Lonely Planet Best of Malaysia & Singapore

Southeast Asias dynamic duo offer sprawling metropolises, culinary sensations, beautiful beaches, idyllic islands, soaring mountains, and national parks packed with wildlife. Equally rich and diverse is the regions fascinating multi-ethnic cultural mix.

Malaysia is home to some of the most ancient ecosystems on earth, with significant areas of primary rainforest protected by national park and conservation projects. The biodiversity is mind-boggling: from the pitcher plants and orchids in the humid lowlands to the conifers and rhododendrons of the high-altitude forests. The most common sightings of wildlife will be a host of insects or colourful birdlife, but you may get lucky and spot a foraging tapir, a silvered leaf monkey or an endearingly downy orangutan. The oceans are just as bountiful, with shoals of tropical fish, paint-box corals, turtles, sharks and dolphins.

City lovers will be thrilled by Singapore, an urban show-stopper with elegant colonial buildings, stunning contemporary architecture and world-class attractions. In Malaysias capital, Kuala Lumpur (KL), the shooting rocket spires of the Petronas Towers contrast with vintage architecture, and shoppers shuttle from traditional wet markets to air-conditioned megamalls. In sharp contrast to the metropolises, Unesco World Heritage-listed Melaka and George Town (Penang) have uniquely distinctive architectural and cultural townscapes, developed over half a millennium of Southeast Asian cultural and trade exchange, and both should be high on your to-visit list.

An ambitious, ever-evolving wonder

may be small in size, but in touristic terms the island state is a giant. This multicultural nation, one of the wealthiest in the region, offers plenty for the visitor to see and do from admiring the eye-boggling architecture around Marina Bay to being transfixed by the Bolly beats of Little India or the lush magnificence of the World Heritagelisted Botanic Gardens. And then theres the shopping and the delicious food scene. Its all simply unbeatable.