Malaysia 2-Week Itinerary with Borneo

Morning: Take the KLIA Ekspres to KL Sentral and check in. After a long-haul flight, rest through the hottest part of the day.

Afternoon: Go to KLCC for the Petronas Twin Towers. Timed tickets for the Skybridge and observation deck sell out, so book online before you travel. Walk the paths of KLCC Park afterwards and cool off in the Suria KLCC mall.

Evening: Stay in the park until the towers light up, then walk the elevated, air-conditioned walkway to Bukit Bintang, about 20 minutes. Eat on Jalan Alor, KL’s best-known food street, where plastic tables fill the road from early evening. Order grilled chicken wings, satay, char kway teow and stir-fried kangkung, and finish with durian or mango from a fruit stall. It is a lively, noisy introduction to how Malaysians eat: late, outdoors and with plenty of dishes to share.

Morning: Take the KTM Komuter train from KL Sentral to Batu Caves, about 30 minutes. Climb the 272 rainbow steps to Temple Cave early, ideally by 8am, before the heat and coach groups. Cover shoulders and knees; sarongs are available at the base.

Afternoon: Spend the hottest hours at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia beside the Lake Gardens, one of the best museums in the region, with galleries of manuscripts, textiles, jewellery and scale models of famous mosques. Allow about two hours, then take a short ride to Merdeka Square to see the Sultan Abdul Samad Building and the green where independence was declared in 1957.

Evening: Walk through Chinatown, past Sri Mahamariamman Temple and the Guan Di Temple on Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, to the lanes of Kwai Chai Hong. Eat at one of the old coffee shops or the stalls on Petaling Street.

Morning: Return to the Lake Gardens for the KL Bird Park, a huge walk-in aviary where hornbills, peacocks and egrets move freely around you. Go when it opens, as the birds are most active and the feeding sessions are spread through the morning. Allow two to three hours.

Afternoon: Rest at your hotel during the heat, then head to the KL Tower in the late afternoon. Its observation deck stands on a forested hill in the city centre and looks straight across to the Petronas Towers. Arrive about an hour before sunset to see the city in daylight, at dusk and lit up after dark.

Evening: Take a Grab south to Thean Hou Temple, a six-tiered Chinese temple whose lanterns glow red after dark, and which is free to enter. Return to Bukit Bintang or Chinatown for dinner. Pack tonight: tomorrow’s train leaves from KL Sentral in the morning.

Morning: Board a morning ETS train from KL Sentral to Butterworth. Platinum services take about 4 hours, passing oil palm estates and the limestone hills of Perak. Bring a jumper for the air conditioning and snacks for the journey.

Afternoon: From Butterworth station, walk through Penang Sentral to the passenger ferry, a crossing of under 15 minutes. Check in to a hotel in George Town’s UNESCO heritage zone.

Late afternoon: Start your Penang street art walk once the heat eases after 4pm. Begin on Armenian Street with the children-on-a-bicycle mural, then work through Lebuh Cannon, Lebuh Ah Quee and Lebuh Chulia. Look out for the wrought-iron caricatures fixed to walls, which tell the story of each street in a few lines.

Evening: Eat at Red Garden on Lebuh Chulia or walk to the night stalls along Lebuh Kimberley for duck kway chap, char kway teow and dessert soups.

Morning: Walk down to Weld Quay early for the clan jetties. Chew Jetty is the largest, a timber walkway lined with stilt houses still lived in by members of the Chew clan. Be respectful: these are homes, so keep to the boardwalk and do not photograph people without asking. Continue to the Khoo Kongsi clan temple, a richly carved complex hidden behind a row of shophouses.

Late morning: Take the guided tour of Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, the indigo courtyard house on Lebuh Leith. Visits are by guided tour only, at set times, so check the schedule and arrive early.

Afternoon: Rest in a café on Lebuh Armenian, or walk the waterfront to Fort Cornwallis and the Esplanade, where the colonial town began.

Evening: Take a Grab to the Gurney Drive hawker centre on the north coast, about 15 minutes away. Try oyster omelette, Penang rojak, lor bak and a bowl of assam laksa, then walk the seafront promenade.

Morning: Head to Air Itam, about 25 minutes from George Town by Grab, and take the Penang Hill funicular early to avoid the queues. At the summit, the air is cooler and the paths lead to viewpoints over the city, the strait and the Penang Bridge. The Habitat, a paid nature park at the top, has a canopy walk and well-made forest trails.

Afternoon: Ride down and go to Kek Lok Si Temple on the neighbouring hillside. Allow about two hours for the prayer halls, the seven-storey pagoda that mixes Chinese, Thai and Burmese styles, and the giant bronze Guan Yin, reached by an inclined lift. Combining both sights in one day saves a second trip.

Evening: Try the assam laksa from the stalls near Air Itam market, a sour, fish-based noodle soup that is Penang’s signature dish. Back in town, pack for tomorrow’s flight and have a final drink on Lebuh Chulia.

Morning: Take a morning flight from Penang to Langkawi, which takes about 35 to 40 minutes. The direct ferry between the islands no longer runs. From Langkawi International Airport, Pantai Cenang is about 10 minutes by Grab.

Afternoon: After a busy week, take the afternoon off. Pantai Cenang is a long west-facing beach of soft sand with calm water for most of the year. Rent a sun lounger, swim, or try a jet ski or parasail from the operators on the sand. Langkawi is a duty-free island, so a cold drink costs less here than on the mainland.

Late afternoon: Rent a car or scooter for the next two days if you are comfortable driving; it makes the island far easier to explore, and the roads are quiet compared with the mainland. Check your licence and insurance first.

Evening: Watch the sunset from the beach, then walk the strip for dinner. Grilled seafood restaurants line the main road; ikan bakar, fish grilled in banana leaf with sambal, is a good order.

Morning: Drive about 30 minutes to Oriental Village at Teluk Burau for the Langkawi SkyCab. Arrive near opening, when the skies are usually clearer and the queues shorter. The cable car climbs steeply to the summit of Gunung Mat Cincang, with views over rainforest and, on clear days, the islands of southern Thailand.

Late morning: From the top station, walk down or take the SkyGlide to the Langkawi Sky Bridge, the curved walkway suspended above the forest canopy. Both the cable car and the bridge close in high winds and on scheduled maintenance days, so check the official site the day before. Allow three to four hours in total.

Afternoon: Stop at Telaga Tujuh, the seven wells waterfall a short drive away, for a swim if the water level allows, or drive the quiet coastal road north to Tanjung Rhu for a calmer beach.

Evening: Eat in Pantai Tengah, just south of Cenang, which has a quieter choice of restaurants.

Morning: Drive to the Kilim jetty on the north-east coast, about 45 minutes from Pantai Cenang, for a boat tour of Kilim Geoforest Park. Boats wind through mangrove channels between limestone cliffs, with stops at a bat cave and a floating fish farm, and you will often see eagles overhead. A two to three hour tour fits a morning comfortably.

Afternoon: Join an afternoon island-hopping trip from Pantai Cenang. The standard route visits Pulau Dayang Bunting and its freshwater lake, an eagle-watching stop near Pulau Singa Besar and the beach at Pulau Beras Basah. Bring cash for small entry and life jacket fees, plus water and sunscreen.

Evening: Spend your last Langkawi night on the beach at sunset. Pack carefully tonight: tomorrow you fly to Borneo via Kuala Lumpur, and Sabah has its own immigration check, even for travellers arriving from the peninsula, so keep your passport handy.

Morning: Fly from Langkawi to KLIA, a little over an hour. Book a connection with at least two hours on the ground, and preferably both legs on one ticket so a delay is the airline’s problem rather than yours.

Afternoon: Fly from KLIA to Kota Kinabalu, about 2.5 hours. Sabah runs its own immigration controls, so you will have your passport checked on arrival even on a domestic flight. The airport is about 20 minutes from the city centre by Grab.

Evening: Check in near the waterfront and walk to the night market by the sea. Its seafood section is where locals pick live fish, prawns and crab to be grilled on the spot, sold by weight; agree the price before cooking starts. The stalls nearer the road sell cheaper snacks such as grilled chicken wings and Sabahan noodle dishes. Afterwards, stroll along the waterfront promenade, where bars and restaurants face west over the sea. Get an early night ahead of tomorrow’s boat trip to the islands.

Morning: Go to the Jesselton Point ferry terminal, which has moved to the South Jetty at Kota Kinabalu Port near JQ Central. Boats start around 8am and the ride to the islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park takes about 30 minutes. Buy a one, two or three island ticket; at the time of writing a two island adult ticket costs RM58, plus a marine park conservation fee of RM25 for international adults, paid separately.

Midday: Sapi and Manukan are the easiest pair. Sapi is small, with clear water and good snorkelling off the beach; Manukan has the longest sandy beach and more facilities. Rent snorkel gear at the jetty if you did not bring your own, and wear reef-safe sunscreen.

Afternoon: The last boats back leave the islands at about 4pm, so watch the time.

Evening: Watch the sunset from the waterfront, then eat Sabahan specialities such as tuaran mee (fried egg noodles) and hinava, a raw fish salad cured in lime.

Morning: Leave early for Kinabalu Park headquarters, 88km from the city on the road to Ranau; allow around two hours each way by private car or tour. Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia’s highest peak, is usually clearest in the early morning before cloud builds. Climbing to the summit needs a permit, a licensed guide and two days, so this plan stays in the park’s lower forest.

Late morning: Walk the short nature trails around park headquarters, through montane forest full of orchids, pitcher plants and birdlife. Bring a fleece, as the temperature at around 1,500 metres is far cooler than on the coast.

Afternoon: Many tours continue to Kundasang for its vegetable stalls and dairy farm, with views of the mountain’s granite peaks. Others stop at the Poring hot springs on the park’s lower slopes. Ask your driver or tour operator for the order that fits the weather.

Evening: Return to the city, have dinner near the waterfront and pack for an early flight. If it is a Sunday morning tomorrow, the Gaya Street market opens early, but your flight comes first.

Early morning: Take an early flight from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan, about 50 minutes. The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre is about half an hour’s drive from Sandakan airport.

Morning: Arrive in time for the 10am feeding at the viewing platform, where semi-wild orangutans come in from the forest for bananas and milk. Feeding times listed by the Sabah Wildlife Department are 10am and 3pm, and entry costs RM30 for international adults. The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre is directly opposite and worth an hour.

Afternoon: Most Kinabatangan lodge packages collect guests from Sepilok around midday for the drive to Sukau or Bilit, about 2.5 hours. Check in at your lodge on the river.

Evening: Your first boat cruise usually leaves around 4pm, the best time for proboscis monkeys gathering in riverside trees, plus long-tailed macaques, hornbills and sometimes pygmy elephants. After dinner, many lodges offer a night walk or night cruise to look for owls, frogs and sleeping birds.

Early morning: Go out on the dawn cruise, typically around 6am. The river is still and misty, birdlife is at its busiest, and the chance of spotting orangutans in the treetops is as good as it gets. Bring binoculars and insect repellent.

Morning: Return to the lodge for breakfast, then take the lodge transfer back towards Sandakan, about 2.5 hours by road. Most packages time this to reach the airport around midday.

Afternoon: Fly from Sandakan direct to KLIA, a flight of just under three hours, or connect through Kota Kinabalu. If your international flight leaves KLIA the same evening, allow at least three hours on the ground, as domestic delays in Sabah are common in wet weather. Alternatively, book a final night at a hotel near KLIA and fly out the next morning without the stress.