Discover Malaysia's Heritage and Highlights on Foot.
Walking City Trails
In this City Trails section I will show you how to make the most of your time in Malaysia's towns and cities by exploring their major attractions on foot.
Malaysia's urban areas are packed full of colourful and exotic street scenes, unusual sounds and smells, interesting buildings and famous landmarks.
The good news is that most of the old town centres are compact and can easily be covered in a walking tour lasting a few hours. Of course a large city like Kuala Lumpur is too big and spread out so I have divided up KL into 5 separate walking tours which between them cover most of the top tourism Malaysia hotspots as well as some little known attractions.
Each city trail is accompanied by a map showing the locations of the highlights mentioned. You can print out the map, stick it in your pocket and leave the guide books at home.
A few general tips for city walking in Malaysia:
- Dress appropriately for the hot weather but dress respectfully (not too much bare flesh on display).
- Wear your most comfortable walking shoes.
- Malaysian streets are generally very safe. I have never encountered any problem myself but you should be aware of your surroundings, especially to the possibility of pickpockets and snatch thieves on motor cycles. These city trails are intended to be walked in the daytime.
- Protect yourself from the sun (walk in the shade where possible and wear a hat and sun block).
- Take some drinking water with you.
- Take some small change (coins) for public toilets. Bring tissues.
- Wear some bug-off. Even the cities can have a few mozzies around.
- Bring a foldable umbrella if you have one. If not you can just pop into a cosy kopi kedai, restaurant or shop if it starts to rain heavily.
- Don't forget your camera.
Choose your routes from the city trails below and happy walking.
City Trails
With this self-guided Alor Setar Heritage Trail you can visit the best sights that Kedah's state capital has to offer. Map included.
Highlights: Classic railway station, Majestic Hotel, Town Hall, High Court, Birch Memorial, FMS Bar & Restaurant, colonial-era bank buildings, vintage shop-houses, Second Concubine Lane, Little India and much more.
Highlights: State Museum, Markets, Grand Palace, Istana Jahar, State Mosque, Kerapu Bank, Istana Batu, Craft Village, Kampung Cina, shophouses and more.
Take my self-guided Muar Walking Tour to view the highlights of Muar, Johor's royal town. Free map and details here.
First impressions of Sandakan can be disappointing but by following this Sandakan Heritage Trail you can cover all the historical attractions this town has to offer.
SEREMBAN. City Highlights Walk.
Highlights: State Museum, Cultural Complex, Handicraft Centre, State Library, Secretariat Building, picturesque churches, mosques and temples, Lake Gardens, quaint old shops.
SHAH ALAM. Lake Gardens Trail.
Highlights: Blue Mosque, State Museum, Royale Theatre, City Hall, Wet World Water Park, Malaysia Agricultural Park, Stadium.
KLANG. Town Centre Heritage Walk.
Highlights: Gedung Raja Abdullah, The Royal Gallery, Istana Alam Shah, Little India District.
KUALA LUMPUR. Chinatown Walking Tour.
Highlights: Chinatown, Temples, Petaling Street Market, shophouses, Central Market (arts and handicrafts).
New! Available as a downloadable app.
KUALA LUMPUR. Brickfields Heritage Walk.
Brickfields Heritage Walk covers Kuala Lumpur's colourful Brickfields area including Little India, Sri Kandaswamy Temple, churches, shophouses and more
.New! Available as a downloadable app.
KUALA LUMPUR. Colonial Heritage Trail.
A self-guided tour of famous colonial-era landmark buildings clustered in a compact area surrounding Merdeka Square.
New! Available as a downloadable app.
KUALA LUMPUR. Lake Gardens Trail.
Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens can be found in the heart of KL and contain many of the city's top tourist attractions including the KL Bird Park, the Butterfly Park, Orchid and Botanical Gardens.
New! Available as a downloadable app.
KUALA LUMPUR. Kampung Baru to Chow Kit Walk.
Take this off-the-tourism-trail walk through Kampung Baru, a traditional Malay village in the heart of KL, to Chow Kit, a colourful street market area.
Explore the heritage sites of Batu Gajah with the help of this useful free map and guide.
This Melaka Heritage Trail self-guided tour and map will help you to get the most out of your visit to Malacca, Malaysia's most historic city.
My Penang Heritage Trail is a self-guided walking tour with map through historic George Town taking in the main sights of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This Johor Bahru Heritage Trail provides a map and details for a self-guided walking tour round some of JB's best tourist attractions.
Explore Kuala Terengganu's tourist trail on foot with my self-guided walking tour and map. Highlights include the Abidin Mosque, Bukit Puteri and Chinatown.
Raub is a pretty little town. Follow this Raub Heritage Trail to see the main historic buildings and sights.
See the top tourist attractions and heritage buildings in Kuala Lipis with this self-guided Kuala Lipis Walking Tour. Map included.
New! Malaysia Traveller has teamed up with PocketGuide to produce some of these City Trails as downloadable apps for your smart phone.
Now you can turn your phone into a personal tour guide.
Once you have downloaded the tour the application can work in offline mode so that you don't have to pay roaming charges.
For more details, see the video below or to download the KL guides, see PocketGuide's website here.
If you like my website you'll love my book, Offbeat Malaysia. Read all the details here.
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