On the map a route through Malaysia looks simple: a peninsula with two coasts, and across the sea a slice of Borneo. The hard part is not the distances, it is the rain. The west coast is dry when the east coast is in monsoon, and the other way round. Get it wrong and you end up on a jetty in Kuala Besut where no boat is leaving.
So here is our route: fourteen stops, from Kuala Lumpur along the west coast and the east coast to Borneo, in an order that moves with the seasons. For every stop you get how many days you need, how to reach the next one and where we would sleep. Then we cut it into three sizes: three, four and six weeks. You get 90 days visa free in Malaysia, so even the long version fits with room to spare.
Every stop links to our page for that place, with the neighbourhoods, the hostels and a day by day plan. Want the big picture of the country first? Start with backpacking Malaysia.
The route at a glance
- Kuala Lumpur (3 days)
- Melaka (2 days)
- Ipoh (2 days)
- Cameron Highlands (2 to 3 days)
- Penang (3 days)
- Langkawi (3 to 4 days)
- Perhentian Islands (3 to 4 days)
- Taman Negara (2 to 3 days)
- Tioman (3 to 4 days)
- Kuching (3 to 4 days)
- Kota Kinabalu (3 to 4 days)
- Sepilok (1 to 2 days)
- Kinabatangan (2 to 3 days)
- Semporna (3 to 4 days)
Why this order? Because the three parts of the country each have their own dry season, and they line up neatly one after the other. The west coast around Penang and Langkawi is driest from December to March. The east coast islands open around March and are at their best from April to August. And Borneo is dry from March to September. Start in Kuala Lumpur in March and you catch the west coast at the end of its dry season, you are on the Perhentians in April as the sea calms down, and then you fly to Borneo while it stays dry there.
There is no backtracking either. You travel south to north up the west coast, cross over at the top to the east coast, drop down it to Tioman and fly from the south to Kuching. On Borneo you work from west to east, and from Tawau, close to Semporna, you fly back to Kuala Lumpur. You cross the sea once there and once back, and you never ride the same road twice.
Three, four or six weeks?
Add up the minimum for every stop and you get 35 days, plus a few long travel days between the coasts. So everything in three weeks is not going to happen. It does not have to: with fewer stops the rest gets room to breathe, and Borneo deserves a week whatever you do.
3 weeks: the west coast, one island and Borneo
Kuala Lumpur (3), Cameron Highlands (2), Penang (3), Perhentian Islands (3), Kota Kinabalu (2), Sepilok (1), Kinabatangan (2) and Semporna (3). That makes 19 days plus two travel days, and in that time you get the city, the tea plantations, the food of Penang, snorkelling with turtles, orangutans, proboscis monkeys and the water of Semporna.
From Kuala Lumpur you ride straight to the Cameron Highlands in four to five hours, so Melaka and Ipoh wait for another trip. From Penang a minivan runs to Kuala Besut, a long day right across the peninsula. After the Perhentians you take the night bus back to Kuala Lumpur and fly to Kota Kinabalu in about two and a half hours. At the end you fly from Tawau back to Kuala Lumpur. Travelling between December and March, when the east coast is shut? Swap the Perhentians for Langkawi.
4 weeks: the whole west coast, plus the rainforest
Take the three week route and add Melaka (2), Ipoh (2) and Taman Negara (2). Do Melaka straight after Kuala Lumpur, two to two and a half hours by bus. From there a direct bus gets you to Ipoh in about five hours, and Ipoh is two hours from the Cameron Highlands. Taman Negara comes after the Perhentians: minivans run from Kuala Besut to the park in about eight hours, and via Jerantut you are back in Kuala Lumpur for your flight to Borneo.
That brings you to about 28 days, with the west coast from end to end, the oldest rainforest on the peninsula and a full week in Sabah.
6 weeks: everything, and half your visa still left
All fourteen stops, in the order below. With four days in Kota Kinabalu so the Mount Kinabalu climb fits in, and three long travel days (Langkawi to the east coast, Taman Negara to Tioman and Tioman to Borneo), you come to about 41 days. Well inside your 90 days visa free, so you can stay an extra day anywhere you like it.
The west coast: hawkers, tea plantations and a duty free island
1. Kuala Lumpur (3 days)
You land at KLIA, and the KLIA Ekspres drops you at KL Sentral in 28 minutes for about €11. Sleep in Chinatown for an easy arrival and plenty of atmosphere, or in Bukit Bintang if you want food and nightlife on your doorstep. Day one you walk the old town around Petaling Street and Merdeka Square, day two you climb the 272 steps of the Batu Caves early and stand under the Petronas Towers in the afternoon, and day three is for the Thean Hou Temple and a banana leaf lunch in Brickfields.
The best view of the towers costs nothing: sit down in KLCC Park around sunset and wait for them to light up, then walk on to the grills of Jalan Alor. See our Kuala Lumpur page.
Getting to the next stop: from the TBS bus station it is two to two and a half hours to Melaka Sentral, for about €3.
Our verdict: three days, and save one evening for the towers lighting up over the park
2. Melaka (2 days)
The oldest city in the country, spelled Malacca on half the maps, and everything on Dutch Square is rusty red: the Stadthuys, the clock tower, Christ Church from 1753. Day one is St. Paul’s Hill and the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum, with a cendol against the heat. Day two you hire a bike and follow the river to Kampung Morten, a Malay village of wooden houses on stilts in the middle of the city, and finish at the Straits Mosque for sunset.
Plan Melaka for the weekend. From Friday to Sunday Jonker Street closes to traffic in the evening and turns into a night market, and that is the one you do not want to miss. See our Melaka page.
Getting to the next stop: a direct bus to Ipoh takes about five hours. Or head back to Kuala Lumpur and catch the ETS train there.
Our verdict: two nights with the weekend in them, because Melaka is at its best after dark
3. Ipoh (2 days)
The city of white coffee: beans roasted in palm oil and whipped up with condensed milk, and Sin Yoon Loong has been pouring it since 1937. Day one is for the old town, the murals, Concubine Lane and a plate of bean sprout chicken. Day two you take a Grab to the cave temples of Sam Poh Tong and Kek Lok Tong, where Buddhas sit in the half dark between the limestone walls, and late in the afternoon you head to Gunung Lang or Kellie’s Castle.
Set an alarm. At seven you are sitting among the regulars with their newspapers, and at that hour the city still belongs to the locals. At the weekend plenty of Malaysians drive up here just to eat, so come midweek if you want the famous coffee shops without a queue. See our Ipoh page.
Getting to the next stop: the bus from the Amanjaya terminal climbs the mountain to Tanah Rata in two to two and a half hours, for about €4.
Our verdict: the best breakfast on your whole route, and two days is exactly right
4. Cameron Highlands (2 to 3 days)
At 1,440 metres you pull on a jumper for the first time in weeks: it is around 22 degrees here in the day and about 14 at night. Day one you take a Land Rover tour to the Mossy Forest and the BOH Sungei Palas tea plantation, day two you walk a jungle trail from Tanah Rata. With a third day you add a strawberry farm and, on a Friday or Saturday, the Brinchang night market.
Be at BOH Sungei Palas at half past eight and walk the path up between the tea bushes first, before the day trip coaches arrive. Ask your hostel which trails are open and set off early, so you are back before the afternoon shower. See our Cameron Highlands page.
Getting to the next stop: buses and minivans run to Penang in four to five hours, mostly in the morning and early afternoon.
Our verdict: two nights in the cool to recharge, three if you love a hike
5. Penang (3 days)
You come to Penang to eat, and George Town makes it easy: a bowl of asam laksa for about one and a half euros, on a plastic stool next to a wok that has stood in the same spot for decades. Day one you walk past the street art, through Little India and out to the clan jetties, day two you take the bus to Kek Lok Si and, late in the afternoon, the funicular to the top of Penang Hill. Day three is for the national park: bus 101 to Teluk Bahang and through the rainforest to Turtle Beach.
Sleep around Chulia Street and Love Lane, where the hostels and the stalls are. The free CAT bus loops the centre. Insider tip: eat your asam laksa at the market in Air Itam, at the foot of Kek Lok Si, before you head up the hill. See our Penang page and things to do in Penang.
Getting to the next stop: the flight to Langkawi takes about half an hour. Cheaper is the bus to Kuala Kedah or Kuala Perlis and the ferry from there. There is no longer a regular direct boat from George Town.
Our verdict: three days, and if food is why you came, stay longer
6. Langkawi (3 to 4 days)
The island where beer is suddenly cheap: Langkawi has been duty free since 1987, and a can from the supermarket costs less than a euro. Rent a scooter on Pantai Cenang, for about €8 a day. Day one is for the beach and the sunset, day two for the SkyCab, the 125 metre Sky Bridge and the pools of the Seven Wells, day three for the Kilim mangroves and the white sand of Tanjung Rhu. With a fourth day you go island hopping past Pulau Dayang Bunting.
Late one afternoon, ride up Gunung Raya, 881 metres, for the view over the whole island. All it costs you is petrol. Do head back down in good time, because the road is dark and winding. See our Langkawi page.
Getting to the next stop: the ferry to the mainland, then a minivan right across the peninsula to Kuala Besut. Expect a long travel day. From the jetty the speedboat takes about forty minutes to the islands, for about €7 plus about €6 for the marine park.
Our verdict: three days for the highlights, four if you also want a day of doing absolutely nothing
The east coast: coral, rainforest and jungle down to the sand
7. Perhentian Islands (3 to 4 days)
Two islands, and as a backpacker you sleep on the small one: Perhentian Kecil, with Long Beach, the dive schools and fire shows on the sand at night. Day one you walk the jungle trail to Coral Bay for sunset, day two you snorkel Shark Point and Turtle Point, with metre long reef sharks and turtles below you. Day three you take the water taxi to Perhentian Besar, and with a fourth day you do a couple of fun dives at Tokong Laut or the Sugar Wreck.
When you book your snorkel trip, ask for one that leaves in the morning: most boats go after lunch, and at nine you have the spots almost to yourself. There are no cash machines on the islands, so take out enough in Kuala Besut. If you do your Open Water here, it takes three to four days and starts at about €290. See our Perhentian Islands page.
Getting to the next stop: minivans run via Kuala Besut to Taman Negara, about eight hours on the road.
Our verdict: the clearest water on your route, and three days soon feels like too few
8. Taman Negara (2 to 3 days)
You sleep in Kuala Tahan and eat in the evening at a floating restaurant on the Tembeling, with a rainforest of around 130 million years old on the far bank. Day one you pick up your park permit and go on a night walk with a guide. Day two you cross the canopy walkway, 530 metres of rope bridges between the treetops, and carry on up Bukit Teresek for the view. With a third day you take a boat to the swimming pools of Lata Berkoh.
On day two, be at the little ferry at seven: you get the walkway before the groups arrive and you hear the forest wake up. Leech socks belong in your bag: the leeches are harmless, but you want them outside your shoes. See our Taman Negara page.
Getting to the next stop: there is no direct connection to Tioman. You travel via Jerantut to Mersing for the ferry, a long travel day. From Mersing it is an hour and a half to two hours to the island, for about €12 to €17 plus about €6 in cash for the marine park. Departure times depend on the tide.
Our verdict: two days for the walkway and the night in the forest, and stay a third if you love a river
9. Tioman (3 to 4 days)
A green mountain ridge in the sea, with villages you only reach by boat or on foot. There are no cars in Air Batang, just monitor lizards crossing the path beside you. Day one you snorkel off the jetty, day two you walk the coastal path via Monkey Beach to Salang and take a water taxi back. Day three is the seven kilometre jungle trek from Tekek to Juara, two to three hours with three hundred metres of climbing, and with a fourth day you go diving or out to Coral Island.
Spend a night in Juara: you watch the sun come up over the South China Sea with the whole beach to yourself. Bring cash from the mainland, because the only cash machine is in Tekek and it does run dry. See our Tioman page.
Getting to the next stop: the ferry back to Mersing, the bus to Johor Bahru or Kuala Lumpur, and from there a direct flight to Kuching. Sarawak runs its own immigration, so keep your passport in your hand luggage.
Our verdict: the wildest island on the east coast, and the trek to Juara is what you will remember
Borneo: orangutans, the mountain and the water of Semporna
10. Kuching (3 to 4 days)
The capital of Sarawak feels like a big village on a brown river, with cat statues everywhere and a wooden sampan that takes you across for €0.20. Day one is for Main Bazaar, Carpenter Street and the waterfront, day two you head out early to the feeding platform at Semenggoh for the orangutans. Day three you take bus 1 to Kampung Bako and the boat to Bako National Park, for proboscis monkeys and wild boar on the beach. With a fourth day you climb Mount Santubong or visit the Sarawak Cultural Village.
Start every day with a bowl of Sarawak laksa, because the best one is gone by lunchtime. If nobody turned up at the platform in Semenggoh, go back in the afternoon: in fruit season they stay away more often. See our Kuching page.
Getting to the next stop: you fly to Kota Kinabalu in about an hour and a half, with several flights a day.
Our verdict: three days, and you will probably stay a fourth
11. Kota Kinabalu (3 to 4 days)
KK is your base for Sabah, with the best sunset on Borneo and grilled fish at the night market afterwards. Day one you walk the city and take a Grab up Signal Hill, day two you sail from Jesselton Point to Sapi or Manukan in fifteen minutes to snorkel. Days three and four are for Mount Kinabalu, 4,095 metres: on day three you walk up to the Panalaban mountain huts at 3,272 metres, on day four you set off at two in the morning for sunrise on Low’s Peak.
Book that climb first, before your flight even. A guide is compulsory, the beds on the mountain fill up months ahead, and the fixed park costs alone come to about €200, with a full package including transport from about €550. Can’t get a spot? Ride to Kundasang and look up at the summit from the vegetable fields in the morning. Here on a Sunday? Walk the market on Gaya Street. See our Kota Kinabalu page.
Getting to the next stop: the bus to Sandakan leaves from the Inanam bus station, takes six to eight hours and stops at the Sepilok turn-off. It runs via Ranau past the entrance to Kinabalu Park, so after the climb you do not have to go back into town. Faster is the one hour flight to Sandakan.
Our verdict: four days with the mountain, two without, and book the climb before you book anything else
12. Sepilok (1 to 2 days)
At ten in the morning the wooden platform goes quiet, and then an orange orangutan comes down a rope out of the canopy. The rehabilitation centre has been taking in orangutans since 1964 and teaching them to live in the forest again. Feedings are at 10:00 and 15:00, on the same ticket of about €6. Cross over to the sun bears in the midday break, and with a second day head out early to the canopy walkway of the Rainforest Discovery Centre.
Sleep in Sepilok itself rather than in Sandakan, and you make the first feeding without any rush. Come back in the afternoon: it is quieter, and the ones that stayed away in the morning sometimes turn up after all. See our Sepilok page.
Getting to the next stop: the lodges on the Kinabatangan pick you up in Sepilok or Sandakan, about two hours’ drive, often with a stop at the Gomantong Caves.
Our verdict: one full day with both feedings, and a second for the treetops
13. Kinabatangan (2 to 3 days)
You sleep in a lodge in Sukau or Bilit and pay for a package with your bed, meals and cruises, from about €110 for two days and one night in a dorm. Around four you head out on the water as the proboscis monkeys look for a place to sleep, and at half past five the next morning you are out again, with mist on the river and hornbills overhead. Along the 560 kilometre river the wildlife is packed in tight, and with luck you see a herd of pygmy elephants crossing.
Take two nights. With one you are gone again after lunch, with two you get an extra morning and an extra evening, exactly the moments the elephants come down to the water. See our Kinabatangan page.
Getting to the next stop: the morning bus from Sandakan to Semporna passes the Sukau turn-off. Have your lodge drop you there and arrange with the bus company that they stop. If that does not work out, you go via Lahad Datu.
Our verdict: the wildest stretch of your whole trip, and two nights make all the difference
14. Semporna (3 to 4 days)
A harbour town with a jetty where every morning the speedboats leave for one of the most beautiful stretches of water in the world. Day one you climb Bohey Dulang for the view over the lagoon and snorkel at the sandbanks of Mantabuan and Sibuan, day two you dive or snorkel around Mabul and Kapalai. With a permit, day three is the wall at Sipadan: only around 250 people a day are allowed out there, you need at least Advanced Open Water, and Sabah Parks closes the island every November.
Sort out that permit before anything else, through several dive shops at once. Several governments, the UK’s FCDO among them, advise against all but essential travel to the islands off eastern Sabah, Mabul, Kapalai and Sipadan included, and no boats go out between six in the evening and six in the morning: read your own government’s current advice and check what your travel insurance covers before you book. More on that in diving Sipadan and Semporna and on our Semporna page.
Heading home or onward: it is an hour and a half’s drive to Tawau airport, with flights to Kota Kinabalu and straight to Kuala Lumpur. Wait at least a day after your last dive before you fly.
Our verdict: the finale of your route, with a rest day after it before your flight
Practical: transport, seasons, visa and budget
Getting between the stops
Up the west coast it is smooth going: the ETS train runs from Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth in about four hours, with tickets from about €13, and from there the ferry crosses to George Town in fifteen minutes. To the hills and the east coast you go by bus and minivan, to the islands by ferry or speedboat. To Borneo you fly, because there is no boat. Domestic flights on the budget airlines are cheap if you book in time, and in the cities you order a Grab. Everything about buses, trains and flights is in getting around Malaysia.
The best months for each coast
For a loop that takes in both coasts and Borneo, March to October is the sweet spot, and from April both coasts are fully open. Part by part, it looks like this:
- West coast (Penang, Langkawi): driest from December to March, wettest from September to November. Kuala Lumpur, on the other hand, is driest from June to August.
- East coast (Perhentian Islands, Tioman): open from roughly March to October, at their best from April to August. From November to February the northeast monsoon sits here and a lot of boats and places to stay shut down.
- Borneo: driest from March to September. In Kota Kinabalu February to April are the best months, in Kuching June to September.
June, July and August are the busiest months on the Perhentians, so book your first nights on Long Beach ahead. Month by month it is all in the best time to visit Malaysia.
Visa, MDAC and onward ticket
You get 90 days visa free in Malaysia. Your passport needs at least six months left on it and you have to be able to show a return or onward ticket: here is how to get an onward ticket without locking in your route. Fill in the free Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) within the three days before you arrive. Sabah and Sarawak run their own immigration, so after your flight to Kuching or Kota Kinabalu you queue at a desk again and get a stamp of their own. Keep track of all your stamps. What applies to your passport is on our visa page.
What does this route cost?
Reckon on about €30 a day on average. On the peninsula you get by on less: a dorm bed for €7 or €8 and a hawker plate for €2. Borneo costs more, because the nature there means booking a tour or a river trip: on the Kinabatangan the daily budget is around €60. Beer is pricey everywhere thanks to the duty, except on Langkawi and Tioman. Count the big extras separately: the Mount Kinabalu climb, the dives off Semporna and the domestic flights. At that €30 a day, three weeks comes to around €630, not counting those extras. The full sum is in what backpacking Malaysia costs.
Got time to spare?
Then these are the extras that slot right in. From Kuching you fly to Gunung Mulu National Park in just over an hour and a half, for huge caves and millions of bats pouring out at sunset; give it at least two nights, because the weather sometimes shuffles a flight. From Kuala Lumpur, spend an evening in Kuala Selangor, where the fireflies light up the mangroves. Want to get your dive certificate? You can on Tioman (four days, from about €200) or on the Perhentians (three to four days, from about €290). And if you like to take it slow, ride the old jungle line from Gemas to Tumpat, with slow trains straight through the rainforest.
Torn between the islands? Read Perhentian, Tioman or Langkawi, and for the choice on Borneo, Sabah or Sarawak.
West coast, east coast or Borneo first: how do you travel with the two monsoons?
That depends on the month you set off. The route above is built for leaving around March: you catch the west coast at the end of its dry season, the Perhentians and Tioman are open and calm in April, and Borneo stays dry for months after that. Leaving in June, July or August? The same order works. The west coast gets an afternoon shower more often, but the hawkers keep cooking and Kuala Lumpur is in its driest months.
Going in the northern winter, between December and February? Flip it. Stick to the west coast, with Penang and Langkawi at their driest, and save the east coast islands for next time. Borneo works then too, but it is wetter: the feedings at Sepilok carry on under the covered platform, while the Kinabatangan can flood and the boat to Bako is sometimes cancelled. Keep a spare day there.
Our advice: set off in March or April, start in Kuala Lumpur and finish in Semporna. That way you travel the whole route with the dry season, and the last thing you see is a lagoon in ten shades of blue.
