Beautiful Places in Malaysia

Known For : Petronas Twin Towers Batu Caves KL Tower

The capital, and a federal territory enclaved inside the state of Selangor rather than part of it. The Petronas Towers and the KL Tower set the skyline, but the city is at its best at street level: Jalan Alor after dark, the Chinatown wet market at dawn, and a food culture that is genuinely Malay, Chinese, Indian and Thai at once rather than in separate quarters.

Best Time: June to August, December to February

118 Kuala Lumpur Attractions

Known For : Sarawak Cultural Village Fort Margherita Tua Pek Kong Temple

The capital of Sarawak and its largest city, on the Sarawak river in Malaysian Borneo. Colonial buildings from the White Rajah period stand along the waterfront, including the Astana and Fort Margherita, and the Sarawak Museum is the best in the country. It is also the base for Bako National Park and the Semenggoh orangutan centre.

Best Time: June to October

35 Kuching Attractions

Known For : Langkawi Sky Bridge Langkawi Cable Car Seven Wells Waterfalls

An archipelago of 99 islands off the Kedah coast in the Andaman Sea, and a duty free zone, which is a large part of why Malaysians come. The main island holds the beaches at Cenang and Tengah, the cable car and skybridge up Gunung Mat Cincang, the Kilim mangrove geopark, and the waterfalls at Telaga Tujuh and Temurun.

Best Time: November to March

49 Langkawi Attractions

Known For : Genting SkyWorlds Theme Park Awana SkyWay Chin Swee Caves Temple

A resort built on the peak of Gunung Ulu Kali at about 1,700 metres, an hour from Kuala Lumpur by road and reachable by cable car from Awana. It is unashamedly a built environment: casinos, indoor and outdoor theme parks, malls and hotels rather than hill station quiet. Come for the temperature drop and the entertainment, not for the countryside.

Best Time: January - February, June - August

19 Genting Highlands Attractions

Known For : Penang Hill Kek Lok Si Temple Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

The capital of Penang and, with Melaka, half of the Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca, inscribed by UNESCO in 2008. What that protects is a working shophouse city rather than a monument: clan houses, temples and mosques within a few streets of each other, a street art trail, and the hawker food that most Malaysians will tell you is the best in the country.

Best Time: December - March

32 George Town Attractions

Known For : Perak Cave Temple Concubine Lane Kellie's Castle

A former tin mining city in Perak, ringed by limestone hills full of caves and cave temples, and now the country's most talked about weekend destination. The old town's shophouses have filled with coffee shops built around Ipoh white coffee, which was invented here. Kellie's Castle, the Kek Look Tong cave temple and the Kinta river are all close by.

Best Time: December - February, June - July

40 Ipoh Attractions

Known For : Mount Kinabalu Mari Mari Cultural Village Lok Kawi Wildlife Park

The capital of Sabah, on the South China Sea, and the way into Malaysian Borneo for most visitors. Mount Kinabalu is not in the city, despite what gets written: it is about 90 km away in Kinabalu Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a two hour drive. From KK itself the draws are the Tunku Abdul Rahman marine park islands and the sunsets.

Best Time: February - April

25 Kota Kinabalu Attractions

Known For : The Shore Sky Tower A'Famosa Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum

Inscribed by UNESCO in 2008 alongside George Town, and the older of the two: Portuguese, Dutch and British in turn, and it shows in the red Dutch square, the ruins of A Famosa and the Baba Nyonya shophouses. The Melaka river runs through the middle of it. It is close enough to Kuala Lumpur for a day trip, though the town is better in the evening.

Best Time: April to May; October

36 Melaka Attractions

On the hillside at Air Itam below Penang Hill, and one of the largest Buddhist temple complexes in Southeast Asia. The seven storey Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas mixes Chinese, Thai and Burmese styles in a single building, deliberately. Above it stands a bronze Kuan Yin figure. The terrace looks straight down over George Town and the strait.

A small resort island off the Perak coast, reached by ferry from Lumut, and much quieter than Langkawi or Penang. Most of the interior is jungle, the west coast beaches at Nipah and Teluk Belanga are the good ones, and the fishing villages and Chinatown on the east side are what people actually remember. Pangkor Laut, next door, is a private resort island.

On reclaimed land on Melaka Island, built on stilts over the water so that at high tide it reads as floating. It is a working mosque, so dress modestly and time a visit around prayers. The reason it is on this list is the light: the minaret and the domes against the Strait of Melaka at sunset are the best photograph in the state.

Often described as one of the oldest rainforests on earth, at around 130 million years, and covering 4,343 square kilometres across three states. The draws are the canopy walkway, one of the longest anywhere, night walks, and river trips up the Tembeling. Large mammals are present but very rarely seen; birds, insects and the forest itself are the realistic reward.

One of the best dive sites in the world, an oceanic pinnacle off Sabah's east coast with walls dropping into open water, barracuda tornadoes and resident turtles. Two things to know before planning: Sipadan has been protected since 2004 and all accommodation was removed from the island in 2005, so you stay on Mabul or Kapalai instead, and daily entry permits are capped and allocated in advance.