What to do in Malacca

Malacca is the most visited historical city in Malaysia and a popular destination for travellers for trips from Kuala Lumpur, but also Singapore.
Why go to Malacca What other activities can you do here besides visiting the sights?
Discover the colonial heritage
Malacca boasts a very rich history. Thanks to its strategic location on a busy maritime strait, it has always been in the sights of colonial powers, with the Portuguese, Dutch and British successively taking the reigns of Malacca.
Most of the monuments remain of the Portuguese (especially around St. Paul's Hill) and the Dutch (around central Dutch Square).
A separate chapter is the oldest Chinatown in Malaysia. Although Malacca was never officially colonised by the Chinese, there has been mass immigration from China for many centuries in search of work and therefore Malacca has a distinctly Chinese character.
Boat trips on the river
The Melaka River winds its way through the historic centre and invites cruises.
Several companies operate these in Malacca (such as Melaka River Cruises), and all cruises start and end at the southern edge of the historic centre (see location on map), with the option of paying for either a sightseeing cruise or a hop-on hop-off ticket and disembarking at various ports along the way.
Boats usually only sail a relatively short 2.5km stretch and cruises usually last around 45 minutes.
Cruises run from 9:00 am to 11:00 pm every day with a frequency of 30-60 minutes during the day and 30 minutes during the night.
Cruise prices for foreigners are around 38 myr and are always purchased on the spot. Online booking is not currently possible.
Take a stroll along the Jonker Walk
Chinatown's central thoroughfare, Jonker Walk attracts tourists with its large number of restaurants, bars, cafes and shops, and regular night markets are held on Fridays and Saturdays.
Beaches and swimming
Although Malacca is right by the sea, it cannot yet be said to be a beach resort.
There are no nice beaches close to the town, but there are efforts to build beach resorts on the artificial island of Malacca.
For now, however, it's only worth going to it for the modern Selat Malaka mosque - there are still no nice and easily accessible beaches.
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