How Much Does It Cost to Travel in Malaysia for Two Weeks?

After island-hopping in Indonesia, we flew to Kuala Lumpur to explore Malaysia. Although I haven’t disliked any Southeast Asian county I’ve visited … Malaysia might just be my favorite! We spent a few days in the capital city before heading to George Town (the UNESCO-recognized colonial town on the island of Penang) and then relaxing on the beach on Langkawi. Here’s a breakdown of every cent we spent in Malaysia:

Malaysia: $1,200.35

Transportation: $102.98

We used a mix of buses, trains and ferries to get around Malaysia, as we visited two islands, and sometimes took a Grab (i.e. Uber in Southeast Asia) from the station/dock to our accommodations. We also rented a motorbike for one day on Langkawi for around $12 USD. Not flying really helped keep these costs down, especially compared to our time in Indonesia. Average: $8.58/day.

Lodging: $439.42

Jonathan found one of the best-value lodging deals of our trip in Kuala Lumpur: a private apartment with access to a swanky on-site pool for only $28/night. It wasn’t our cheapest stay, but it sure was fancy compared to our usual rooms! Our next stop was George Town, one of the most touristy cities in Malaysia, so we stayed at an Airbnb a bit of a walk from Old Town to save some money (~$33/night). For our final Malaysian accommodations, we stayed at a basic beach cabin in a great location near the popular Pantai Cenang (~$45/night). Average: $36.62/night.

Eating out + groceries: $254.13 + $90.34

I probably should have done this earlier in my budget posts, but because we rarely bought groceries, I’m going to start combining it with “eating out” instead of personal items. It makes more sense to have all the food in one place! The food is definitely one of the main reasons I still dream about our time in Malaysia, even three years later. Our apartment in Kuala Lumpur was within walking distance of both Chinatown and Jalan Alor, a fabulous street night market, so we were never far from good street eats. (Jalan Alor had tourist prices compared to the other places we ate, but we still found it to be affordable.) Staying outside the Old Town in George Town actually worked to our advantage because we got to try multiple hawker centers (food courts) on our walks to and from our accommodations. I’d recommend trying as many as possible when you visit, but New World Park Food City was our favorite. (You can see street food played a huge role in our time in Malaysia from our weekly wrap-ups.) Even though food itself was very affordable in Malaysia, we ate a lot of it, so our average daily spending is a little on the high side hehe. Average: $28.70/day.

Treats: $42.08

We like treats, so this category includes any coffee, dessert or alcohol that was not purchased as part of a meal (or a grocery run). In Malaysia, this meant a lot of iced coffee, but at some food courts an iced coffee cost less than 25 cents, so how could we resist?! (The iced coffee at the corgi cafe, on the other hand, was severely overpriced.) Average: $3.51/day.

Personal items: $22.52

Including some toiletry restocks (especially bug spray and sunscreen!) and a gym pass in Langkawi. Average: $1.88/day.

Entertainment (tours, etc.): $143.46

The lion’s share of this was our food tour in George Town (worth every penny of the $51.30/person, plus tip). Unfortunately, Urban Adventures doesn’t offer our specific tour anymore, but you can find other Penang food tours on Viator. Jonathan also got a massage in George Town, and we visited Kek Lok Si Temple (free admission, but the funicular tickets cost ~$1.30 each). Average: $11.96/day.

Gifts & souvenirs: $34.14

In addition to our usual postcards, we bought a pair of shorts for Jonathan and a dress and sunglasses for Megan. These purchases were really more to replace worn-out items than for souvenirs, but we do still wear them! Average: $2.84/day.

Travel insurance: $71.28

We had travel insurance through World Nomads for $5.94/day. Travel insurance costs will vary depending on chosen plan, length of travel, location, etc.

Total: $100.02/day = $50.01/person* per day

Feature image: Street art in George Town (January 2020)

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*Did you know we have a page on the blog completely dedicated to Money & Budgeting? We also list our country-specific costs on this page, but those numbers might differ a bit from the numbers shown here. The numbers in our detailed budgeting posts (like this one) are a true reflection of what we personally spent on our trip. The numbers on the Money & Budgeting page are meant to reflect what a typical tourist traveling at our comfort level can expect to spend.

Of course, you can always spend far less (or far more) than the numbers listed here or on our Money & Budgeting page. These figures are provided as a loose guide to help you plan travels within your budget range.