Our
PENINSULA MALAYSIA SONATA (12 DAYS) tour combines an attractive overview of the wonderfully diverse range of destinations the Malay Peninsula has to offer and forms a highly interesting platform from which it is possible to enhance your stay and adapt the pattern to include a whole range of potential activities, depending upon your interests.
From the towering Petronas building, emblem of modern Kuala Lumpur, rising above the colourful mix of Malay, Chinese and colonial British heritages, the city is an exciting start to a trip which also takes in the rarefied atmosphere of the Cameron highlands, with its mock Tudor houses and rose gardens very much a living memory of the peculiar world of the British Empire's tea plantations.
Further north and over the splendid bridge to Penang Island, once the far-eastern base of operations for the British Empire, a chaotically interesting fusion of cultures prevails.
The trip also introduces you to Malaysia's most iconic creatures, the Orang Utans, before heading to the east coast to Kuala Terengganu and offshore to the idyllic white-sand beaches and crystalline blue luminescence of Pulau Redang, where you can relax in style, enjoying its numerous white sand beaches and surrounding islets.
Aside from being a stunningly beautiful location, the island is also a premier global snorkelling and diving destination, and if you have more time, it is the easiest and most seductively desirable thing to extend the trip to derive maximum benefit from your stay on this delightful paradise.
The tour ends with a visit to historic Malacca, variously contested in warfare by the colonial powers of Holland, Portugal, France and Britain and more recently by the Japanese, during the occupation of the Second World War, all of whom have left their mark on this city, throughout which the unique Peranakan culture has also thrived.
If you are visiting Singapore as part of your Malaysian holiday, or having an extended stopover there, our
MALAYSIA'S COLONIAL ECHOES (9 DAYS) tour starts at Singapore and travels across the Johor Causeway into Malaysia and visits the historic treasure of Malacca, the thrumming capital of Kuala Lumpur, the Batu Caves shrine, the beautiful cool of Cameron Highlands and the island of Penang, with an emphasis on the colonial legacies of the country.
The classic tour of Malaysian Borneo takes in the features of both Sarawak and Sabah, visiting their state capitals of Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. However, it is the jungles that are the main attraction for most visitors wishing to get a flavour of the ancient Headhunting way of life and encounter the most famous of all its residents, the Orang Utans and the Rafflesia.
In Sarawak, a visit to the traditional longhouses of the Iban peoples provide cultural nourishment, while the national parks found in this region also offer plenty of scope to explore the forests, wildlife and stunning natural features such as the truly awesome caves and pinnacles at Gunung Mulu.
In Sabah, the highlights are the Crocker Ridge and the forest trails around Mount Kinabalu, but there are many other natural areas to explore if you want to get well off the beaten track to explore its waterfall filled forests.
Aside from deeper excursions into the wilderness, a good way to extend a classic tour is to visit Kota Kinabalu’s offshore islands for some enjoyable tropical beach time in Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine National Park, or travel even further offshore for some beautiful oceanic isolation or immerse yourself in the clear waters of Malaysia's treasured diving islands.