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A taste of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur - Taman Negara National Park - Cameron Highlands - Penang - LangkawiThis two week Malaysia adventure holiday includes visits to all of the highlights of Western Malaysia. You can do this itinerary by shared minibus or private hire car. Starting in the lively city of Kuala Lumpur, you'll travel on to the jungle of Taman Negara National Park where you'll be staying in a rustic wooden chalet on the edge of the rainforest which is more than 130 million years old. The higher elevated and cooler tea plantations on the Cameron Highlands are your next travel destination, after which you'll travel back down to the west where you'll be able to live out your tropical island fantasy on the laidback beaches of Pulau Pangkor. Before your holiday comes to an end on white sandy beaches, you'll also visit the cultural and historic treasures of Penang. You'll spend the last days of your trip on tropical Langkawi before flying back to London with a backpack filled with memories and experiences. |
| Duration |
14 days/ 13 nights departure daily |
Accommodation |
Double/twin room in comfortable and characterful hotels, lodges, guesthouses and resort. Comfort Level 3 and 4 (see accommodation). |
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Price |
£752 by shared minibus £794 self-drive Price per person - based on 2 people sharing |
Includes |
Transport, accommodation with breakfast |
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Transport |
Hire car or minibus with driver |
Excludes |
International flights - (airport) taxes - other meals - taxis - additional costs for car hire e.g. petrol and additional insurance |
Days 1 and 2 - Kuala LumpurMost flights from London to Kuala Lumpur arrive early in the morning. On arrival at the airport you'll be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel in Kuala Lumpur by car or minibus. After check-in, your Malaysia adventure holiday will really begin and you'll have the rest of the day to explore the city. Only a short distance from your hotel, you'll find the lively 'Petaling Street'. This area is excellent for long strolls through small side streets and alleyways. On the third day of your stay, you'll have all the time you need to discover Kuala Lumpur. A few top attractions you don't want to miss during your stay are the world's highest towers, the Petronas Towers, the neo-colonial Anglo-Moor style train station and the hyper modern Masjid Negara-mosque. Kuala Lumpur also offers quite a lot to travellers who are more 'West' oriented; from fast food restaurants to large air conditioned shopping malls suitable for endless shopping sprees. |
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Day 3 - Kuala Lumpur - Taman Negara National ParkTravel time: 6 hoursAt 8:45am you’ll take the luxury bus from across your hotel to the small village of Kuala Tembeling. If you're travelling by hire car, your car will be dropped off at your hotel. All our hire cars are standard equipped with GPS navigation system to help you find your way. If you are travelling to Taman Negara by car you can stop off at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary to join in the elephants daily bathtime at 2pm. From there, you'll continue on to Kuala Tahan, the headquarters of the Taman Negara National Park, where you'll park the car and cross the river by boat to your resort around 6pm.Travelling by comfortable bus instead of hire car, the trip from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Tembeling takes about 3 hours. At the port office of Kuala Tembeling you’ll be asked to fill in your personal details for your pass to the Taman Negara National Park. You’ll need to pay extra for your camera (couple of £). Next you’ll step onto a wooden jungle boat for a relaxed boat trip along the Sungai Tembeling river. As you pass the densely overgrown river banks you’ll get a good impression of the Malaysian jungle. After about 3 hours the boat will moor at the jetty of your luxury resort where you’ll be staying during your visit to Taman Negara. In the evening there’s a video presentation about the National Park if you’re interested. The resort has an excellent (buffet) restaurant, but you can also head across the river to one of the floating restaurants in Kuala Tahan. |
Day 4 and 5 - Taman Negara National ParkThis morning on the Malaysia adventure holiday you can enjoy a bit of a lie-in and a leisurely breakfast in the hotel restaurant. There's plenty to do in and around the resort. Make sure you do the Canopy walk, unless you're afraid of heights that is. From the walkway suspended 30m above the ground you’ll get a completely different perspective of the rainforest around you. Despite crowds in July and August we thought it was a spectacular experience. The entire walk takes around 3 hours.In the afternoon you can relax back at the resort and recover from the tropical heat and exercise. Later on you can go rafting or visit a local village of the Orang Asli tribe, Malaysia’s indigenous inhabitants, go on a sunset cruise or discover the secrets of the jungle at night on the daily night walk. If you're interested in this walk, make sure you book ahead at reception when you check in at the hotel. For dinner head to the excellent hotel restaurant, or hop across the river to one of the riverside restaurants in Tahan. |
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Day 6 - Taman Negara - Cameron HighlandsTravel time: 6 hoursAfter breakfast it's time to bid farewell to the jungle and cross the river where you'll find your driver waiting to take you to your next destination, the Cameron Highlands. You'll be sharing the minibus with other passengers. If you're travelling by hire car for this Malaysia adventure holiday you'll pick up your car in Kuala Tahan and follow the directions of your GPS to the rolling tea plantations.As soon as you start to climb, you'll notice that the temperature begins to drop and tropical vegetation soon makes way for endless hills covered in lush green tea plants. Towards the end of the afternoon you'll arrive in Tanah Rata where you'll find your characteristic hotel in British colonial style... In the evening you can either enjoy dinner at your hotel, or go into town to check out the many tasty dining options there. Try a 'steamboot', a type of Cantonese fondue at a restaurant called Mayflower. The town has a large Indian population so you'll also find lots of excellent curry houses here. |
Day 7 - Cameron HighlandsToday you might want to go for a nice hike through the rolling hills in the area. You can do this independently; however it may be more fun with a guide accompanying you to tell you all about the area you're walking through. Let us know ahead of time if you would like to participate in an excursion to the Cameron Highlands. If you choose to visit the tea fields during your Malaysia adventure holiday, you'll be picked up at your hotel around 10am and taken to one of the largest tea plantations in Malaysia, the Boh Tea Estate. Afterwards you and your guide will head out into the Mossy Forest, so you may want to wear decent walking shoes or sandals today. After visiting the tea factory (which is closed on Mondays) and learning all about the process of making tea, you'll go for a picnic at a lovely spot on the Boh Tea Estate. During the picnic you'll get to taste a wide variety of teas whilst enjoying the view of endless terraces of tea fields. After a while, you'll return to the hotel and, during the ride back, you'll visit a butterfly garden. Literally hundreds of tropical butterflies flutter around here, each one more colourful than the other. |
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Day 8 - Cameron Highlands - PenangTravel time: 4 hoursAfter breakfast you can spend the rest of the morning chilling on your private veranda or wander into Tanah Rata. Later today, you'll board the minibus to the cultural island of Penang. If you're travelling by hire car, you'll make your own way across the impressive 8 mile long Penang Bridge to the colourful Georgtetown where your car will be picked up at your hotel.Penang is a cultural melting pot and a culinary hotspot, even for the local Malaysians. The typical Nyonya cuisine is a delicious mix of Chinese and Malaysian influences. Whilst, we're on the subject of food, we definitely recommend having a quick bite to eat at one of the local food stalls. You'll find quite a few at the 'Datuk Keramat Hawker Centre', which is also known as 'Padang Brown'. You'll often find a typical night market here as well. Be sure to ask your hotel's concierge when these markets take place, it differs from time to time. Last, but not least, don't forget a visit to the heart of Georgetown.... Gurney Drive. This hawker's square looking out over the sea is known across all of Malaysia for its' authentic Malaysian cuisine, including dishes such as "Asam Laksa", a salty sour fish soup. Your hotel is located in the heart of Georgtetown within walking distance of all the sights. The hotel has comfortable rooms, a pool and even it's own hawker's centre out front. |
Day 9 - PenangIf you want to see everything Penang has to offer (and there's plenty), we suggest getting up a bit early. There are several ways to travel around Penang; besides local buses there’s a free shuttle hop-on hop-off service to all the major sights, very useful if you want to visit other places outside Georgetown. You can also take a taxi and ask the driver to take you around the sights. In Penang taxis don't have a meter, so you'll need to agree on a price beforehand.Within Georgetown (where you'll also be staying) take a trishaw to get about. We can pre-arrange a trishaw ride for you where you'll be picked up at your hotel at 9am by your trishaw driver who will take you to some of the most fascinating spots in Georgetown; the Khoo Khongsi Clan house, Fort Cornwallis and the Goddess of Mercy Temple. Try dinner at the food court next to the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (Blue Mansion) in Chinatown, which often has a great party atmosphere when the evening gets going. |
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Day 10 - Penang - LangkawiTravel time: 2.5 hoursToday you'll head out early in the morning to Penang's harbour to catch the 08:15 boat to Langkawi (approximately a two hour boat ride). Tickets for the boat will be provided in your travel information pack. There are dozens of taxi cabs at the harbour that can take you to your resort. Your hotel is beautifully situated on the west in Pantai Cenang, on a long stretch of beach with restaurants nearby. The resort organises all types of activities: jungle tours, morning and evening cruises, snorkelling, kayaking and fishing trips and boat rides to nearby tropical islands.Of course you can stay at your hotel for dinner; however Langkawi is well known for having exceptional restaurants. A truly wonderful restaurant with an equally amazing view and delicious cuisine (fusion) is the Bon Ton Restaurant, located slightly north of Pantai Cenang. It may mean taking a taxi cab ride to get there, but it's well worth the trip. During our stay on the island we headed north (from Kuah on route to Padang Lalang) and spent an unforgettable evening in 'Barn Thai' which is idyllically located in a stretch of mangrove forest. |
Day 11-13 - LangkawiYou could spend your days chilling out on the beach, but if you want to do something a little more active there’s plenty to do on or in the water, like catamaran sailing or kayaking. Further inland you can take a cable car (approximately £2) to the top of the Gunung Mat Chingchang, the second highest mountain on Langkawi, rising up from the dense green rainforest.If you want to discover Malaysian sea life without getting wet, visit the aptly named Underwater World in Pantai Cenang, one of the largest aquariums in Asia. You can also take a snorkelling trip to one of the nearby islands, visit one of the museums or go hiking to the hot springs of Telaga Air Hangat. For a real thrill on this Malaysia adventure holiday, try an 'air trekking experience' (approximately £25), a challenging track high above the ground. If you'd like to find out more about this, just ask your hotel staff. |
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Day 14 - Langkawi - Kuala Lumpur - End of tripTravel time: 1 hour+ to Kuala LumpurToday you'll take your flight from Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur. You'll arrange for a taxi cab to pick you up at your hotel and take you to Langkawi Airport. Your domestic flight will take approximately an hour to reach Kuala Lumpur. We will try to book an international flight for you that connects safely with your domestic flight from Langkawi, or to be really safe we can add on an extra night in KL if you'd prefer? Once you reach Kuala Lumpur you'll fly on to London, where you'll arrive early the next day. This marks the end of your incredible journey through Malaysia. |
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Build your own trip using Malaysia adventure tours
Build your own trip using Malaysia adventure tours