Our favourite places in Malaysia

Not just a desert-island idyll (though they’re that too), their exceptionally calm, clear and shallow waters make the Perhentian Islands the ideal place to snorkel or dive amongst damselfish, neon-bright anemones and stingrays.

World Heritage architecture, 130-million-year-old rainforest, world-class street art and a countryside peppered with spice gardens and durian groves: the island of Penang is an intoxicating medley of natural and cultural treasures.

With a name that literally means “Beautiful Island”, it’s not hard to see the appeal of Pulau Pangkor Laut. On this tiny private island in the Strait of Malacca, luxury villas peep out of the rainforest and stand on stilts above the crystal-clear waters of the Andaman Sea.

With a history stretching back through colonial rule and the Age of Exploration, Malacca’s Portuguese fortress and lantern-strung Chinese temples make it one of the best places to get a sense of Malaysia’s long and turbulent past.

Langkawi is a jungle-clad island paradise amid the sparkling waters of the Andaman Sea. The best way to round off a day of snorkelling, trekking or mangrove kayaking? Satay skewers and an ice-cold beer on its white, sandy beaches.

Kuala Lumpur is a true cultural melting pot, where jade-topped Chinese gates open out onto palm-lined squares, Indian restaurants serve banana leaf curries in marigold-scented alleyways, and old-fashioned Malay villages lie squeezed between the skyscrapers.

Kuala Kangsar may have an illustrious royal pedigree and an important colonial past, but we come here to soak up the simple life on the banks of Lake Chenderoh: sleeping in real Malay cottages, eating home-cooked rendang, and listening to stories about traditional kampung living.

Once a tin-mining boom town known for its seedy nightlife, Ipoh has remade itself. Stellar street-art, Western-Malay fusion cuisine, and a clutch of elegantly dilapidated galleries and cafes make this one of Malaysia’s trendiest cities.

With green, rolling hills and cool mountain air, the Cameron Highlands are your chance to escape the heat for a day and picnic among strawberry farms, wander colonial-era tea plantations or search for medicinal herbs in mist-cloaked moss forests.

In the middle of Lake Temenggor, Banding Island is the starting point for expeditions into ancient rainforest filled with over 3,000 types of flowering plant and more hornbill species than anywhere else in the world.

It may be Laos’s most fast-paced city, but Vientiane is still the smallest and most laid-back capital in Southeast Asia.

Home to the largest elephant population in Laos – as well as a stellar conservation project working to ensure their survival – remote Sayaboury is one of our favourite places to get up close and personal with these gentle giants.