Backpacking the Cameron Highlands
After weeks of thirty degrees and sticky nights you step off the bus in Tanah Rata and you are cold. Properly cold. It is about twenty two degrees here in the day, the nights drop to fourteen, and for the first time in months you pull on a jumper. At 1,440 metres the Cameron Highlands are the coolest corner of the peninsula, and it feels like a gift.
Then there are the tea plantations. Entire hills covered in neatly clipped tea bushes, in rolling rows as far as you can see, with the odd picker moving between them with a basket on their back. At BOH Sungei Palas you drink a cup of tea on a terrace above the slopes, and a little higher up you walk a boardwalk through the Mossy Forest, an ancient forest where everything is furred with moss and clouds drift through the trees.
Are the Cameron Highlands worth visiting? After weeks in the lowlands, absolutely. It is quiet up here. No bars until the small hours, but jungle trails that start right behind your hostel, strawberry farms, and a bubbling steamboat on the table at night. Two to three days is enough to recharge before you head on to Penang, and the bus from Ipoh takes just two hours.
Why the Cameron Highlands are popular with backpackers
- Cool air after weeks of lowland heat
- Endless tea plantations
- The magical Mossy Forest
- Jungle trails that start in the village
- A relaxed vibe and good hostels in Tanah Rata
- Steamboat and strawberries
- A cool breather between Ipoh and Penang
- Easy to reach by bus
Best time to visit the Cameron Highlands
Cool all year, around 22 degrees in the day and 14 at night. It rains in every month, usually as a heavy shower in the afternoon or overnight with sunshine in between.
Whatever the month, pack a jumper and a rain jacket. Evenings and early mornings are chilly, and in the Mossy Forest at two thousand metres it is a few degrees colder still.
Backpacker budget: around €22 a day
- €8hostel bed
- €2.50local meal
- €3beer
- €5taxi to the tea plantation
Guide prices for a backpacker's day in Cameron Highlands. Add a tour or a night out and it climbs fast.
Best area for backpackers
Tanah Rata
Tanah Rata is the village where every backpacker sleeps. The bus stops here, the hostels and places to eat line one main street, and a few jungle trails start literally at the edge of the village.
Brinchang, a few kilometres on, is bigger and closer to the strawberry farms and the Mossy Forest, but has less of a backpacker vibe. At the weekend it does have the night market, which is a quick taxi ride away.
Why Tanah Rata?
- The bus stops in the middle of the village
- The hostels line the main street
- Jungle trails start at the edge of the village
- Plenty of cheap restaurants, from Indian to steamboat
- Little tour offices for the Land Rover tours
- A calm, relaxed vibe
From Tanah Rata you walk straight into the jungle, no taxi needed.
Best hostels in the Cameron Highlands
Hikers Sleep Port
A guesthouse in an old building in the middle of Tanah Rata, close to the bus station. The owners are qualified nature and mountain guides, so this is where you get the best hiking advice in the village. Breakfast is free, alcohol is not allowed inside and it is quiet from ten.
For hikers, quiet seekers and solo travellers.
Traveller Bunker Hostel
A capsule hostel five minutes’ walk from the bus station, with nearly two thousand reviews. Every capsule has a reading light, a fan and a USB charger, and there is a locker for each bed. A practical, cheap base for exploring the Highlands.
For tight budgets, solo travellers and anyone who wants some privacy in a dorm.
Sleepbox Hotel Cameron Highlands
Modern sleeping capsules with extra long mattresses and duvets, which you will appreciate in the cold up here. There is a terrace and a lounge, and the bus station is five minutes’ walk. It is cash only.
For anyone who wants a good night’s sleep, tall people, and couples who each want their own capsule.
Best things to do in the Cameron Highlands
Tea in the morning, jungle in the afternoon, steamboat at night. Everything up here runs on fresh air.
BOH Sungei Palas Tea Garden
Malaysia’s most famous tea plantation. A winding road through the bushes brings you to the tea house, where you sit on a terrace above the slopes with a pot of tea and a scone, watching the pickers move along the rows.
Why go?
- Views over rolling tea hills
- Drinking tea right where it grows
- Walking between the bushes
- One of the most beautiful places in Malaysia
Do not come on a Monday: the tea house is closed.
Mossy Forest
A cloud forest high on Gunung Brinchang, where every branch, root and stone is covered in moss and the clouds drift between the trees. A boardwalk runs through the forest, and it feels like you have walked into a fairy tale.
Highlights
- An ancient forest smothered in moss
- Clouds hanging between the trees
- A boardwalk through the cloud forest
- Views over the Highlands on a clear morning
The most magical bit of nature on the peninsula.
A Land Rover tour through the Highlands
The easiest way to see it all. You sit in the back of an old Land Rover bouncing up the mountain road, with stops at the Mossy Forest, the BOH plantation and usually a strawberry farm or a bee farm. Some tours leave before sunrise.
Why do it?
- The highlights in one morning
- Transport to the Mossy Forest sorted
- A guide who tells you about the tea and the forest
- A bumpy ride in a classic Land Rover
Check what the price includes: the Mossy Forest entry is sometimes extra.
Jungle trails around Tanah Rata
From Tanah Rata numbered trails head up into the hills, to summits like Gunung Jasar and on to Gunung Brinchang. You walk through dense jungle, over roots and through mud, and come out among the tea bushes.
Highlights
- Real jungle straight from your hostel
- Views over the Highlands
- Cool enough to walk all day
- Coming out among the tea plantations
Ask your hostel which trails are open and whether you need a permit: that changes fairly often.
Strawberries and the Brinchang night market
The Highlands are Malaysia’s vegetable garden, and the strawberries are their pride. At the strawberry farms you pick your own or drink them in a milkshake, and at the weekend Brinchang sets up an evening market full of corn, strawberries and grilled snacks.
Why go?
- Fresh strawberries in a tropical country
- A lively market in the cool evening air
- Local bites and snacks
- A nice change from all the nature
How to plan your days in the Cameron Highlands
Two to three days is ideal: a morning for the Mossy Forest and the tea, and a day for hiking. Pick how many days you have.
Mossy Forest and tea. Do a Land Rover tour, ideally an early one. First the Mossy Forest in the clouds, then the BOH Sungei Palas plantation for tea on the terrace above the slopes.
Tonight: a steaming steamboat in Tanah Rata.
Jungle trail. Ask your hostel which trails are open and walk from Tanah Rata into the jungle, for example up Gunung Jasar. Set off early so you are back before the afternoon shower.
Tonight: banana leaf rice at one of the Indian restaurants on the main street.
Strawberries and Brinchang. A strawberry farm, a bee farm or the butterfly garden, and on a Friday or Saturday the Brinchang night market.
Tonight: sort the bus or minivan to Penang for the next morning.
Food and drink in the Cameron Highlands
Food tastes different in the cold, and you can tell from what lands on the table. Steamboat is the dish of the Highlands: a pot of boiling broth in the middle of the table, where you cook vegetables from the surrounding greenhouses, fish and meat yourself.
On Tanah Rata’s main street there are also a few Indian restaurants doing banana leaf rice and roti canai, a few minutes’ walk from the hostels. And everywhere you drink tea from the plantations round the corner.
What to eat in the Cameron Highlands:
Getting there and onward
The Cameron Highlands sit in the mountains between Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur. No train goes up: you arrive by bus or minivan, on a winding road.
Getting there. From Ipoh the bus takes two to two and a half hours to Tanah Rata, for about €4. From TBS in Kuala Lumpur it is four to five hours, for about €6 to €9.
Getting around. Tanah Rata you do on foot. For the tea plantation, Brinchang and the strawberry farms take a taxi or Grab, although there are fewer Grab drivers here than in the city. The Mossy Forest is easiest on a Land Rover tour.
Onward. Buses and minivans run to Penang in four to five hours, the next stop on the route. Heading back south? Go via Ipoh or straight to Kuala Lumpur.
- BusIpoh 2 to 2.5 hrs · Kuala Lumpur 4 to 5 hrs
- Bus or minivanPenang 4 to 5 hrs
- Taxi or GrabTo the tea plantation about €5
- Land Rover tourMossy Forest and BOH, from about €20
Staying safe in the Cameron Highlands
The Highlands are calm and safe. Where things go wrong up here is in the jungle: badly marked trails, mud after rain and hikers still on the mountain after dark.
- Ask your hostel which trails are open and whether you need a permit
- Tell someone which trail you are walking and when you will be back
- Take sturdy shoes, a rain jacket and plenty of water
- Set off in good time, so you are back well before dark
- Walk a long trail alone without anyone knowing
- Head up a steep trail after heavy rain, when it is slippery and sometimes closed
- Leave your jumper behind: evenings and the Mossy Forest are cold
- Go to BOH Sungei Palas on a Monday, when the tea house is closed
Rebels on the Road tip
Get to BOH Sungei Palas early, around half past eight when it opens, and walk the narrow path between the tea bushes up the hill first. The morning mist is still lying in the valley, the pickers are at work and you have the slopes almost to yourself. Only then take your tea on the terrace, just as the first day trip coaches pull in and you have already seen the lot.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in the Cameron Highlands?
Two to three days is ideal. That gives you time for the Mossy Forest, the tea plantations and a day of hiking.
How cold is it in the Cameron Highlands?
Around 22 degrees in the day and about 14 at night. In the Mossy Forest, at around two thousand metres, it is a few degrees colder still. A jumper and a rain jacket are not optional extras.
Where is the best place to stay in the Cameron Highlands?
Tanah Rata. The bus drops you on the main street, your hostel is a short walk away and the jungle trails start at the edge of the village.
Are the Cameron Highlands expensive?
Not for a backpacker: €22 a day is enough up here. The one thing to budget for separately is the half day Land Rover tour, from about €20.
Can you visit the Mossy Forest without a tour?
You can, but the road up is narrow and steep and there is no public transport. A Land Rover tour is by far the easiest, and you get the tea plantation thrown in. Do ask in Tanah Rata whether the boardwalk is open: after landslides it sometimes closes for weeks.
Can you hike the jungle trails on your own?
The shorter trails around Tanah Rata you can walk yourself. The longer routes may need a guide or a permit, and trails sometimes close after rain. Ask your hostel what is open right now.
What are the best things to do in the Cameron Highlands?
The Mossy Forest, the BOH Sungei Palas tea plantation, a jungle trail from Tanah Rata and a steamboat on a cold evening.
How do you get from the Cameron Highlands to Penang?
By bus or minivan in four to five hours. Most of them pull out of Tanah Rata in the morning or around lunchtime.
Sources: hostel ratings from Hostelworld, tours and reviews from GetYourGuide, transport and travel times from 12Go, visa rules from the official immigration sites (see our visa page). The daily budget is our own estimate based on hostel, food and transport prices. How we work.
