Melaka, or Malacca as half the maps spell it, is small. You can walk the old centre in a morning, and everything on the lists sits within a few hundred metres of Dutch Square. That is exactly why it is so tempting to tick it all off in one afternoon and jump on the bus back to Kuala Lumpur.
Give it a night instead. What makes Melaka special is not the buildings but the hours around them: early morning on the empty red square, the evening when the river is lit up, the weekend when Jonker Street turns into a night market. The city only really gets good once you sleep there.
So which places do you pick up, and at what time of day?
How to get there, where to sleep and how many days to give it are all on our Melaka page.
By bike along the river to Kampung Morten
This is the Melaka most visitors miss, and our favourite. Hire a bike early in the morning and follow the path along the river north. After fifteen minutes of riding you are in Kampung Morten, a Malay village in the middle of the city.
Wooden houses on stilts, flowers by the door, neighbours who say hello. No trishaws, no souvenir stalls. Park your bike and have a coffee in a warung where everyone else is a local.
A bike costs from about €2 a day, and a few hostels throw one in for free. Lock it if you leave it for a minute.
Our verdict: a completely different Melaka, fifteen minutes’ ride from the crowds
The Jonker Street night market
From Friday to Sunday, Jonker Street closes to traffic after sunset and turns into the best known night market in Malaysia. Stalls with chicken rice balls, pineapple tarts, cendol, grilled squid and satay, and somewhere on a stage an older gentleman with a microphone and a karaoke machine.
The market itself is free, and the snacks start at about €1. Come hungry, eat in small portions and walk the street up and down twice before you choose.
Leave your bike at your hostel. You will not get through the busy part of the market with it, and walking is the whole point here anyway.
Our verdict: plan your whole visit around this evening
Dutch Square and St. Paul’s Hill, early in the morning
The red heart of the city, and a Dutch corner of Malaysia. The Stadthuys and Christ Church, from 1753, have stood here since the Dutch took the city from the Portuguese in 1641. A staircase behind the square takes you up to the ruined St. Paul’s Church on the hill, with a view over the rooftops.
Walk down the other side of the hill and you are at the Porta de Santiago, the last piece of the Portuguese fort A Famosa. Five hundred years of history in a few hundred metres, and the square and the hill are free.
Go early in the morning. You will have the square almost to yourself, and you climb the hill ahead of the midday heat, because there is little shade. Want the story behind it all? Join the tip based walking tour through the Unesco city.
Our verdict: a slice of Holland in the tropics, and a must
Sunset at the Straits Mosque
At the edge of town, on the island of Pulau Melaka, stands a white mosque with a golden dome, built on stilts in the water. When the tide comes in, it looks like it is floating on the sea.
It is fifteen minutes by Grab, or you ride there by bike. Entry is free. Cover up, and do not go in during prayers.
Come towards sunset, when the sun drops over the Strait of Malacca. After a day between the red buildings and the trishaws, the quiet out here is a gift.
Our verdict: the best way to end a day in Melaka
The Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum
A wealthy family’s Peranakan house on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, furnished exactly as it was. Woodcarving in gold leaf, porcelain, tiles, and a guided tour that explains how this mixed culture of Chinese traders and Malay women came about.
Entry is about €4. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday in the daytime and closed on Mondays.
Join the guided tour, otherwise you walk past beautiful things without understanding what you are looking at. And plan it for when the afternoon storm hits: you stay dry, and in the evening you understand better what is on your plate.
Our verdict: the story behind the food you eat that night
The river after sunset
The Melaka River winds right through the city, past murals, old warehouses and Kampung Morten. In the evening the banks and bridges are lit up, and that is when it looks its best.
A cruise takes about three quarters of an hour and costs foreigners about €6 to €10. It is a nice way to sit down for a while after a day on your feet.
Rather keep your money? The riverside path is just as pretty at night, and you decide where to stop.
Our verdict: by boat or on foot, an evening walk that belongs to Melaka
A ride in a trishaw
Plastic flowers, flashing lights, cartoon characters and music from a little speaker. The trishaws of Melaka are the picture of the city, and a ride is pure kitsch.
You find them by the Stadthuys on Dutch Square. Reckon on about €5 to €10, depending on the route, and agree the total price and the route before you climb in.
Pick one with a theme that suits you, because there is plenty of choice. It is most fun in the evening with all the lights on, especially with two of you.
Our verdict: kitsch, and that is exactly why it is fun
Got time to spare in Melaka?
Tasting Peranakan food
Melaka is the city of nyonya cooking: Chinese techniques with Malay spices, coconut and tamarind. Order a nyonya laksa, try satay celup, where you dip your skewers in the sauce yourself, and eat ikan bakar, fish grilled in sambal in a banana leaf. A meal costs about €2.
Cendol against the heat
After a morning on the square, a cendol is exactly what you need: shaved ice with coconut milk and gula melaka, the dark palm sugar named after the city. You find it at the night market, and during the day it fits perfectly between the square and the museum.
Melaka midweek
If you are here on a weekday, Jonker Street is a lot quieter in the evening and traffic simply runs down the street. Use that evening for the lit up river or a trishaw, and save the night market for the weekend.
The best time for the hill
Melaka has little shade. Bring water and a cap, climb St. Paul’s Hill in the morning and save the afternoon for the museum or your hostel.
Our top five in Melaka
Only got a few days? Our five for Melaka, from early morning to night market:
- By bike along the river to Kampung Morten, early in the morning
- The Jonker Street night market, Friday to Sunday
- Dutch Square and St. Paul’s Hill, before it gets hot
- Sunset at the Straits Mosque
- The Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum, with the guided tour
Still got time after that? Walk along the lit up river in the evening, or climb into the trishaw with the craziest theme you can find.
So what do you really have to do in Melaka?
Honestly? Melaka does not ask much of you. The centre is small and everything is within walking distance, so there is nothing to work through. What you do have to do is stay the night.
If we have to pick one thing: the weekend on Jonker Street. Eat chicken rice balls at one stall, cendol at the next, and stop to watch the gentleman with the karaoke. That is Melaka at its best.
And the next morning, set your alarm for the bike. The path along the river to Kampung Morten shows you that behind the red facades and the trishaws there is an ordinary city where people live, and you want to have seen that too.
