Melaka

Malacca (Malay: Melaka) [1] is the capital of the Malacca, on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia.

Plan your trip

Make the most of your visit to Melaka with this comprehensive travel guide to top attractions.

• 1 day Melaka tour
• 2 days 1 night Melaka tour
• 3 days 2 night Melaka tour

Brief Introduction

Malacca is honoured one of World Heritage Sites in July 2008.

Must See

The older part of the city proper has, in addition to the old palace and the large buildings left by the Europeans, many private houses and shops from nearly a century or more ago, put up by Chinese traders. Many of these have beautiful details such as moulded porcelain tiles and painted plaster reliefs on the front. Note that on Tuesdays, many museums, shops, restaurant are closed, especially in the Jonker Street area. If you have only one day to spend in Malacca, do not go on Tuesday!

• Dutch Square - Beautiful square around Christ Church and the Stadhuys. On this square you will find the Tang Beng Swee Clock Tower.
• Christ Church Open: Thursday - Tuesday.
• Stadthuys
• Tang Beng Swee Clock Tower
• Porta de Santiago
• St Paul's Church
• Muzium Budaya Entrance fee: RM1.50.
• Baba and Nyonya Peranakan Museum. Tel: +60-6-2831233. Opening hours: 10:00-12:30, 14:30-16:30. Closed on Tuesdays. The entry fee is RM8 per person and everyone has to follow a guide-led group.
• Jonker, Heeren and adjacent streets
• Cheng Hoon Teng Temple. [2] 25, Jalan Tokong. Tel: +60-6-2829343. Opening hours: Morning to 7pm
• Taming Sari Revolving Tower. RM10 for adults, RM5 for children below 12 years old, and RM7 for senior citizens above 55 years old. Admission Fees for Visitors without MyKad: RM20 for adults, RM10 for children below 12 years old, and RM17 for senior citizens above 55 years old. Operating hours: 10am to 10pm daily
• Portuguese Settlement
• St John's Hill and Fort
• Hang Li Po's Well
• Poh San Teng Temple
• Bukit China
• Melaka Raya

Out of town

• Geok Hu Keng Temple
• Kampung Morten
• Recreational Forest Ayer Keroh
• Melaka Zoo - Located in Ayer Keroh, along the main road from the Ayer Keroh toll plaza to Melaka town. One of the best zoo in Malaysia. The zoo is located in a reserved forest where the animal enclosures more resemble the animals' natural habitat. The trees within the zoo compound provide ample shades for visitors during hot and sunny days.

Must Do

• Kite flying - Go to Klebang Beach and buy a cheap kite (fighter-style, but nowhere near that well-constructed) with Japanese cartoon characters on it for RM 1.50, or a styrofoam airplane for RM 5 if you don't have the necessary kite-flying mad skills.
• Jonker Walk - Jonker Walk is an open air night market held every weekend (and recently extended to eve of public holidays) evening to late night. Have a leisure stroll along the street, observing the locals' life, catching a free performance and shop for some local souvenirs can be a wonderful and unforgettable experience.
• Night Market / Pasar Malam - Night Market or more known as Pasar Malam is a market that is held from evening to around 9pm at night everyday(though at different locations, eg. Tuesday in Kampung Lapan and Friday in Malim). This is a good way to observe the life of locals. Pasar Malam sells basically almost anything, from food to clothing, small electronics to medicine.

Must Buy

• Jonkers Walk (6PM -12AM every weekend).
• The Orangutan House (59 Lorong Hang Jebat, +606 282 6872, [3]) has cool T-shirts as well as paintings for sale.
• Tan Kim Hock Product Center (85, 87, 89 Jalan Bendahara [4]) sells famous food specialties from Melaka, like Dodol, Cincalok, Belacan, dried fruits, durian cake, etc. Might be a good idea as souvenirs for friends back home. Mr Tan Kim Hock, the founder of the company, occasionally still walks around with his famous white suit giving out free stuffs.
  File:Tan Kim Hock durian cake.jpg

  Tan Kim Hock durian cake

• No.4 Jalan Tokong, just off the jonkers walk this is a lovely art gallery of contemporary art work by Titi Kwok, the work is beautiful and the prices even better.

Must Eat

Besides the usual Malaysian fare, you'll be able to sample some rather peculiar Malaccan food. On top of the list is of course Peranakan or Baba-Nyonya food, which until recently was totally uncommercialised and confined to the kitchens of old grandmothers. Now, there are a string of restaurants claiming to serve Peranakan food, most unfortunately seem to be on the tour bus circuit. The dishes are slightly different from that of the Penang Peranakan. Usual ones include ayam pongteh (chicken in bean sauce, originally cooked with pork) and ayam buah keluak (chicken cooked with a bitter fruit) and a whole array of desserts. Another famous Malacca dish is what is commonly called "chicken rice ball". Although it is called Hainanese chicken rice, it is not from Hainan, China, but invented by the Hainanese immigrants to Malaysia a long time ago. The chicken for this dish is very much the same as the boiled chicken offered throughout Malaysia; what is unique is the rice - it comes in ping-pong sized balls. Yet another Malaccan speciality is satay celup. It is like lok-lok found in other parts of the country but instead of dipping your skewered foodstuff (fishballs, crabsticks, meat, prawns and etc) into boiling water, you dip them into a boiling vat of satay sauce. The sight of boiling satay sauce may not appeal to you but the crowds at the satay celup outlets seem to suggest that many have overcome their phobias.

Of course, Malacca is where you'll find Portuguese-Eurasian food. The greatest concentration of outlets will be at the Portuguese Settlement. Seafood is popular, as is the fiery "devil curries".

The recent tourism boom has seen many new food and beverage outlets open in Malacca, and especially in the heritage area of Jonker and Heeren Street. However, competition is great and some outlets fail to survive. Places you discover on your first visit may not be around anymore on your second.

• Drink

When in Malacca, don't miss the cendol ("chen-dul"), a sweet dessert of coconut milk, lurid green noodles and gula Melaka (Malacca sugar), made from palm sap.

• Clocktower cendol,Jalan Laksamana. Located by the Malacca River opposite the Red Square clock tower. Another Malacca legend, the cendol served by this Indian-Muslim hawker is superb. You can have it plain or with red bean and is a wonderful thirst-quencher when doing the historical sights circuit. There is also Indian rojak. It used to operate out of a mangosteen-shaped stall (hence he's also known as "Mangosteen cendol") but now has a more conventional-looking stall.

• Limau Limau Cafe, 49 Jonker Street. Wide selections of fresh juices, milkshakes and lassi, with no water or sugar added. They sell Lavazza Coffee too.

• Libra Restaurant and Cocktail House, Jonker St, [5]. Wide selection of beers and cocktails.

Accommodation

Malacca city offers a range of accommodation options to suit all budgets. Most backpackers/budget accommodation are found in two areas, namely in the old heritage heart where you will find atmospheric hotels and guesthouses in old typical Malacca terraces, and in Taman Melaka Raya, the new business centre built on reclaimed land only several minutes walking distnce to the east of the old heart of town. Hotels are found throughout the city.