Sri Lanka or Malaysia - Best At Travel?

[honeylulu]

Hello holiday fans,

Family has broadly agreed on either Sri Lanka or Malaysia for our family holiday this year. We can only go mid August for up to 14 days. Mum, Dad, son aged 20 and daughter aged 11 so two hotel rooms. Budget up to 10k if paying for meals separately or 12kish if all inclusive.

I'm a creature of habit and usually book with Tui as we've had some lovely holidays with them but Tui's options for Sri Lanka aren't great (flight options are night flights both ends and we are also quite keen on staying in Negombo and there's only one resort option). Tui only offers one option for Malaysia which is a multi stop adventure holiday which looks too intense and exhausting (we like a mix of chilling and exploring).

Best At Travel has some really great looking options for both SL (better flight options including direct and more Negombo resorts) and Malaysia. I'm really tempted by the BAT combined trips to Singapore/Penang or Kuala Lumpur/Penang/Langkawi. They seem to be an established company but I've not used them before. The pricing seems to be indicative and "call for a quote" which is less transparent than Tui where you can see everything online.

Reviews are generally positive (85%) but some very negative ones, though mostly these are about slow refunds when covid hit in 2020.

Any recommendations or warnings (or tips!) about BAT or other operators offering what we need?
Whether our budget is realistic?
Whether it's worth considering AI or not? (We went to Thailand a couple of years ago and opted out of AI and were so glad as restaurants were so inexpensive and varied out of the resort.) Have heard Singapore expensive but if we picked that one, we'd only be there 3 nights.

Thanks all!

I’m fortunate in having been to all these places, but a decade ago now! Singapore and Sri Lanka stand out to me; really beautiful and safe places. I went in my 20s with friends so a different kind of vibe, but I can see how it would work with a family. Wherever you choose I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time!

I cannot imagine AI is worth it anywhere in SE Asia where the local food is so good and varied and cheap. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever encountered an AI option in Malaysia!

We went to Malaysia last summer as a family of 4 (kids 13 and 15) for 2 weeks. We got an itinerary from Trailfinders which was quoted as £11k. We then just booked all the suggested hotels and flights directly ourselves and saved £££. We did KL- Cameron Highlands-Penang- Langkawi. It was amazing! 5* hotels, travel, food and spending came to £8k in total for everything. Definitely wouldn't do AI as the local food is great and v cheap.

Forgot to add OP, try Travel Counsellors if you want to book a package through an agent, you'll get a personal agent who will painstakingly tailor everything to your precise requirements and without inflating the price.

We regularly travel to SE Asia, particularly Malaysia as it is my home country. We do a mixture of self-organising/booking and using our agent, depending on our travel plans.

I'm another lucky one who has been to all of them!

There are AMAZING small hotels in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, and as PP says, cheap and fantastic food. You'd be missing out on so much by staying in an AI.

No to AI in that part of the world; not needed nor seen in Singapore actually.

BAT act as the agent between you as the consumer and the airlines/hotels so would not readily use. You can do what they do yourself. Their terms are buried at the bottom of their website.

Thanks so much everyone. Popped into Trailfinders on Sunday to get some ideas and ended up booking the whole thing. Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi and a brief stop in Singapore. All for £9.2k which is well within budget and all hotels look lovely, all internal flights and transfers included. No AI, just brekky. I'm so excited - thanks again for all the tips!

I know I could have booked it all individually but I have limited time and was getting stressed at the thought of juggling it all and no ATOL protection.

Might still do Sri Lanka next year!

Sounds fab - have a great time!

We went to Sri Lanka with Red Dot Tours and they were excellent.
www.reddottours.com/

Sounds wonderful OP, have a lovely holiday! (coincidentally that's very similar to our itinerary this summer too)

Have a wonderful time! That sounds like a good deal. I imagine you'll be staying in the same hotels we did! Another tip is to book Petronas towers in advance before you go - it gets very booked up!

Another tip is to book Petronas towers in advance before you go - it gets very booked up!

Ooo thank you! It's definitely on the wish list and I wouldn't have thought of booking!

@NKffffffffb5e64c4dX11c950aaec3 this sounds amazing! Would you be happy to share your itinerary and hotels please as it sounds like exactly what we are looking for?!

Hi! This is our itinerary:
3 nights Hotel Stripes KL (amazing rooftop pool)
Travelled by taxi to Cameron Highlands (taxi booked by hotel when we were there)
2 nights Cameron highlands resort
Taxi to Penang (again booked by hotel)
3 nights Shangri-la, Batu ferringhi Penang (with hindsight we would have preferred to stay in Georgetown)
Flight to Langkawi
5 nights Berjaya resort (unbelievable!)
Flight to KL
1 night airport hotel (cant remember its name, had a pool)
Total cost (all travel, hotels, spending) was £8k for 4 of us.
Have a great time!

I forgot this was my thread!
The trip was absolutely wonderful (arranged via Trailfinders).
Night flight to Singapore - couple of hours in Changi airport which is amazing in itself.
Flight to KL. 3 nights at Hotel Stripes same as you!
Did old town, St Mary's, independence square, Chinatown, Sri Massiman temple, national mosque, Lake Gardens on first day.
KL Tower (tried to book Pertronas 10 days in advance but already booked, should have done it a month earlier!) Then Batu Caves, well worth the trip on the commuter train.
Flight to Penang - also stayed at Golden Sands Shangri La in Batu Ferringhi.
Did Tropical Spice Gardens, Georgetown and National Park/ Monkey Beach boat trip, all via local bus.
Flight to Langkawi for 7 nights beach holiday, stayed at the Westin which was gorgeous. Did one big day trip to the cable cars/sky bridge and Seven Wells waterfall.
Flew Langkawi to Singapore and booked into the Areo Hotel in T2 for swimming and explored more of Changi as we had 5 hours.
Night flight back to London.

Was amazing. Only thing I would have done differently would be one more night in KL as we only had 2 full days and had to cram in too much especially the first day when we were jet lagged and knackered. One night less/6 days in Langkawi would have been fine/ just as relaxing.
Would definitely go again and visit Cameron Highlands next time too. Maybe a combined Thailand/Malaysia trip.

Thanks for all the tips and comments!
Still planning Sri Lanka next year.

Thank you so much both of you, these itineraries sound amazing! Off to Trailfinders...!

Got a great itinerary from Trailfinders, at a £10k price. This may well just be the reality of what this kind of trip costs, but does anyone who priced up their own trip have any tips to share please on how to possibly bring this cost down?!

What is included, how long, how many people, how many rooms etc?

A huge and unavoidable part of the expense will be the flights, which have gone up massively in recent years.

Hotel transfers will be way more expensive than if you call a Grab for yourself.
Private transfers between locations will be way more expensive than local train or coach.
Hotel breakfasts will be way more expensive than if you just pop out to the local breakfast stall.

We typically spend around £7-9K for 3.5 weeks: 2 adults, 2 teens (so either 2 rooms or family-size room/apartment). But apart from the nice 5* accommodation (non-negotiable to me!), we travel/eat as locals, not tourists.

We’ve just had a holiday in Malaysia. We booked with Destination 2, as they get good reviews. DH chose 4 star hotels, at a cost for 2 of £2,519, including return flights (Emirates to Dubai and connecting flight to Malaysia) and airport transfers. The 5 star hotel option was not that much more.

1. 3 nights in Kuala Lumpur in the Hotel Ibis. It’s in the KL Central District, about a 500 yard walk to the Petronas Towers and the nearest Metro station. The rooms weren’t big, but it was ok. There’s a Crowne Plaza next door, which might be fancier?
2. 5 nights in Penang in Golden Sands - a family resort hotel with its own beach. Beautiful setting with plenty to do. Book a room with a sea view, as the city view rooms are overlooking a mosque! You could be woken up quite early by a service on loudspeakers. We didn’t hear a thing on the sea view side. It’s 35 minutes drive to George Town, but Grab taxis are so cheap, it’s not a problem. Next door is its sister 5 star hotel - Shangri La, which is more for adults.
3. 5 nights in Langkawi in Berjaya hotel resort. This too has stunning grounds and its own private beach. Bedrooms are either chalets on stilts in the rain forest, or more expensive in the sea. There are 4 restaurants - Thai, Chinese, Western and international (Malay, Western, and bbq buffets some evenings). It’s a 15 minute walk to the cable car. You can get takeaways delivered by Grab taxis apparently.

In Kuala Lumpur, we bought singles and took the Metro (about 25p) and over ground train (about 40p) to Batu Caves.

Grab taxis (= Uber) are really cheap by our standards. You request one on an app, and they bid for your custom. Sometimes, they were about £2. Tipping is not really a thing in Malaysia.

We hired a taxi driver for the day for £78 in Penang - he suggested a list of 10 attractions in Georgetown and told us to pick our top 4 or 5. He picked us up about 9 am and took us to our chosen 5 attractions. He waited for us outside and we rang him, as we were leaving. He explained to us how the ticket systems worked, took us to a traditional Nyonya restaurant for lunch and dropped us back at about 5 pm. He was a graduate and explained to us the history, religions, etc of Penang.

The main meals in the hotels can be at Western prices. We often ate in local cafes, where we could get something like fried noodles for about £1.20. A young coconut juice could be £1.50. The quality in restaurants is the same as street food; you just pay more for the surroundings!

In KL, we ate in Jalan Alor and a Michelin recommended one in Chinatown in KL for about £5 each.

In Penang, there were quite a few local cafes and restaurants near Golden Sands. We used to walk 5 minutes to Chinese restaurants for lunch and dinner sometimes.

We bought Malaysian e sims to save on roaming charges.

PS - we flew from Gatwick, and had bed and breakfast in Malaysia.

This is really helpful thank you! Especially the cheap eating tips!

Your family sounds very much like ours - family of 4 one teen one tween! Restricted to the school summer holidays obvs. I still feel like I must be doing something wrong because even pricing this up myself I can't seem to get it under £10k! We want to do an itinerary very much like yours (also in nice accommodation) but it seems to come to £10k (and of course that's without transfers, activities, sightseeing, meals, drinks etc!) Is there a trick I'm missing somewhere?!

We flew from KL to Penang, then Penang to Langkawi on Air Malaysia, included in the price. The flight back was Langkawi, landing at Penang then onto Dubai, and a connecting flight to Gatwick

I haven't yet tried pricing up a trip for Summer 2026, so maybe £10K really is the price

This summer just gone, we spent around £9K so on the higher end of our typical budget. But that included a couple of internal flights (when often we just take the train or coach which costs peanuts). As I said we use public transport or Grab to get around everywhere, including all airport transfers and excursions.

We went in August 2024 so I don't know if the prices have gone up? From what I remember, we spent £3800 on 4 flights from Heathrow to KL return with Ethiad. We spent about £3k on the hotels and internal flights/transfers and then only about £1.2k on food/activities as it was so cheap over there.

This really helps to understand it, so thank you! I think it's the flights that are inflating the price as the cheapest I can find are £4895 for 4 of us, so close to half of the £10K is on the initial flights alone - looks like 2026 flights are EXPENSIVE!