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The Andaman Sea seen from a green hillside on Langkawi

Malaysia · Andaman coast

Langkawi & Penang

Ninety-nine islands in the Andaman Sea, an hour's flight from Kuala Lumpur, and duty-free by law. Add Penang's street food a short hop south and you have the half of Malaysia that a city trip is missing.

1h from KL · LGK / PENNo visa for UK passportsNov–Apr seasonGuide price from £1,299pp

The short version

The beach that finishes a Kuala Lumpur trip

Kuala Lumpur is a very good three or four nights and it has no beach. Langkawi is an hour away by air, duty-free — which makes it noticeably cheaper than anywhere comparable in Thailand — and has rainforest older than the Amazon behind the sand. Penang is the other half of the argument: a UNESCO old town with arguably the best street food in Asia. Neither is a fortnight on its own. Together with KL they make an excellent ten to fourteen nights.

A cable car climbing above dense green forest

Langkawi

The cable car, and the bridge that hangs off a mountain

The SkyCab climbs 700m up Gunung Machinchang in two stages, and at the top a curved pedestrian bridge is suspended from a single pylon over a rainforest gorge. It's the single best thing on the island and it closes regularly for wind and maintenance — go on a clear morning early in your stay rather than saving it. The forest underneath is 550 million years old, which is older than almost anything on land.

What people miss

The islands, not just the beach

Langkawi is an archipelago of ninety-nine islands and most visitors never leave the main one. A boat through the Kilim mangroves gets you eagles, monkeys and limestone caves; a day out to Pulau Payar's marine park gets you the only decent snorkelling in the region. And Dayang Bunting — the 'lake of the pregnant maiden' — is a freshwater lake inside an island, which is odder and better than it sounds.

An aerial view of a small island in the Andaman Sea

Pick your base

Langkawi's coasts, and Penang

Both islands take direct flights from Kuala Lumpur, an hour each. Langkawi and Penang are also linked by a fast ferry in season.

Langkawi · main strip

Pantai Cenang

The main beach and the liveliest part of the island. Two kilometres of sand with restaurants, bars and watersports behind it.

Pantai Cenang: The centre of everything. Sunsets, parasailing, and the widest choice of hotels and food.
Pantai Tengah: Next door, quieter, and where the smarter resorts and spas sit.
Pantai Kok: West coast, near the cable car. Calm, green, and a marina.
Datai Bay: The far north-west. Rainforest running down to the sand, and the island's best hotels.

Quieter corners

The rest of Langkawi

Away from Cenang the island empties fast — paddy fields, fishing villages and rainforest, with almost no traffic.

Tanjung Rhu: Northern beach with limestone stacks offshore. Wide, quiet and shallow.
Kuah: The main town and ferry port. Duty-free shopping, and not much reason to stay.
Kilim Geoforest: Mangroves, eagles and caves, by boat. Half a day and the best trip on the island.
The interior: Paddy fields, buffalo and the Seven Wells waterfall. Hire a car; it's easy driving.

1h from KL · PEN

Penang

George Town's UNESCO old town, colonial shophouses, street art and food that people fly in specifically to eat.

George Town: Stay in a restored shophouse in the heritage zone. Walkable, and the food is the reason to come.
Batu Ferringhi: The beach strip on the north coast. Decent rather than spectacular sand, good hotels.
Penang Hill: Funicular to 800m, and ten degrees cooler with a view over the strait.
Balik Pulau: The rural far side — durian farms, paddy and no tourists at all.

The city half

Adding Kuala Lumpur

KL is an hour from both. Three or four nights there plus a week on Langkawi is the trip we book most.

Petronas Towers: The skybridge and observation deck. Book online days ahead; it sells out.
Batu Caves: 272 painted steps up to a cave temple, forty minutes north of the city.
Jalan Alor: KL's night food street. Loud, cheap and excellent.
Melaka: Two hours south — another UNESCO port town, and an easy overnight from KL.

Our speciality

City, island, and the food capital

The Malaysia trip that works. Kuala Lumpur for the city, Langkawi for the beach, Penang for the food — three short internal flights and three completely different weeks.

Kuala Lumpur3 nightsPetronas, Batu Caves, Jalan Alor.
Flight · 1h
Langkawi6 nightsCable car, mangroves, and Pantai Cenang.
Ferry or flight · 1h
Penang3 nightsGeorge Town, Penang Hill, and eating constantly.

Internal flights in Malaysia are frequent and cheap. We book them with the holiday so it's a single booking under one ATOL certificate — and we'll price the Langkawi–Penang ferry alongside if the season suits.

When to go

Dry season, and a wetter west coast

Both islands sit on the Andaman side, so the pattern follows Phuket rather than the Gulf. November to April is dry and settled. May to October brings the south-west monsoon — heavy afternoon downpours rather than all-day rain, and prices drop sharply.

JanIdeal

FebIdeal

MarIdeal

AprHot

MayWet

JunWet

JulWet

AugWet

SepWettest

OctClearing

NovGood

DecPeak

December to March is the window. Note that this is the opposite pattern to Malaysia's east coast — the Perhentians and Tioman are dry when Langkawi is wet, which is occasionally useful if your dates are fixed.

Worth leaving the resort for

What we'd actually book

SkyCab & Sky Bridge

Seven hundred metres up, then a curved bridge over a gorge. Closes for wind — go early in your stay, not on the last day.

Kilim mangroves

Boat through limestone karst and mangrove channels. Eagles, monkeys and bat caves. Half a day, and the island's best trip.

Eagle feeding

Brahminy kites over the mangroves. Choose an operator that doesn't bait them — plenty do, and it's bad practice.

Island hopping

Dayang Bunting's freshwater lake, Beras Basah's sand, and the eagle site. A standard half-day boat and worth it.

Pantai Cenang sunset

Two kilometres of sand facing west. Parasailing and jet skis by day, and the best sunset on the island.

George Town street food

Char kway teow, assam laksa, cendol. Eat at hawker stalls, not restaurants — that's where the good version is.

Penang Hill

Funicular to 800m. Ten degrees cooler, colonial bungalows, and the whole strait laid out below.

Pulau Payar

A marine park an hour by boat. The only genuinely good snorkelling within reach of Langkawi.

The practical bits

Things that catch people out

Two airportsLangkawi (LGK) and Penang (PEN), both an hour from Kuala Lumpur. No direct UK flights to either.

Duty-free islandLangkawi is duty-free by law — alcohol, chocolate and cosmetics are notably cheap. Allowances apply on departure.

Time zoneEight hours ahead of the UK.

CurrencyMalaysian ringgit. Cards accepted in hotels and larger restaurants; hawker stalls and boats want cash.

LanguageEnglish is very widely spoken. Malaysia is one of the easiest countries in Asia for British travellers.

Car hireCheap and easy on Langkawi, and the island is small. Driving is on the left.

AlcoholFreely available and cheap on Langkawi; more limited and pricier in conservative areas on the mainland.

JellyfishOccasional box jellyfish on Langkawi's beaches, mostly in the wet season. Hotels post warnings — take them seriously.

Before you book

Five things worth knowing

It's the beach half of a KL trip. Neither island is a fortnight on its own. Paired with Kuala Lumpur — or with Singapore — it makes a very good two weeks.

Duty-free makes a real difference. Langkawi's status keeps prices well below equivalent Thai islands, and it's a genuine reason to choose it.

Do the cable car early. It closes for wind and maintenance more often than people expect. First clear morning, not the last day.

Penang is about the food. Genuinely one of the great eating cities in Asia, and the good version is at hawker stalls, not restaurants.

Opposite season to the east coast. Langkawi is dry November to April. The Perhentians and Tioman are the reverse — useful if your dates won't move.

Next step

Tell us your dates and we'll build the route

Send your dates and we'll come back with a Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi and Penang itinerary — internal flights included and the payment plan written out in full.

Your money is protected. Trip Tides is a travel agent — we book your holiday with a travel company, and that company is named on your quote and confirmation. Your contract is with them. If your holiday is a package including flights, put together by an ATOL holder, you'll get an ATOL certificate naming that company. We confirm in writing what protection applies before you pay.

Langkawi & Penang packages

Flights, accommodation and transfers as one package. Every one can be reshaped — different dates, different board, a different airport, or a stopover on the way.

7 nights in Langkawi & Penang

All inclusive · May–Oct

Return flights and private transfers
All inclusive throughout
Financial protection confirmed in writing before you pay

from £1,249per person

Get a quote

10 nights in Langkawi & Penang

All inclusive · May–Oct

Return flights and private transfers
All inclusive throughout
The extra nights cost proportionally less — fixed costs don't change

from £1,599per person

Get a quote

14 nights in Langkawi & Penang

Half board · May–Oct

Return flights and private transfers
Half board throughout
Best value per night, and worth it on a longer flight

from £1,899per person

Get a quote

Guide prices, per person, based on two sharing, including return flights, accommodation and transfers. They indicate what a holiday of this type has typically cost and are not an offer or a quotation. Your price depends on dates, party, board basis, departure airport and availability, and is confirmed in writing before any payment is taken.