Malacca

Malacca tourist map

2009-03-18T02:42:00.001-07:00

Download this Malacca tourist map if you want to explore the historical centre of Malacca Malaysia.

Malacca tourist map explained

This map covers the so called The Dutch Heritage Trail:

Malacca trees

Porta de Santiago (A’Famosa Fort) (built by the Portuguese, fortified by the Dutch)

Excavation of fortifications

Old museum

Museums and Antiquities Department building

Architecture Museum

Excavation of Middlesburg

Stadthuys

Chirst Church

Dutch graveyard

St Paul’s church: built by the Portuguese

The Dutch Heritage Trail Malacca tourist map

The Dutch Embassy in Malaysia supports the Melaka State Effort to conserve all the Dutch remaining in Malacca Malaysia.

One of the projects sponsored by the Netherlands Embassy is The Dutch Heritage Trail in the tourist map above to showcase the Dutch history and influences in the golden era of Malacca.

This Malacca tourist map walks you around the historical remains of the Dutch era in Malacca. Famous of course are the red Stadthuys, used by the Dutch Governors, is the oldest building in entire Asia that was built by the East Indian Company.

The Dutch also build the Christ Church, which today is still in use being the oldest protestant church in Malaysia. The original Melaka Christ Church bell dates back to 1698.

The building that now houses the Stamp Museum, used to be inhabited by the Dutch Westerhout family until 1930.

The Dutch residential area was called "Heren Straat" or Heeren Street where you can find the B&B Heeren House. Most of the houses in Heeren Street are occupied by local Malaysians, mainly Chinese.

The Dutch buried their loved ones at St. Paul's Church or at the Dutch graveyard. Try to find the oldest tomb that dates back till 1670 from Anna Reynierse.

Especially when you are Flemish or Dutch, you will be intrigued by the Dutch history found when walking the Dutch Heritage Trail on this Malacca tourist map.

Malacca B&B Heeren House

2009-02-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

If you are planning a 2 night stay in Malacca and you love colonial style houses, then we recommend you make a hotel booking in Heeren House. Make sure to visit during laid back weekdays, as in the weekends this guest house is pretty full and buzzing.

Heeren House is located in the center of Malacca's old town. Do have a chat with the owners as they can answer all your Malacca questions and show you places out off the beaten track.

The Heeren House has 6 rooms, all decorated in old colonial style. The family room has an ornate four poster bed and some heavy wooden carvings on the wall.

Notice you need to hang your clothes on the wall as there isn't a cabinet.

The best part of this Malacca hotel is : location! Heeren House is overlooking the river in Chinatown. From your window you can see across the river to the Stadthuys. Malacca's Stadthuys was Melaka's town-hall during the Dutch colonization area and is now a museum.

Heeren House is located ideally to start strolling around Melaka's Chinatown being full of antique and souvenir shops and having some beautiful old Chinese temples hidden in narrow streets amongst original, historical buildings.

To know about Malacca's history, only choose 1 museum, as the displays are similar. We loved The Maritime Museum for its original setting in a reproduction of a Portuguese ship sunk in the Malacca Straits.

Heeren House is a bit more pricey than the hotels in the new city, but if you want to go for new things, then why are you visiting Malacca Malaysia for in the first place?

Equatorial Hotel Malacca

2009-01-25T05:26:00.000-08:00

Equatorial Hotel Malacca is a marvelous 5 star hotel located in the center of Malacca, within walking distance to a major business centre and most tourist attractions.

What I love about the Equatorial hotel in Malacca is the excellent, courteous service combined with its central location and their spacious rooms. Just imagine being able to enjoy the luxury of a five star hotel in the most historical centre of Malacca Malaysia.

Rooms in the Equatorial Hotel Malacca

Rooms at the Equatorial Hotel Malacca are about 90$. Do go online to check out their special packages and get a great deal. Make sure breakfast is included, as this Malacca hotel lets you enjoy a large breakfast selection.

When making your hotel reservation, do stress on the kind of bed you want when you book for yourself and your loved one: otherwise you could end up with 2 single beds.

Our room in the Equatorial Malacca was tastefully furnished. The bathroom was amazingly clean and the bed was better than at home!

Places to go around Equatorial Hotel Malacca

Cross the road and you can enter 2 shopping malls: Mahkota Parade and Carrefour.

Food-lovers can take their car to enjoy the famous delicious seafood in the Portuguese Settlement in less than 5 minutes. If you are too lazy to drive, you can equally enjoy a great meal at your hotel: the food in the Equatorial Malacca is definitely fabulous!

Within walking distance of the Equatorial Hotel you find the A' Famosa Fort, museums and Jalan Melaka Raya's string of stupendous Nyonya restaurants.

A bit further away (20 to 30 minutes on foot) is Jonker Street with all the heritage listed shop houses and its interesting night market with excellent hawker food.

Things you need to know about Equatorial Hotel Malacca

From all the hotels in Malacca Malaysia, only the Equatorial offers a well sheltered and reasonably sized swimming pool: great if you want to take a swim at noon without getting sun burned! The Equatorial Spa is must do after a great day of strolling around in Malacca Malaysia.

Although being one of the best hotels in Malacca Malaysia, this hotel doesn't have a basement parking. So if you drive yourself to the Equatorial Hotel, be aware you do need to unload all your heavy stuff at the lobby.

When it comes to booking hotels: Always get yourself a second opinion! Read what the Malacca Guide has to say about hotels in Malacca.

I recommend the Equatorial Hotel Malacca for a car free Malacca travel for a romantic getaway, to impress your girlfriend or for your unforgettable honeymoon.

Malacca Malaysia

2009-01-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

Learn all about my Malacca Malaysia: print our good Malacca tourist map showing all the amazing sites you can see in Malacca. Read what I and my friends think about Malacca hotels.

Hotels in Malacca Malaysia

Accommodation in Malaysia is always a plenty with Malacca hotels for every budget. My favorite is the Renaissance Hotel, but we will talk about all resorts and hotels in Malacca in further more detailed posts.

Numbers next to the Malacca hotels refer to the Malacca map below.

1. Accordian

2. City Bayview Malacca

3. Emperor

4. Grand Continental

5. Grand Southern

6. Hotel Puri

7. Majestic

8. Malacca Renaissance

9. New Regal

10. Palace

11. Plaza Inn

12. Tan Kim Hok

Map of Malacca Malaysia

Map of Malacca Malaysia: read more info about the numbers on the map:

1 to 12: Malacca Hotels (see above)

13 to 31: Places of interest in Malacca (see below).

You can reach Malacca easily by car using the North-South Expressway linking Alor Star in the north to Johor Bahru in the south.

Malacca Places of Interest

Most of the tourist attractions in Malacca can be easily found in Malacca's small city centre.

13. Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum

14. Bullock Cart Rides

15. Cheng Hoon Teng Temple

16. Hang Jebat's Mausoleum

17. Hang kasturi's Mausoleum

18. Hang Li Poh's Well

19. Jonker Street (Antiques)

20. Kampong Hulu Mosque

21. Kampong Kling Mosque

22. Malaysian Youth Museum

23. Muzium Rakyat (People's Museum)

24. Proclamation of Independence Memorial

25. Queen Victoria's Fountain

26. Replica of Malacca Sultanate Palace

27. Poh San Teng Temple

28. Light & Sound Spectacular

29. St. John's Fort

30. Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple

31. Tranquerah Mosque

Malacca is food paradise. Visit the Portuguese settlement to have a delicious seafood dinner or stroll down Jonker's Walk: a row of shop-houses of Peranakan architecture and for sure visit again during the evening and to try out some delicious Malaysian food on its night market.

In Bandar Hilir area you can visit the famous A Famosa Fortress and also some paid museums.

Another nice walk is towards Pulau Melaka. Pulau being the Malay word for 'island'. Pulau Melaka is an island formed through land reclamation mainly for real estate and housing purposes. To reach the island, you just cross a causeway leading to it. Find Masjid Selat or the Strait Mosque completely at the end of Pulau Melaka.

Other islands worth visiting are:

Pulau Upeh near Klebang Beach, which is currently undergoing reclaimation works and

Pulau Besar, which can be reached from the Anjung Batu jetty at Umbai.

The best and cheapest way to get around Malacca is by bus. In stead of walking through the tropical heat, you can also take a pricey trishaw to get around. But we recommend you use the much cheaper bus "Bas Panorama Melaka" to visit any or all the tourist places in Malacca.

Jump on the bus at Melaka Sentral and it will bring you to Old Bus Station, Gajah Berang, Jonker Walk, Bandar Hilir, Kampung Portugis, Bukit Baru, State Mosque, Giant Hypermarket and of course back to Melaka Sentral. Jump of the bus at any Malacca place of interest and hop on again when the next bus arrives.

Ancient Malacca

The city of Malacca is the center of Malay history. Following the daily news about Malaysia's political motivated fights among the races, you will be surprised to learn that the Chinese in the 15th century sent one of their princesses to marry the Sultan of Malacca. Sadly this kind of happily marriage is quite forgotten when you follow Malaysian politics.

In the 15th and the 16th century, Malacca was the capital of the Malaccan Sultanate after the Malays moved over from Sumatra. However it was colonized by the Portuguese in 1511 and there-after by the Dutch and of course the British.

After World War II, Malay nationalists fought for independence. On 20 February 1956 the announcement of Independence was declared at Padang Pahlawan (Warrior's Field) at Bandar Hilir in Malacca.

Many Malaccans have since then moved to Kuala Lumpur and to Singapore. Especially Singapore's harbour took over the silting up port of Malacca.

Malacca Malaysia in a nutshell

It's impossible to summarize Malacca, especially since we didn't even mention the famous Nyonya culture. That's exactly why we start a blog about Malacca: to be complete :-)

Malacca simply stands at the origin of Malaysia although has seen better times.