| klook

Many blogs and newspapers, even travel magazines share about places to visit in Cameron Highlands of Malaysia but it seems the writers have never been there once, some of the information they write is not very accurate. This is my field trip to Cameron Highlands.

Rolling tea hills, Cameron Highlands | klook
A corner of an old apartment building in Cameron Highlands.
A school in Cameron Highlands. I took this furtive photo because here they respect the everyone’s privacy, especially the safety of children, so it is forbidden to take pictures. | cameron highlands travel blog
Strawberry farm

So, is Cameron Highlands worth visiting, what is famous in Cameron Highlands, what to do in Cameron Highlands, how to go to Cameron Highlands, where to go, what to see and eat in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia? Let’s check out our Cameron Highlands travel blog (Cameron Highlands blog, cameron highland review blog, cameron highland trip blog) with the fullest Cameron Highlands travel guide (Cameron Highlands tourist guide) on how to get to Cameron Highlands, best time to come, where to stay, best places to visit and top things to do in Cameron Highlands to find out the answer!

Camping on the Hill Under the Bright Starry Sky cameron highlands | klook
Ee Feng Gu Farm | petitgo.com
| klook

Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands location on the map | imageearthtravel.com

Cameron Highlands is a a cool highland plateau at an altitude of 1,448 meters of Malaysia, like Sapa or Dalat in Vietnam. So, before coming here, you should prepare warm clothes because it is quite cold. Especially, it is often rainy in the afternoon, so pay attention to go out.

Cameron Highlands has a distinctive weather, it’s cool in the morning, warm around noontime, and rainy in the afternoon. So, you can experience 4 seasons in a day. | cameron highlands travel blog
Malaysia has a lot of crows, but in Cameron Highlands there are a lot of pigeons.
A corner Tanah Rata town in an early morning. | cameron highlands travel blog
Pigeons fill the road in Tanah Rata.

On Wikipedia, there are statistics on the temperature in the Cameron Highlands, see here.

I love Cameron Highlands.

Cameron Highlands travel blog: How to get to Cameron Highlands?

Surely, you have to go to Kuala Lumpur first, so I will skip the step from Hanoi to KL by plane. (I flown with AirAsia, very cheap).

Bus station in Kuala Lumpur where you can take a bus to Cameron Highlands.

There is only one way to get to Cameron Highlands from Kuala Lumpur, which is to go to KL Sentral bus station to buy tickets to Cameron Highlands. Ticket price: 35RM/person. There are a lot of trips a day, so don’t worry, but because the bus passing high pass, it’s best to go during the day.

Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) in KL.
Map of state buses in Western Malaysia.
When you get to the bus station, go in and see the ticket counter.

Cameron Highlands travel guide: Where to stay?

In Cameron Highlands there are 2 towns to choose an accommodation:

Brinchang

Brinchang town is far away but closer to the tourist spots. This town is quiet and less bustling at night.

The area with the most hotels in Brinchang.

It’s also around 11pm, it’s all closed, there’s no bar or pub here, in the morning, there’s still no breakfast restaurants at 9am. So, staying here is suitable for those who like to relax and be quiet.

Some good hotels for you refer to:

Check out more hotels in Brinchang on Agoda.com or Booking.com.

Tanah Rata

Tanah Rata is the town for you if you like crowds. Western tourists often stay in Tanah than others, because there is a small pub in town, the restaurants close around 11pm, but the food is more diverse.

I recommend staying in Tanah Rata for fun, renting a motorbike is also convenient (Brinchang doesn’t has motorbike rental service).

Suggested some good hotels for you:

Check out more hotels in Tanah Rata on Agoda.com or Booking.com.

Does it look very European?
The entrance to a very beautiful resort in Cameron Highlands.

Cameron Highland trip blog: Getting around Cameron Highlands

Taxi

Taxis charge by hour and must be rented for a minimum of 3 hours (25RM/h). If you hire a taxi to travel back and forth of 2 towns, the price is very expensive and the drivers are quite “fancy”. In general, taking taxi here is a bit difficult to travel :))

A taxi stop.
Taxi in Cameron Highlands look nostalgic.
A Mercedes converted to a taxi, very cure.

Rent a motorbike

This is the best way I suggest you. Although there is a bit of traffic matter when they drive on the left lane, but having a motorbike will be extremely active, go wherever you like. It’s cheaper than rent a taxi. Motorcycles here are mostly small scooters.

Most of the tea plantations are prohibited drones, so pay attention when flying cams.

Half day rental is 50RM. In my opinion, you should rent for the whole day (RM80), because you can even hang out at night if you want. If you stay in Bringchan, there’s no taxi from Tanah Rata at night.

Tanah Rata Bus Station.

Hitch hiking

This is a very prominent feature in Cameron Highlands. The people here are very kind, ready to give you a ride if they see a convenience. This way, it won’t cost you money, but you can hear they introduce about Cameron Highlands along the way.

But it’s not like standing in the road and wave your hand, everyone will give you a ride, it depends on luck. So, be patient, it takes a while to wait. A very good experience, you should try it too.

The peaceful town of Tanah Rata.
The streets are clean and the air is cool and fresh, so pleasant.

Cameron Highland review blog: When should you go to Cameron Highlands?

The best time is still from February to May. I think it’s the end of August and the beginning of September. Because at that time in Vietnam, it is hot, it will be cool here, very comfortable.

A corner of Cameron Highlands.

Currency exchange, money denominations in Malaysia

money-banks-malaysia-ringgit-money
Malaysian Ringgit.

In Malaysia, people use Ringit currency (RM). Rates vary from time to time. In May 2022 the exchange rate is USD1 = RM4.40.

I usually exchange to USD first and then go to the airport to exchange at their country’s banks.

A bus stop (but I didn’t see any buses here).

Cameron Highlands travel blog: Where to go and what to do in Cameron Highlands

You should spend 2 days to explore Cameron Highlands. Here are some fun places to explore in Cameron Highlands.

Brinchang town is quiet all the time.
Laundromat (Self-service laundry) – Just put in the money to wash it by yourself, no one is here to look after it.
Malaysia was colonized by Britain for a long time, so it was influenced by European architecture quite a lot.

Gunung Brinchang (Mount Batu Brinchang)

Gunung Brinchang is a mountain, on which is Mossy forest. To get here, you can buy a tour to be picked up by the car or hike up if you like trekking, reach the top, you will see a path to visit the Mossy forest. In my opinion, you should buy a tour to go quickly, walking uphill was very tired. I tried to trek, but when I climbed halfway and couldn’t breathe and had to ask hitch hiking for a ride.

The way to Bringchan Peak – The highest mountain peak in Cameron Highlands.

This spot takes half a day to go, until 1pm then get down for lunch. On the way here, you can visit the very beautiful BOH Tea plantation (tea rolling hills), and enjoy sipping tea here.

Brinchang peak and the entrance to the Mossy Forest. | things to do in cameron highlands

Mossy Forest

This is the oldest forest in Cameron Highlands, with large zigzag old trees, covered with layers of moss. All create an indescribable ghostly look. Note that although the forest has been bridged with a long wooden path, it is very convenient to go, but there are some sections of the dirt road that are very slippery and easy to slip, so avoid wearing high-heeled, slippery sandals or shoes to ensure safety. You also have to walking a lot, so remember to bring drink water.

Mossy forest here. | things to do in cameron highlands
Do not entry!
Fortunately, most of the path lead to the forest are made of suspension bridges like this, so it is quite easy to walk.
That plant is a pitcher plant spieces that eats flies, isn’t it? | cameron highlands travel blog
Some dirt roads are quite slippery and dangerous.
In the forest were all the old trees with no names. I was just afraid that something will jump on my head :))
Climbing to the top is quite tiring, the forest is dense, so it is rare to have a far from view like this. | cameron highlands travel blog

Farms and strawberry gardens

At the foot of the mountain and on the way there will be farms:

Strawberry Farm: There are many strawberry gardens, you can go to the Red Strawberry farm.

On the way to the top, my brother and I visited a strawberry farm and was asked by the farmer to take pictures and then… asked for money :)). | cameron highlands travel blog

Buttefly Farm: Entrance fee of 7RM per person, nothing special. If you curious let come in to know, but in my opinion, don’t go in, there are only a few butterflies, with other animals like a miniature zoo.

Butterfly Farm! Honesty, there are only a few butterflies but nothing else, lost entrance fee. | cameron highlands travel blog
The butterfly farm also grows flowers and vegetables. | cameron highlands travel blog

Cactus Valley

Lots of cacti, beautiful bonsai in Cameron Highlands. Those who like plants will love this place. | cameron highlands travel blog
A strange cactus that looks like… haha. | cameron highland review blog
Cactus in Cameron Highland is also extremely abundant and diverse. | cameron highland review blog

Cameron Lavender: Go through the entrance to Brinchang about 3km – very beautiful, should go – entrance ticket 10RM.

Lavender Garden is the place to grow the most flowers and the most beautiful spot. | cameron highland review blog
In Malaysia, it’s easy to park a car, not as difficult as in Vietnam. | cameron highland review blog
I don’t love flowers, so I don’t find them very beautiful :)). | cameron highland review blog
This place is the most beautiful, so it also attracts the most tourists. | cameron highland trip blog
Lots of beautiful colorful flowers. Because it’s Lavender, purple is everywhere | cameron highland trip blog

Other farms: Rose Center, Honey Farm, …

Hibiscus flower. | cameron highland trip blog
Map of the rose centre. | cameron highland trip blog
The flower farm, so it have a wide variety of flowers. | cameron highlands blog

In general, the farms are just like each other, it’s strange for newcomers, but I see they have nothing beautiful.

BOH Tea Plantation

There are 3 BOH Tea plantations in Cameron Highlands (Tea hills). Some blogs say that you should go to BOH Tea because it’s very beautiful, but when I do search on Google, it shows up to 3 results of the same name, so I don’t know which blog they mentioned. I stayed in Cameron Highlands for few days, so I went to all 3 and found the one in Brinchang and the one on the way to Tanah Rata town to be the most beautiful, the other farthest one doesn’t need to go.

Sitting on the tea hill drinking tea all day is still okay. | cameron highlands travel blog
Vast tea plantations in Cameron Highlands. | cameron highlands blog
There is an old tree on the top of a tea hill, it looks so cool. | cameron highlands blog

The tea fields spreading over several hills. | cameron highlands blog
BOH View – The viewing point on the top of the tea hill. | cameron highlands blog
Down there have a small waterfall with crowded sisters to take pictures. | cameron highlands travel guide
BOH Tea Plantation | cameron highlands travel guide
This tea hill is the furthest but I find it’s the most beautiful. | cameron highlands travel guide
On the top of the hill is a house selling tea products: Tea, cakes. | cameron highlands travel guide

This tea hill also looks wider, the view is more beautiful. | cameron highlands travel guide
| cameron highlands guide
The path to the tea hill. | what to do in cameron highlands
This stair when captured is also nice. | what to do in cameron highlands
| what to do in cameron highlands

Other places you can go

There are a few hotels and resorts with beautiful designs to see and take pictures: Lake house, Smoke House.

Night market in Cameron Highland: This is a feature of the highland here. But it only opens on weekend nights, when I went during the week, I didn’t have the opportunity to experience shopping at the market.

Cameron Highland review blog: What to eat in Cameron Highlands

There are quite a lot of food here, mostly Indian and Chinese food, you can try as you like.

Unlike other spots in Malaysia, I suggest you try a few dishes: Tom Yum and Steamboat. Steamboat is like hot pot in Vietnam but you should try it, it’s delicious.

The cuisine is nothing special, so I tried KFC served with Thai chili sauce. | what to do in cameron highlands

Beer in Malaysia is very expensive, so going to bar, pub here to drink beer is quite expensive, spent quite much.

Guinness beer with very strange taste. | what to do in cameron highlands

In addition, because Cameron Highlands is in the highlands, food is also much more expensive. Average cost is about 8~20RM/person/serving.

Street food in Tanah Rata town is quite delectable, you should try it out. Just ask local people where to eat Malay food and they will tell you, it’s easy to find.

Looking the sign hanging is the best corn in the world, so I came to try it! It’s normal compare to Vietnamese corn. | what to do in cameron highlands
A pretty good restaurant in Brinchang with Chinese cuisine.
I ate a lot, take advantage of going to eateries as much as possible, haha. | things to do in cameron highlands
I forgot the name of this dish, but it’s like seafood vermicelli: There are shrimp and squid,… | things to do in cameron highlands
In the morning, go to the breakfast area like a local. There are sticky rice, vermicelli (temporarily called) – This is in Tanah Rata, but Brinchang, you can’t find anything to eat in the morning. | things to do in cameron highlands

Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, to from Kuala Lumpur and Cameron Highlands you can refer to

Photo: one day in kuala lumpur blog.
Bukit Bintang

Are you looking for more Kuala Lumpur travel guide and top things to do in Kuala Lumpur: Tours, activities, attractions and other things? Read more: Kuala Lumpur blog (KL blog) — The fullest guide for a budget trip to Kuala Lumpur And Kuala Lumpur 1 day itinerary — How to spend 24 hours in Kuala Lumpur?

Related articles

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR