As Malaysia is not as well known you might be wondering ‘is Malaysia worth visiting?’ If so, here’s why I love Malaysia and why I think you will love it too.
Neighboring Thailand, and other places in South East Asia, are some of the world’s most popular travel destinations, but the underrated country of Malaysia is often overlooked, skipped or rushed through, which is such a shame because backpacking Malaysia is an amazing adventure.
Malaysia is a fascinating, diverse and multicultural country that offers everything a backpacker or traveller could want in an easy and affordable package.
From tropical beaches to the world’s oldest rainforests, modern cities and charming historic treasures. Malaysia truly deserves much more than just a quick stop over while backpacking through the rest of South East Asia.
In fact, Malaysia is actually more like 2 countries – Peninsula Malaysia and Borneo Malaysia. So Malaysia is arguably more adventurous and offers more diverse experiences than backpacking neighbouring and super popular Thailand.
Why I Love Malaysia – And Why You Should Visit Too!
I’ve visited Malaysia 5 times now and still haven’t seen it all. I just love Malaysia, the fusion of religions, landscapes, cultures and cuisines and the friendly people. The best part is that backpacking Malaysia is easy, affordable, safe and easily accessible. The roads are smooth and the transport is modern yet still cheap.
So if you’re backpacking around South East Asia make sure you don’t rush through Malaysia. Or if you want an adventurous, exotic yet easy and affordable holiday then Malaysia is more than enough for one amazing trip – see my Malaysia itinerary for more inspiration.
Here’s 10 Reasons Why It’s Worth Visiting Malaysia
1. Malaysia has an fascinating cultural and religious diversity
One of my favourite things to do while backpacking Malaysia is exploring, experiencing and learning about all the different cultures and religions.
Malaysia is so multicultural and has fascinating history and a melting pot mix of cultures, religions and people with interesting Chinese, Malay and Indian influences.
Exploring, in Penang especially, it is easy to go temple hopping and visit Muslim mosques, Hindu and Buddhist temples and Christian churches all on one street. Malaysia also celebrates festivals and holidays of all religions as one Malaysia.
2. Malaysia has delicious and varied cuisine
The food is equally as diverse as the culture and Malaysia is known for having one of the most diverse cuisines in the world!
I mostly ate cheap street food and in food courts and inexpensive restaurants. I often ordered something that I had no idea what it was, but found the food was always great – tasty, cheap, varied and safe.
From the spicy sour curry laksa to nasi lemak to Indian currys, Chinese noodles, dim sum breakfasts, BBQ fresh fish in spicy sambal, kebabs, roti, sweet deserts, icy cendol and western favourites I was always delighted. You won’t go hungry while visiting Malaysia!
3. Malaysia has stunning geographical diversity too
As well as cultural diversity and a huge variation of cuisines, Malaysia offers stunning geographical diversity.
Malaysia has charming, historic cities, colonial architecture and temples, steamy jungles home to orangutans, tribal long houses, cool highlands, mountains and paradise islands and world class diving.
And not forgetting the capital, the modern metropolis of Kuala Lumpur which has grown exponentially from a tin mining outpost of the British Empire only 150 years ago and offers many things to do.
4. The Malaysian people are so friendly and most speak good English
Malaysian people are welcoming and more genuinely open and friendly (unlike in other nearby countries were people are just after a sale).
A good level of English is spoken in Malaysia and added to the people’s friendliness it is easy to strike up a conversation with genuine people.
I talked to a family on train, a woman helped me make my purchases in a market, I spoke to some students in a restaurant and a businessman on a bus.
I even made friends in an elevator who took me for drinks on a heli pad with amazing views over KL and drove me back to my hotel afterwards!
5. Malaysia is great value for money
Although Malaysia is not as cheap as Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia it still represents great value for money.
It’s developed enough to make travel easy and comfortable but it’s not expensive and you can easily get by on £25 or $40 a day.
But instead of being cramped into rusty buses on bumpy roads you can relax and be whisked along a flat road on a spacious modern bus with massaging seats.
6. Malaysia has a warm year round climate
As it is so close to the equator the weather varies very little and Malaysia has a great year round climate with average temperatures of between 23 and 33 degrees centigrade and 12 hours of sunlight daily year round its always a good time to visit if you like tropical adventures.
7. Traveling in Malaysia is easy , safe, and hassle free
I found traveling alone Malaysia as a solo female backpacker refreshingly hassle free and safe. Travel is easy as it is one of the most stable countries in the region.
Malaysia also doesn’t feel overrun with tourists as some destinations can, the locals are genuinely friendly and happy to help and while backpacking Malaysia I never felt unsafe and didn’t get hassled to buy things unlike other countries in the region.
8. Kuala Lumpur is a major hub for cheap flights
Malaysia capital, Kuala Lumpur, is home to top budget airline Air Asia and is a major flight hub meaning that flying pretty much anywhere from KL is inexpensive. It’s also cheaper to spend a few days in Malaysia than expensive Singapore, the other Asian flight hub.
9. It’s visa free for 90 days!
Malaysia has easier entry requirements and more generous visa free access than most other countries in the region. For most nationalities, there’s no need to worry about visas as a free 90 day visit pass is issued on arrival.
So is Malaysia worth visiting?
The cultural diversity, amazing food, stunning landscapes, friendly people and ease of travel all make Malaysia well worth visiting.
I hope that this post has convinced you to give this amazing and underrated country a chance. Malaysia may not be as famous as it’s neighbouring countries but it’s well worth visiting, you may even love it more than Thailand!
Have you visited Malaysia? Did you love it as much as I did?
1 comment
I’ve always been in love with Malaysia! They have a rich culture and amazing beaches. Me and my family keep coming back to this wonderful country. Thanks for the great sharing you have here. Kudos!