical attraction and state government's effort has leading Malacca as one of the well known tourist destination around the world. 

9. Gunung Mulu National Park  

Gunung Mulu National Park is another UNESCO World Heritage Site with an area of 52,864 hectares, located deep in Sarawak state where lie the world most spectacular caves. Over millennia the flow of water draining from the slopes of Gunung Mulu towards the sea has cut deep gorges through the Park’s limestone mountains and, within the rock itself, a complex network of vast caves has been formed. Among these caves, Lang Cave, Deer Caver, Clearwater Cave and Sarawak chamber are the most popular. Mulu continues to retain this sense of adventure associated with its’ original exploration through the provision of adventure caving and other adventure activities such as climbing Pinnacles, hike Gunung Mulu, Night Jungle wall and etc. Beside that, Gunung Mulu has an exceptional level of biological diversity with over 3,500 species of plants recorded in the park. These include a variety of highly specialized orchids, pitcher plants, palms, gingers and a most unusual ‘One Leaf’ plant to be found at the entrance of certain caves. There is also a large diversity of fauna species that include deer, monkeys, giant porcupine, civets and all of Borneo’s hornbills. Gunung Mulu is certainly a perfect destination for adventure seekers, especially for those who likes cave exploration.

10. Sarawak Cultural Village

The Sarawak Cultural Village is another favourite destination in Sarawak state. This village is situated about 35 km from Kuching, capital city of Sarawak and tucked away on the foothills of Mount Santubong with a built up area of 14 acres. This traditional village also referred to as a living museum and depicts the heritage of the major racial groups in Sarawak and conveniently portrays the respective lifestyle. It boasts seven ethnic houses representative of the Malay, the Chinese, the Penan and the longhouses of the Bidayuh, Iban, Orang Ulu and the Melanau. These houses display their skills in making traditional handicrafts such as beading, wood-carving, bamboo-carving, pua-weaving, and also show the traditional methods of making sago, and crushing sugar cane. One of the attractions in this cultural village is to take a look at how the Penans make blowpipes and other hunting instruments. Another highlight is cultural dance performed by award-winning dancers and musicians present their famous multi-cultural performances. Some of the annual events held at the Sarawak Cultural Village include the Gawai Open House (Dayaks' Harvest Festival) in June and the Rainforest World Music Festival, usually in July of each year. The Sarawak Cultural Village is indeed a unique destination for a memorable family adventure vacation.