adventure

Cameron Highlands is the largest hill-station of Malaysia. It is as big as Singapore. Located at a distance of 220 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, Cameron Highlands a must visit place for tourists visiting Malaysia. I also visited this place on my week-long backpack trip to Malaysia. Being a nature and adventure lover, I found it more interesting than other places. In fact, I would advise you to take out at least 2 full days to enjoy Cameron Highlands thoroughly. The ‘Cameron Highlands Travel Guide’ will help you develop a basic understanding of this tourist place.

Tanah Rata, Brinchang & Kampung Raja are the main towns of Cameron Highlands. Most of the hotels are located in Tanah Rata. Buses from Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh terminates at Tanah Rata, Brinchang and Kampung Raja. Many travel agencies are located in these towns where you can book a taxi, hire a cab, get local trek maps and other travel-related information.

Things to do in Cameron Highlands

Go on a hiking trip amidst the sprawling tea gardens, visit the tea factories to see how tea leaves are processed and when you are tired, come back to your hotel and relax. Repeat this on the next day or visit the nearby places like Brinchang or Tanah Rata. I would also recommend visiting the local market, especially the roadside small shops.

Tip: Take a local minibus to explore the local towns of Cameron Highlands

Places to visit in Cameron Highlands

It is a hill station and the best part of hill stations are their cool and soothing weather and beautiful hills all over. As mentioned above Cameron Highlands is famous for its tea gardens. Tourists often visit these places in Cameron Highlands:

1. Boh (Sungei Palas) Tea Estate: See the beautiful plantation & visit the tea factory
2. Mount (Gunung) Brinchang: Highest motorable place in Malaysia (2,032 metres)
3. Time Tunnel Museum, Brinchang: to see history and cultural heritage of Cameron Highlands
4. Bharat tea estate: See the beautiful plantation from the cafe
5. Mossy forest: Recommended for a hike
6. Sam Poh Temple, Brinchang: A Buddhist temple in the limestone cave

The sprawling tea farms on the hills of Cameron Highlands reminded me of my trip to Munnar, located in the southern state of Kerala, India.  Both of these places have a lot of similarities. Both of these places have tea estates and factories. I visited Boh tea estate in Cameron Highlands whereas, a few years back I visited Kollukumalai tea estate in Munnar, India. Both of them are gorgeously picturesque. Watch this video to get a glimpse of Munnar & Kollukumalai tea estate.

Cameron Highlands Video: How was my experience

Best time to visit Cameron Highlands

Cold weather is the biggest USP of Cameron Highlands. Towns in these highlands are situated on the elevation ranging from 1100 metres to 1600 metres, close to Munnar (Kerala, India). The temperature remains between 14 to 24-degree Celsius all around the year. I spent one night in Cameron Highlands sleeping in an open hall of a mosque in Brinchang. It rained & was quite cold. I was not prepared and equipped with light warmers required for such weather condition. But staying in a hotel would make your stay comfortable.

Tip: Do not forget to pack an Umbrella and hiking shoes  

Budget Hotels in Cameron Highlands

Like other mountain resorts, Cameroon Highlands is also a not budget-friendly tourist destination. Hotels and Resorts in Cameron Highlands usually start from 70 Ringgit. I didn’t find any hostel in Cameroon Highlands. If you are a budget traveller and ready to do a new experiment, then stay in the Mosque or Gurudwara in Brinchang as I did.

How to reach Cameron Highlands

It takes around 3 to 4 hours from Kuala Lumpur to reach Cameron Highlands. It is approx. 220 kilometres far from Kuala Lumpur via Tapah.  Bus fare from Kuala Lumpur to Cameron Highlands is around 35 to 40 Ringgit. Watch these videos to see how is the road condition from Kuala Lumpur to Cameron Highlands.  The other option to reach Cameron Highlands is via Ipoh. There are few buses from Ipoh which is approx 85 kilometres far from Brinchang.

Bus from Kuala Lumpur to Cameron Highlands

Many bus companies operate luxury coaches from Kuala Lumpur to Cameron Highlands (Brinchang, Tanah Rata, Kampung Raja). These buses can also be booked online. Easybook.com can help you to get bus tickets online. As they claim on their websites, you can get online bus tickets for Malaysia and Singapore by using their website. As I hitchhiked all over Malaysia, I do not have experience of using this website. I came to know about a slow local bus between Kuala Lumpur and Tanah Rata. The fare for this bus is 22 Ringgit. Please check it from the local tourism authority, bus terminal or your hotel (and also inform us in the comment section) if you are travelling on a budget.

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