Malaysia

Dominating an archipelago of more than 100 islands and islets, Pulau Langkawi is synonymous with sandy shores, jungle-cloaked valleys and bargain shopping. Blonde beaches are the biggest draw, but this 478.5-sq-km island has been duty free since 1987, making low-cost kitchenware a close second.

Combine three distinct and ancient cultures with indigenous and colonial architecture, shake for a few centuries, and garnish with some of the best food in Southeast Asia, and you've got the irresistible urban cocktail that is George Town.

The peacock of Malaysian cities, Melaka City preens with its wealth of colorful trishaws, home-grown galleries and crimson colonial buildings. The city’s historic center achieved Unesco World Heritage status in 2008 and since then Melaka City’s tourism industry has developed at breakneck pace. Old shophouses and mansions have enjoyed makeovers as galleries and hotels and Melaka City’s kaleidoscope of architectural styles – spanning Peranakan, Portuguese, Dutch and British elements – is well preserved. Tourism has boomed, particularly on weekends when the vibrant Jonker Walk Night Market provides music, shopping and street-food galore, but you’ll share the experience elbow-to-elbow with other travelers.

Johor’s capital city of Johor Bahru (JB for short) has been repaved and replanted and is well on the way to rebranding itself, after years of being habitually criticised as a dirty, chaotic border town.

Emerald tea plantations unfurl across Malaysia's largest hill-station area. Temperatures in these 1300m to 1829m heights rarely top 30°C, inspiring convoys of weekenders to enjoy tea and strawberries in the restorative climate. Though technically in Pahang, the highlands are accessed from Perak.

For many visitors, a journey to Peninsular Malaysia's largest state begins and ends on the enchanted isle of Tioman. Between its exhilarating diving, brilliant beaches, vegetation-choked jungle treks and spirited villages, its tropical-island allure is impossible to resist.

Colonial architecture stands side by side with rickety kedai kopi (coffee shops) in chameleonic Ipoh. The capital of Perak is flanked by towering white cliffs, some with magnificent cave temples pocketed in the limestone. Sliced into old and new towns by the Kinta River, Ipoh charms with its street art and street food – rather like a languid version of George Town.

Born of the British desire to fashion the teeming jungle into a pleasant park, the Lake Gardens (now officially named Tun Abdul Razak Heritage Park) remains a lush breathing space at KL's heart and home to top museums, themed parks and other monuments and sights. The transport and business hub KL Sentral and neighbouring Brickfields are immediately south of here.

The Perhentian islands are well developed with resorts and yet still have refreshing, crystal-clear waters that are perfect for swimming, diving and snorkelling. There are hiking trails through jungles that are home to leaf monkeys, and numerous crescent beaches with shimmering white sand.

If there's a more thrilling cocktail of Asian cultures than in Penang, we've yet to find it. Penang has long served as the link between Asia’s great kingdoms and an important outlet to the markets of Europe and Western Asia. At its heart is diverse, cosmopolitan George Town, Penang Island's main city and an urban centre that delivers old-world Asia in spades, from trishaws pedalling past watermarked Chinese shophouses to blue joss smoke perfuming the air. The freshest aspects of modern culture are present, too, in the exceptional art scene and free-spirited carnivals, all fed by an infectious local enthusiasm for Penang's long history and kaleidoscope of cultures.