Long haul long shot

[Hopingforholidayhelp]

So! Hoping that the good karma I give on others chats is coming back to me !!
I am planning to go to Malaysia / Thailand / and 2 nights Singapore.
total holiday 2/2.5 weeks …..
is there anyone who would enjoy giving me some itinerary tips ? Please !!

happy to get trains internally xxx
thank you in advance

Hi,

We flew into Singapore and travelled up through Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, George town (Penang) and finished in Langkawi. We travelled by train and ferry and took the advice from Seat61.com and everything worked to time (almost). It was a great trip and took about 15 days i think. I was hoping to go from Singapore to Bangkok but felt it would have been too much racing about to get all the way up.

We stayed with friends in Singapore and KL but went to hotels in Malacca (Timez Heritage), Georgetown (Prestige Hotel) and Langkawi (The Danna) and could recommend them all, although we went in Nov 2019 so they may have changed hand since.

In Singapore we went to Gardens by The Bay which we both loved. There is also a free sound and light show twice each night in the gardens around the supertrees. We also enjoyed the two greenhouses there. Mooching around Chinatown, Little India and around the Sultan Mosque was fun as was the river taxi, and the Hawker Centres for food. We listened to the Amateur Traveler podcast episode for other ideas. We now have kopi everyweekend for breakfast as we enjoyed it so much. We went up the Marina Bay Sands for dusk and stayed to see their nightly light show too, and hung around to watch the Gardens by the Bay lightshow from a different viewpoint.

We had a general moochin Malacca, taking in a river trip and Jonker Street market which was heaving.

I didnt enjoy Kuala Lumpur so much but some people love it, it was just a bit too busy and too many shops. We went out to Batu Caves which were a bit of a disappointment but I would not have liked to have missed them as they are 'the place to see' and I would have had some FOMO!!

In Georgetown our favourite was catching the bus west to Penang National Parrk and a hike out to Turtle Beach and a boatride back to Monkey Beach.

Langkawi was our beachside break at the end and The Danna was great for hanging out and being looked after. Their breakfast was fab and filled us for the day. We spent a day up by the Skybridge and the other entertainment. We took a glass bottomed cable car for an extra couple of pounds and went to the front of the queue which was very satisfying!

Do let me know if you want any other info or have questions - I love remembering trips!

Oh my goodness that is so kind to write all
of that ! Thank you so much 😊
I will look at all your fantastic info over the weekend …. I really appreciate your time … and your memories sound fantastic x

I'm of Malaysian origin (grew up in Penang and Kuala Lumpur).

What's your budget and how many people are travelling (and what ages)? That will help with accommodation and destination suggestions. Also, time of year matters.

I recommend the trains for long distances between cities in Malaysia and there are several services which extend all the way up to Thailand. You can buy your train tickets in advance here: www.ktmb.com.my/ There's also an extensive coach network (Malaysians call them busses, causing much confusion) which are cheaper and go to more small destinations or those off the main train routes. For transport within towns/cities, everybody uses Grab so ensure you have a data plan for your phone - get a local E-SIM.

@Specialnameforanoutingthread has some excellent suggestions already and I second all of them. But just to add some extra ideas, the best beaches tend to be found on the islands off the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia but not during the monsoon months, so you should only consider them from April-October. How about visiting Taman Negara National Park to experience virgin rainforest? Or Cameron Highlands to see tea plantations?

I can make more off-the-beaten-track suggestions for places to visit, things to eat, etc, but sometimes these are not to the taste/expectation of Western visitors. Or might require either a hire car or a hired driver.

Oh wow 😊 thank you xx
I have a budget of around £2500 for the 2.5 weeks travel and Accomadation and travel ( excluding flights) 2 adults 2 older children . Will say no to the driving currently x

That should be a great budget, of course depending on where you go and how luxurious you want your accommodation to be.

Just for example, the train from Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth (the mainland terminus for Penang Island) is about £12 per person one-way. If you think that's cheap, the same journey will be around £6 per person by coach. I forgot to mention that coach tickets throughout SE Asia can be booked through Grab or Easybook or various other ticketing apps.

If you wish to travel from Penang island to Langkawi island, there is no longer a direct ferry connection (closed down during COVID and didn't re-open) so you either have to take a circuitous coach+ferry journey or fly; I suggest flying as it is not expensive with one of the low-cost carriers. If you wish to visit the East Coast islands, a couple of the bigger ones are accessible by (small) aeroplanes, else you have to travel to jetties on the mainland and get ferries.

Be warned: in my experience, SE Asian hotels all consider children over 12 as "adults" for the purposes of calculating room occupancy, which means that you often have to fork out for 2 rooms for a family of four. However, some hotels do offer rooms for higher occupancy.

By far the most expensive part of your accommodation is going to be Singapore because it's just a more expensive country, no matter what grade of hotel you choose! Everything is much cheaper in Malaysia, but again depends on your tastes. Example: the 5-star Hilton in KL Sentral is around £100 per night for a standard double. If you prefer more quirky and locally-flavoured but less polished lodgings, I do have a few favourites. For a family, I would also look at getting an apartment via Booking.com, this is what we usually do when we go "home" as a family - they're always really nice with pools, gardens, gyms, etc.

I really appreciate all your help…. This is our main family memory holiday! But I have little time to research as currently studying a post grad and working full time … along with general life …. So you taking the time to share your knowledge is saving me days of frustration or fruitless research!
Singapore - only wanting to stay 2 days to ‘ experience ‘ it.
so am aiming to travel from Singapore to Malaysia internally.
that’s a great tip regarding anyone over 12, classed as an adult .
do have any personal favourites for Accomadation?
please don’t feel you need to reply! You have been way more informative than I expected anyone to be !
😌

I quite like thinking about organising holidays so I don't mind at all!

In Singapore, the main thing is to stay near an MRT station so you can whizz everywhere on their beautiful, efficient, sparkling clean trains. Their public bus service is also [chef's kiss]. Everything in Singapore is polished, efficient and sparkling clean. (I lived in Singapore for a few years and utterly adored it there, can you tell?).

Thinking about land travel from Singapore to Malaysia, there is no longer a direct train from Singapore (the train line, train station and surrounding lands belonged to the Malaysian rail authority, and the Singapore government took it all back in 2010 or something!). So, the most likely option is to go by coach; you board in central Singapore, it drives to the border checkpoint just before the causeway where everybody has to get off, then back on for the drive across the causeway, then the Malaysian border checkpoint where everybody has to get off again, then back on for the actual journey!

Malacca is on the way between Singapore and KL, so that might make sense as a stop if you are interested. It's a small place, I'd say one night would be enough.

Re accommodation in Malaysia, like I said we prefer either modern condominiums or heritage-style unpolished local hotels: DH (English) says that the laid-back-whatevs Malaysian service in such places can take some getting used to by Western standards I'll put together a few and get back to you.

Oh my goodness! Thank you!!!
have just come out of another 10 hour study session to this ! It’s appreciated more than you realise xx

I just popped back to advise you to look at the weather as we went up the west coast to avoid the wet weather on the east coast in November but I can see @Kucinghitam has already sahred that advice. Some of the islands on that east coast look fabulous.

We got the train from 'Singapore' to 'Malacca' and as @Kucinghitam advises the immigration was 'somewhat prolonged' as we arrived into Malaysia. It was a huge contrast between the efficiency of leaving Singapore and then hitting the traffic on the Johor Causeway. We had left about an hour spare but it soon got gobbled up in queues. We arrived at the station about 20 mins after our train's departure time, only to find the train was still in the station and it remained there for another 20 minutes after we sat down. We laugh about it now...

Seat61.com had all the info and advice we needed for the train, if you dont know it Rome2rio has given us great advise on our international travels although I did not use in Singapore or Malaysia, but I am sure it would help with coaches/buses.

Very very kind 😁 all so helpful ….. thank you so much.
I will be sure to suss out Rometorio too

Just found this but sounds like you've already had great advice. Happy to help if you need any other input, I've been to all the places you're considering 😊

I concur with @Specialnameforanoutingthread There's a definite change in character when you cross the border from Singapore to Malaysia! Can be quite frustrating and I say that as a Malaysian-born person

OK, so a non-exhaustive list of places we, or friends/family, have stayed in the past couple of years (post-COVID). There are loads of excellent places which are not mentioned, but if you see something you fancy let me know and I can ask around! Bear in mind what I said about Malaysian service, but as a general principle the more stars and more £, the more Western-standard the service.

East Coast mainland

• Hyatt Regency Kuantan (nearby fast food park which is a bit weird, but excellent golden beach, pretty sea)
• Terrapuri Resort Terrenganu (amazing gorgeous heritage Malay houses, nice beach just across a small road through a coconut field).

Kuala Lumpur

• Hilton KL Sentral (proper luxury at Western standards, nice pool, super-convenient location right above the main train station and LRT connections)
• Le Meridian (shares gardens and pool with Hilton so all same advantages)
• Alila Bangsar (part of Hyatt chain, one LRT stop away from KL Sentral so not quite as convenient, cool funky vibe and free biscuits/coffee on every floor)
• The Face Style (be very careful not to be confused with any other Face hotels, insanely gobsmacking view from infinity pool, walking distance to Petronas towers, it's a brand-new hotel so everything is pristine but service a bit iffy)
• Robertson Suites (walking distance to Chinatown and KL historic/shopping spots, wonderful rooftop pool and gardens, downside not that close to LRT stations)
• Lucentia Residences (right next to monorail/LRT station, connected to shopping centre which has all sorts of eateries, another fabulous rooftop pool).

Penang Georgetown

• East Indies Mansion (authentic heritage house in the heart of Georgetown, incredibly charming courtyard gardens and quirky rooms, no pool)
• 23 Love Lane (ditto, some rooms are whole houses for a family, no pool)
• Hotel Penaga (ditto, for a family we book the Clarke terraces which literally gives you a whole house to yourself, no pool but some houses have an outdoor jacuzzi)
• Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (one of the most recognisable heritage houses in Georgetown and worth a visit even if you don't stay there)
• The Edison hotel (part of Hyatt chain, luxuriously refurbished heritage house right opposite Cheong Fatt Tze, my aunt stayed there this summer and said service was superb).

Penang Beach area

• Rasa Sayang Resort (5-star luxury but with a real down-to-earth Malaysian style, lovely pool and gardens, wonderful staff, downside is the previously-gorgeous beach has recently started eroding away due to changing sea currents)
• Angsana Teluk Bahang (5-star luxury and quite funky style, great beach, but quite far away from everything).
• By The Sea residences (our preferred affordable option, this is a holiday apartment development, lovely pool and pleasant small gardens, beach just outside the gate across a small road, worth checking the listings for the "high floor sea view" ones).

‼️Important warning‼️The ones that are "residences" or "suites" you book via (e.g.) Booking.com or AirBnB or VRBO, each apartment is therefore a different independent landlord. So the standards of everything inside, plus the cleanliness, plus the level of assistance, is completely variable. Make sure to read the descriptions and reviews in detail.

Oh, so asterisk and space makes a bullet-point!

Literally astounded at your kindness … thank you so so much xx 😘
it’s all going to be so helpful.
my speciality is autism, random but if I can signpost in anyway with that, let me know !

Hi!
Weve been to all three, although Singapore was pre kids. We loved them all. Malaysia was our most recent trip. We surprisingly loved Kuala Lumpur (we’re more nature, not city people when it comes to holidays)! Jalang Alor (sp.) was great for cheap but delicious street food. I was worried about the Bath Caves, as reviews weren’t great, but we loved it. The rainbow steps and huge gold statue was amazing, plus cheeky monkeys made my daughters laugh! It is a bit grubby, but we overlooked that and went early before the tourist hordes.
Georgetown Penang was also great for food and art spotting around the streets. The food in Little India was incredible and our favourite place by far was the Bus Depot. Live music, food, drink and shopping market stalls. We went twice. We stayed in a traditional chinese terrace, which was stunning. Then onto Langkawi, and you can’t beat the scenery there. We loved the boat trips out to the islands and sundowners on the beach with fire poi performers.

Thailand was about six years ago, but Bangkok was fun and crazy. Only needed a few days max! The floating markets, street food and resting Buddha are all good.
We went to Chang Mai which was lovely. I’d be tempted to switch to Chang Rai though for the incredible temples. Then Phuket was lovely. I also wish we got to visit Crabbi and some of the national parks.

have fun. It’s amazing!

Excellent tips @LornaLoves121 ! I concur with avoiding the massive crowds at the "famous" tourist/Instagram spots by going very early, or very late.

Another thing I thought of, OP, you said you have older children - have a look at the water parks, there are quite a few around Malaysia. In the KL area, I think the "big & famous" one is Sunway Lagoon - I actually find it too much and don't go there, but it is hugely popular so perhaps I am weird. My absolute absolute favourite water park is Escape in Penang, set into the jungle and mountains, it is utterly glorious and beautiful and the best fun.

BTW if OP wants very specific pointers for interesting locations or foods in KL/Penang, I can provide a few. But I don't want to clutter up your thread with minutiae that may not be relevant to your itinerary

(Gratuitous photo of East Coast mainland beach).

Thank you all for your help! I really appreciate it … I have started putting a loose plan together ….
can I ask,
there’s a train from Singapore to malacca ( plan to stay one night) but then malacca to penang ?
also how hard is it to get from penang to the east coast for these amazing beaches ?

You've got quite a lot of locations OP! Have a think about exactly how much travelling you want to do, because it will take up a lot of your holiday time. When we go "home" as a family, we go for at least 3 weeks, and we usually limit to maybe 2-3 bases. So I think you will need to prioritise your itinerary*.

If you want to do Taman Negara and East Coast by land, I would hire a car (or a driver) from KL. It's about 3.5 hours from KL to Kuala Tahan (nearest town to the national park). You'll want to stay at least 1-2 nights at Taman Negara. From there you can drive on to the East Coast, that's another 3 hours or more depending on where you go.

If you want to just do East Coast, you're better off flying directly from either KL or Singapore, to Kuantan or Kuala Terengganu. (If you fly out of S'pore it also means you avoid the infuriating land border crossing.) Once you're at the East Coast, you can choose to stay on the mainland e.g. at the hotels I mentioned, or get a ferry to the amazing islands - e.g. Redang, Tioman, Perhentian. In fact the first 2 islands actually have small airports so you can get a direct flight there from KL/S'pore.

To travel by land up the West Coast from S'pore, the train line goes all the way from Johor Bahru, via KL, to Butterworth (Penang) to the Thai border and beyond. Also there's an excellent motorway, so coaches are an option for the entire distance.

*We always try to have a mix of beach/historic town/big modern city/farm and nature, but within the limit of 2-3 bases. Some places e.g. Penang, we can do all these within the one island.

Again amazing advice thank you 😊 so much…
yes the map is basically everyone’s awesome advice and it is now to be whittled down … I agree a few bases is definitely the maximum

Some examples of doing multiple things from one base.

KL - big modern city, historic old town, day trip or overnighter to jungle/paddy-fields/fishing village.
Penang - historic cultural Georgetown, nice beaches, paddy-fields and fruit farms, jungle skywalk at Penang Hill.
Kuantan - lovely beaches, mangrove boat tour, night-time crocodile/firefly-spotting boat tour, fishing villages.
Langkawi - amazing beaches, cable car and skybridge over the jungle, mangrove boat tour.

If it helps, I would drop Malacca for the east coast beaches. The reason we did west coast was the time of year and the weather on the east coast. When are we all you going?

I agree, if the time of year is right (May-September is usually considered the best weather on the East Coast).

When are we all you going?

MN field trip! Count me in!

I had a wonderful trip in Malaysia. Was in KL, great indoor market and you can eat there. On the edge of China town is the Reggae Bar with a nice terrace to hang out on.
Did the hop-on hop-off bus which was great.

Malacca has a nice street with a church, mosque and Buddhist temple. My mate who I met up with had a friend who had a jazz club there. Very chill.

Loved Tioman, by boat from Mersing.

Re the trains!
It might be prudent to book them in advance as when my husband did an OAP trek around Malaysia recently, he ended up going by slow coach as the train tickets had all been sold for the day.

Yes, I agree. We bought our tickets from the UK in advance but I think that was because the Singapore to Pulau Sebang/Tampin (the stop for Malacca) only went once or twice per day so we had no flex. I was there anyway so i booked the other trains too.