Backpacking Langkawi
Almost everywhere in Malaysia, beer is a luxury. Not on Langkawi. The island has been duty free since 1987, so where Penang or Kuala Lumpur will happily charge you €3 for a bottle, here a can from the supermarket costs less than a euro. Take it down to Cenang Beach, sit in the sand and watch the sun drop behind the little islands. That is your first night. And your second.
By day you are on a scooter, because Langkawi is bigger than you think and public transport barely exists. A cable car hauls you steeply up through the rainforest to the Sky Bridge, a curved 125 metre bridge hanging high above the treetops. In the north east you cruise through the Kilim mangroves, past limestone cliffs and bat caves, with sea eagles circling the boat. And from Cenang the boats head out to the small islands of the archipelago, one of them with a freshwater lake in the middle of the jungle.
Budget about €25 a day, with a bed for €8 and a scooter for around €8. Three days covers the best things to do in Langkawi, four if you also want to island hop and spend a day doing nothing. On Langkawi you end up doing nothing more often than you planned.
Why Langkawi is popular with backpackers
- Duty free status, which means cheap beer
- Long sandy beaches with great sunsets
- The cable car and the Sky Bridge
- Mangroves, limestone cliffs and sea eagles
- Island hopping for a few euros
- Made for exploring by scooter
- A laid back vibe around Cenang Beach
- Waterfalls and rainforest on the island itself
Best time to visit Langkawi
Langkawi sits off the west coast, close to the Thai border, and has a clear dry season around New Year. Autumn brings the most rain, and the sea can get rough.
Even in the wet months the sun is out a lot. Showers come in hard and short, so do your boat trips in the morning and keep the afternoon free.
Backpacker budget: around €25 a day
- €8hostel bed
- €2.50local meal
- €1.20beer
- €8scooter per day
Guide prices for a backpacker's day in Langkawi. Add a tour or a night out and it climbs fast.
Best area for backpackers
Pantai Cenang
Pantai Cenang is where almost every backpacker on Langkawi sleeps. A long white beach, and behind it a road lined with hostels, cheap places to eat, duty free shops and scooter rental.
You watch the sunset from the sand, and at night the beach bars fill up. It is not a party island though: it stays easygoing, and if you want it quieter you walk ten minutes south to Pantai Tengah.
The airport is ten minutes’ drive away and the boats to the islands leave from the beach. For almost everything on Langkawi, Cenang is the easiest starting point.
Why stay in Pantai Cenang?
- Most of the island’s hostels
- Sunset straight from the beach
- Plenty of cheap places to eat and a night market
- Duty free shops round the corner
- Scooter rental everywhere
- Close to the airport
- Island hopping trips leave from here
Want it even quieter? Pick Pantai Tengah, one beach further south.
Best hostels in Langkawi
Bed Attitude Hostel Cenang
A capsule hostel on Cenang: every bed has a curtain, its own light and a socket, in a dorm with properly cold air con. Downstairs is a big common room with sofas, beanbags and a free pool table. Over thirteen hundred reviews make it the best known backpacker hostel on the island.
Built for solo travellers, sociable backpackers and anyone who wants a decent night’s sleep in a dorm.
Rembulan Langkawi
On the edge of Cenang, about 450 metres from the beach. Four private rooms and one eight bed dorm, bare brick walls hung with art, and a common room where everyone ends up in the evening. Rembulan means moon, and that is exactly the vibe: calm.
Good for backpackers who want some peace, couples, and anyone after a small, personal place.
The Kasbah Langkawi
A hostel above a restaurant, café and bar where local musicians and artists hang out. Live music and a grill at the weekend, and upstairs you sleep in an open dorm on hammock beds or Japanese style beds, all with mosquito nets.
For music lovers, sociable travellers, and anyone who wants something other than a standard dorm.
Best things to do in Langkawi
SkyCab and the Sky Bridge
Langkawi’s cable car climbs steeply over the rainforest up Machinchang, with jungle below you and a sea full of islands behind. At the top you walk out onto the Sky Bridge: a curved 125 metre bridge hanging from a single pylon over the ravine.
Why go?
- The most famous view on Langkawi
- One of the steepest cable cars in the world
- Walking on a bridge above the treetops
- On a clear day you can see all the way to Thailand
The view from that bridge is the picture of Langkawi you take home.
Kilim mangrove tour
Kilim Geoforest Park in the north east is a maze of mangroves, limestone cliffs and creeks. A small boat takes you past a bat cave and a floating fish farm to the spots where sea eagles and brahminy kites circle overhead.
Highlights
- Cruising between limestone cliffs and mangroves
- Sea eagles up close
- A cave full of bats
- Monkeys along the banks
Feeding the eagles is an old habit that makes the birds lazy and dependent. Just ask for a tour without feeding when you book: then you watch them hunt instead of beg.
Island hopping in the archipelago
Every morning boats leave Cenang for three islands in the archipelago. On Pulau Dayang Bunting you walk through the jungle to a freshwater lake and swim between limestone walls, then come the eagles at Pulau Singa Besar and a beach on Pulau Beras Basah.
Why go?
- Swimming in a freshwater lake in the middle of the jungle
- Three islands in half a day
- White beaches with nothing built on them
- The cheapest boat trip on the island
Renting a scooter and riding the island
Langkawi was made for a scooter. Good roads, quiet traffic, and everything you want to see spread across the island. Ride a loop along the coast, or wind your way up Gunung Raya, the highest point on the island at 881 metres.
Perfect for
- Freedom to stop wherever you like
- Empty beaches up north
- The view from Gunung Raya
- Riding past rice fields and kampongs
Without a scooter you are relying on Grab on Langkawi, and that adds up.
Seven Wells Waterfall
Telaga Tujuh, the Seven Wells, is a waterfall that slides down through seven natural pools. At the top you swim in the basins and slide over the smooth rock from one pool into the next.
Why go?
- Swimming in natural pools
- Sliding down the rocks
- Cool water after the cable car
- Free
Best after a few days of rain, when the falls are full.
Tanjung Rhu
Up in the north, Tanjung Rhu is the quietest beach on Langkawi: white sand, shallow turquoise water, and limestone rocks sitting offshore like tiny islands.
Highlights
- White sand and shallow water
- Limestone rocks offshore
- Barely anything built
- Combines perfectly with Kilim
Ride there after the mangrove tour. It is just round the corner.
Langkawi itinerary: three or four days
Langkawi is a scooter and a boat. Pick how many days you have.
Arriving on Cenang. Rent a scooter, grab a few cans from a duty free shop and find your spot on the beach. In the afternoon, ride south to Pantai Tengah.
Tonight: sunset on Cenang Beach and dinner at the stalls along the road.
Cable car and waterfall. Be there at opening for the SkyCab and the Sky Bridge. Then climb the steps to the Seven Wells and swim in the pools above the falls.
Tonight: whichever night market is on somewhere on the island that day.
Mangroves and the north. Cruise Kilim Geoforest Park in the morning, then ride on to the white beach at Tanjung Rhu. On the way back, wind your way up Gunung Raya.
Tonight: back on Cenang for one last sunset.
Island hopping. Half a day past Pulau Dayang Bunting, the eagles and Pulau Beras Basah. The rest of the day you do absolutely nothing.
Tonight: ferry to the mainland or a flight to Penang or Kuala Lumpur.
Food and drink in Langkawi
Langkawi is a Malay island and you taste it: rice with sambal, grilled fish, and roti for breakfast. Cheap warungs line the road behind Cenang, and every evening there is a night market somewhere on the island.
The big difference from the rest of Malaysia is the drink. Beer and spirits are duty free here, so a night at the beach bar costs a fraction of what you would pay in Penang.
Getting there and onward
You reach Langkawi by ferry from the mainland or on a domestic flight. The boats come into Kuah, the main town on the east side; from there it is about half an hour to Cenang.
Getting there. The ferry from Kuala Perlis takes about 75 minutes, the one from Kuala Kedah about an hour and three quarters. Both are a bus ride from Penang or Kuala Lumpur. The airport has flights to Kuala Lumpur and Penang, often not much more than bus and boat together.
On the island. There is barely any public transport. A scooter is from about €8 a day, and otherwise Grab works well.
Onward. Back to Penang is a short flight, or the ferry and a bus via Kuala Kedah. For the east coast and the Perhentian Islands you cross to the mainland and take a minivan right across the peninsula to Kuala Besut: a long travel day. Kuala Lumpur is an hour’s flight. In the dry season there is also a boat to Koh Lipe in Thailand.
- FerryKuala Perlis 75 minutes · Kuala Kedah 1 hr 45
- PlaneKuala Lumpur 1 hr · Penang half an hour
- ScooterFrom about €8 a day
- Island hoppingHalf a day, three islands, from Cenang
- OnwardVia the mainland to Penang and the east coast
Staying safe in Langkawi
A quiet, safe island. The things to watch are the scooter, the sun and the monkeys, who know exactly where your food is.
- Photograph your scooter before you ride off
- Ask at your hostel whether there are jellyfish in the water. It changes with the season
- Keep your bag zipped at the cable car and in Kilim. The monkeys are quick
- Cover shoulders and knees when you head into the villages away from the beaches
- Ride fast at night. Cows and dogs wander onto the road
- Feed the monkeys, not even for the photo
- Leave with more duty free alcohol than you are allowed
- Hand over your passport as a deposit at a scooter rental
Rebels on the Road tip
Ride your scooter to the top of Gunung Raya, Langkawi’s highest point at 881 metres. The road winds endlessly through the rainforest, with hornbills over the road if you are lucky, and at the top the whole island and the sea are laid out below you. It costs you petrol and nothing else, there is no queue, and late afternoon the light is at its best. Just head down in good time: the road is dark and twisty.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Langkawi?
Three to four. Three days gets you the cable car, the mangroves and the north; a fourth adds island hopping and leaves time to do nothing at all.
Is beer really cheaper on Langkawi?
Yes. Langkawi has been a duty free zone since 1987, so beer and spirits cost a fraction of what they do elsewhere in Malaysia. A can from the supermarket is under a euro.
Where should I stay in Langkawi?
Pantai Cenang. Most of the hostels, places to eat and bars are there, and you get the sunset straight from the beach. Pantai Tengah next door is quieter.
Do you need a scooter on Langkawi?
Pretty much. The island is big and public transport barely exists. A scooter is from about €8 a day. If you do not ride, use Grab.
Is the Langkawi cable car worth it?
Yes, it is the island’s most famous view. Go at opening: no queue, and your best shot at a clear sky.
How do you get from Penang to Langkawi?
Fastest is a flight of about half an hour. Cheaper is the bus to Kuala Kedah or Kuala Perlis and the ferry from there. There has been no regular direct boat from George Town since the pandemic, so count on the flight or on bus and boat via Kuala Kedah.
When is the best time to visit Langkawi?
December to March is driest, with a calm sea and the best sunsets. September to November gets the most rain.
Can you get from Langkawi to Thailand?
Yes. In the dry season a boat runs to Koh Lipe, and via Kuala Perlis you are quickly at the border. For the rules on arrival in Thailand, see our visa page.
Is Langkawi good for solo backpackers?
Yes. Cenang has sociable hostels, and on an island hopping trip or a mangrove tour you share the boat with other travellers. It is calmer than Thailand’s party islands, but you are rarely on your own.
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.
