Melaka, Malacca or Malaca — spell it however you like. This is where we started to actually get to know Malaysia, because the huge, roaring sprawl of Kuala Lumpur never let us slow down enough to take anything in.
An old colony layered like an onion
Melaka is an old European trading colony — once the commercial and administrative heart of the Dutch empire in Asia, before it was handed to the British. A fair number of Portuguese settled here over the centuries, too.
All that history left its mark on the streets, splitting the city into distinct quarters. You can wander out of the Portuguese district into the Little Amsterdam of the old Dutch core, then into the British colonial area. Layered on top, like in so many cities around the region but especially vivid here, are Chinatown and Little India.
Little Amsterdam of Melaka
A city you can cross on foot
Unlike Kuala Lumpur, in Melaka we could get everywhere on foot. Some walks take longer than others, but the distances are manageable — and that's the best way to stumble onto things.
Walking is exactly how we reached a beautiful little island in the middle of the city: an old village of stilted wooden houses, their floors pierced with holes to let the air rise up through them.
On that island we met a bit of a local legend. Every year on his birthday — the 31st of August — he paints the roof of his house in the colours of the Malaysian flag. He let us in on a couple of his family secrets for a long, healthy old age: keep plenty of stairs in the house so you're forced to exercise daily, and swim once a week in the sea off a nearby island.
Colourful clothes drying in Melaka
What it cost us
Time for the usual reminder of the exchange rate between the euro and the Malaysian ringgit:
Around 4.2 ringgit to the euro. A meal in a cheap place tends to run about 6 ringgit — roughly a euro and a half.
Our first night in Melaka cost us 36 ringgit; the two nights after that just 20 ringgit, at a small guesthouse called Little Dragon. Very basic, but it did the job. One odd footnote: the router gave up the ghost shortly after I switched on a torrent download — boom — and I couldn't crawl my way through a download again until the following afternoon.
Ilze at a gym in Melaka's Chinatown
Eating well for almost nothing
We tried ice creams made to order, churned right in front of us from whatever frozen fruit we picked. We also worked our way through the Chinese, Indian and Malay restaurants dotted around the city, where a single dish could cost as little as 4 ringgit. If you're new to the region, this is a glorious place to dive into the food — here are our first impressions of Southeast Asian food.
In this quiet, lovely city we had a last evening with a great mix of people: a local girl, ethnic Chinese, who'd travelled all over Southeast Asia and collected every kind of story; a couple of Lithuanians running a small online business who'd decided to settle here months back; and a handful of travellers passing through on their way up to Kuala Lumpur.
St Paul's Church
On to Singapore
From Melaka we carried on to Singapore by bus, 22 ringgit a head in a comfy coach with roomy, padded, reclining seats.
Over our week in Malaysia we spent around €100, half of it on restaurants, food stalls and supermarkets. I'd call Malaysia cheap — though noticeably pricier than Thailand, where we are right now. For the full sums across the region, see our budget breakdown for Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Frequently asked questions
Is it spelled Melaka, Malacca or Malaca?
All three turn up. Melaka is the modern Malaysian spelling and what you'll see on signs today; Malacca is the old English/colonial form; Malaca is the Spanish and Portuguese version. Same city, same strait — just take your pick.
Is Melaka worth visiting if you've already seen Kuala Lumpur?
For us, yes — more so, in a way. Kuala Lumpur is big and loud; Melaka is small, historic and walkable, which makes it far easier to actually take in. The blend of Portuguese, Dutch, British, Chinese and Indian quarters packed into one strollable old town is the whole appeal.
How do you get from Melaka to Singapore?
By coach. We paid 22 ringgit each for a comfortable bus with reclining seats. It's a straightforward overland hop and a cheap way to cross into Singapore.
Is Malaysia expensive to travel?
We managed around €100 for a week between the two of us, roughly half of it on food. That makes Malaysia genuinely cheap by most standards — though a step up from Thailand. Eat at the Chinese, Indian and Malay places where a dish can cost a few ringgit and you'll keep it down easily.
