Indonesia Malaysia tour : some itinerary ideas

There are various wonderful tours in Southeast Asia such as the Indonesia Malaysia tour. These tours will make you want to take the first plane to Southeast Asia. You will be able to visit islands, discover historical cities and taste delicious local dishes. There are different possibilities to realize your circuit malaysia to Indonesia, or in the opposite direction.

Indonesia is close to Malaysia. These two Muslim-majority countries are attracting more and more Muslim and non-Muslim tourists.
Both countries are distinguished by their cultural diversity and natural wealth.
Here are some information about this Indonesia Malaysia tour.

Indonesia Malaysia : how to go there ?

There are various means of transportation that connect Indonesia to Malaysia.
The two most convenient ways are by plane and by boat.

I. The aircraft

You can fly from Indonesia to Malaysia from Bali, Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Solo, Palembang, Medan or Yogyakarta.
Several airlines serve both countries including Malaysia Airlines, Garuda, Firefly and AirAsia.
All airlines that do the Indonesia Malaysia tour offer daily flights.

AirAsia is the most popular of these airlines and offers several low-cost flights.
AirAsia serves Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Johor Bahru or Penang.
Tickets are often very inexpensive, however, seats are often sold out during festivals and holidays.
This is normal since many employees from Indonesia work in Malaysia. They take advantage of the vacations to visit their loved ones.

II. The boat

The boat is an excellent means of transportation that connects the two countries. You can take it if you are in Sumatra.
The boats take you from Medan to Pulau Penang in the northern part of West Malaysia.
The road takes 6 hours.
There are various other routes to reach Malaysia by boat. The best known are :
The port of Sumatra in Penang.
The port of Sumatra at Port Klang in Dumai in Riau.
The port of Pekanbaru in Malacca.

Personally, we have never used this means of transport between Indonesia and Malaysia.

Places to visit in Indonesia

During your trip between the two countries, you will have the chance to visit several beautiful places that will not leave you indifferent. In Indonesia you can visit :

I. Amed – Bali

Amed is the ideal place for scuba diving in Indonesia.
You can also discover the remains of an old North American ship from the Second World War.
Amed is an excellent destination to meet new people.
This small village in Indonesia is popular because of the motorcycle and scooter rentals. Moreover, the village has only one main road.
Don’t expect a “paradise” beach either.
Bali is not predominantly Muslim, you will not find mosques as simply as in Jakarta or elsewhere in Indonesia.

II. Ubud -Bali

Ubud is home to beautiful tourist spots such as Lake Batur, Sidemen and several Buddhist temples.
Ubud is a destination not to be missed in your Indonesia Malaysia itinerary.
While staying in Ubud, you will have the chance to experience the local culture with a small host family.
You can discover the traditional Balinese houses.
You will find many hotels with quality / price defying all conccurence: it is also for this reason that we like to make some “short” weekends on Ubud.
Moreover, Ubud is not so far from Kuta airport (there is a direct link with Kuala Lumpur).

Here are some photos on Ubud, during a visit in August 2015 :

III. Java, its treks and its volcanoes

Yogyakarta is one of the cities of Java.
Rich in tradition, culture and art, it has a very relaxed atmosphere.
Just like in Ubud, you can stay with a very relaxed host family. You will have the opportunity to discover their habits, routines and rituals.
For the more athletic, we recommend the ascent of Mount Semeru (we did it in August 2015) with our friends from Indonesia who knew the place well.
You will meet few foreigners / tourists, who prefer to visit other famous places like Mount Bromo (beautiful …).

Some photos from this trip in August 2015:

IV. Lombok

Clearly our favorite island.
You won’t find the most beautiful beaches in Indonesia, but life is stress-free.
Unlike Bali, Lombok is very “Muslim”.
You will find mosques, restaurants, shops, etc.
It is not as developed as Bali (so much the better… ?) and this island hides some gems still protected from tourists.
For the more athletic, we recommend the ascent of Mount Rinjani (be really ready physically…).

We have a catalog of photos on Lombok: we will publish them later in shaa Allah.

Places to visit in Malaysia

We let you consult the pages dedicated to the different cities and islands that we have written on our site.
Here are some ideas:

• The Perhentian Islands: you should necessarily pass through Kuala Lumpur if you want to take the shortest and fastest route
• Langkawi: as for Perhentian, it is preferable to fly from Kuala Lumpur
• Pulau Redang is also “easily” accessible like the Perhentian, etc.

Some ideas for tours we have done in the past years:

• 2-3 weeks between Malaysia and Indonesia. Sports circuit:
  • Kuala Lumpur – Malang (airport) for a 3 day trek to Semeru
  • Follow up with 1 day at Kawa Ijen + Mount Bromo
  • Take the road + boat to reach Bali (be careful, there will be a time difference)
  • 2 days on the north of Bali (Pemuteran)
  • 3 days on Ubud to rest and visit some rice fields + waterfalls
  • 1 week in the south of Lombok : by boat from Bali, or by plane
• 10 days between Malaysia and Indonesia. Relaxation circuit
  • 3 days in Kuala Lumpur
  • Flight to Jakarta then Belitung
  • 1 week on Belitung (an island in Indonesia)
  • 3 days in Kuala Lumpur: Batu Caves, Shopping, etc.

Our advice for your tour

The list of tips could be long… but we’ll try to summarize some “tips”:

• Book in advance if time is short,
• Take into account the time to recover between the jet lag, and the time between each point of your route,
• Always allow a good margin between internal flights: no one is immune to delays,
• In Indonesia, take a local sim card,
• A bank card at TransferWise could save you a lot of exchange fees: contact us if you want a referral link and get 40€ when you open your account.

We are planning to organize tailor-made tours Malaysia: from or to Malaysia soon in shaa Allah.
Everything will depend on the time we have and our motivation…

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