Top Sights

1. Gunung Mulu National Park

Gunung Mulu National Park is a protected rainforest in Malaysian Borneo. It’s known for its dramatic peaks and caves, including the huge, bat-filled Deer Cave. The cave leads to the Garden of Eden, a hidden valley and waterfall enclosed by limestone cliffs. The Pinnacles at Gunung Api are tall, jagged limestone formations with steep trails and rare orchids. The summit of Gunung Mulu Mountain has views over the park.

2. Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre

The centre opened in 1964 as the first official orangutan rehabilitation project for rescued orphaned baby orangutans from logging sites, plantations, illegal hunting or kept as pets

3. Perhentian Islands

Located off the coast of northeastern Malaysia not far from the Thai border. They have some of the world’s most beautiful beaches and great diving. The two main islands are Perhentian Besar (“Big Perhentian”) and Perhentian Kecil (“Small Perhentian”).

4. Langkawi

Known as Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah, is a district and an archipelago of 99 islands in the Andaman Sea some 30 km off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia. The islands are a part of the state of Kedah, which is adjacent to the Thai border.

5. Mount Kinabalu

Mount Kinabalu is a mountain in Sabah, Malaysia. It is protected as Kinabalu Park, a World Heritage Site. Kinabalu is the highest peak in Borneo's Crocker Range and is the highest mountain in the Malay Archipelago as well as the highest mountain in Malaysia.

6. Tioman Island

Tioman Island lies off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, in the South China Sea. It's a nature reserve, ringed by beaches. The area is known for its dive sites, which have corals, sea fans and sea sponges, as well as shipwrecks. The island is covered in tropical rainforests, home to butterflies, lizards and monkeys. On the east coast, the Juara Turtle Project is a hatchery that protects and studies sea turtles.

7. Taman Negara National Park Malaysia

Taman Negara is a vast national park in Malaysia on the Malay peninsula. It encompasses a sprawling tropical rainforest that's said to be 130 million years old. Kuala Tahan, the main entry point, is a base for the nearby canopy walkway, river trips and treks through the jungle to the top of Mt. Tahan. The park is home to tigers, macaques and birdlife, as well as the enormous flowers of the rafflesia plant.

8. George Town

George Town is the colorful, multicultural capital of the Malaysian island of Penang. Once an important Straits of Malacca trading hub, the city is known for its British colonial buildings, Chinese shophouses and mosques. Beyond the old town, George Town is a modern city with skyscrapers and shopping malls. Verdant Penang Hill, with hiking and a funicular railway, overlooks it all.

9. Cameron Highlands

The Cameron Highlands is renowned for its trails leading with jungle walks, waterfalls and is also known for its tea plantations. This is one of Malaysia’s most extensive hill stations, first developed by the British in the 1920s.

10. Sipadan Island

Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising 600 metres from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea off the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop. Because of its rich marine life, it’s one of the best diving spots in the world, with more than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of different corals.

11. Kinabatangan River

Sabah state on Borneo, the Kinabatangan River has diverse wildlife and vegetation, including Asian elephants, crocodiles, proboscis monkeys and Bornean orangutans.

12. Bako National Park

Diverse nature trails through the jungle, with a chance to see the obscene-nosed proboscis monkey. The park covers an area of 27 square kilometres at the tip of the Muara Tebas peninsula at the mouth of the Bako and Kuching Rivers.

13. Sarawak Cultural Village

17-acre site exploring local ethnic groups via longhouse replicas, programs & cultural performances.

14. Semenggoh Nature Reserve

Nature reserve & primate rehabilitation center sheltering orangutans & many bird species.

15. Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia. Its modern skyline is dominated by the 451m-tall Petronas Twin Towers, a pair of glass-and-steel-clad skyscrapers with Islamic motifs. The towers also offer a public skybridge and observation deck. The city is also home to British colonial-era landmarks such as the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building.

16. Manukan Island

Manukan Island is the second largest island in the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, Malaysia's first marine national park. It is located in the East Malaysian state of Sabah, just off the coast of Kota Kinabalu and is easily accessible by boat. Manukan is the most popular island with Kota Kinabalu residents.

17. Gunung Gading National Park

Here is where the world’s largest flower grows. Rafflesia blooms can grow up to three feet in diameter, and have a nasty smell. The best time to see them is November through January, though they bloom all year. The park also has great hiking through rugged mountains and jungles and some nice beaches.