Malaysia with kids

Ninety minutes indoors, next door to Legoland, and the obvious answer when it rains.

A rescue-dog cafe at Mount Austin where the entry fee includes a drink and an hour with the dogs. Staff brief children on how to approach before anyone goes in.

The same idea next door and calmer, which suits a child who finds dogs a lot. Cats set the terms and the staff say so plainly.

A working goat and free-range chicken farm at Gelang Patah, and they are firm that it is not a petting zoo. Walk in to feed the animals, or book the guided tour ahead and a founder takes you round: collecting eggs, holding chicks, and feeding the pygmy goats the way the farm does it. Goat milk and pasture-raised eggs to take home.

Rides scaled for primary-age children rather than teenagers, and Miniland is worth an hour on its own.

Better than the theme park in heat, and much better with a toddler in the family. A separate ticket unless you buy the combo.

Indoor climbing and slides at Komtar JBCC, five minutes from the checkpoint. A wet-afternoon rescue, not a destination.

A local water park a fifteen-minute drive from the checkpoint, at a fraction of Legoland prices. Weekday mornings are nearly empty.

The Penang outdoor adventure park, rebuilt closer to home at Bukit Indah. Rope courses and slides rather than rides, and far quieter than Legoland.

Indoor soft play with a ball pit and a small ride area, minutes from the checkpoint. The wet-afternoon answer under eight.

A small real-ice rink in a Johor mall. Skate hire included, and the novelty carries an hour easily.

Indoor climbing frames and slides at Iskandar Puteri, air-conditioned and cheap. The other answer to a Johor afternoon when nobody wants to be outside.

Five temples of five faiths within a few streets of each other, plus the Chinese Heritage Museum. An hour, and the most interesting thing in JB that is not a theme park.

Air conditioning, a cinema and a supermarket worth raiding for snacks before the drive home. The default wet-weather plan in JB.

Electric karts on an indoor circuit at Iskandar Puteri. Air-conditioned, which on a Johor afternoon is half the point.

Steamed fish, butter prawns and a sea breeze at a third of Singapore prices. Eat at six — children fade fast after a park day.

Kacang pool, roti and cheap satay in the old town. Cash only at most stalls.

Hotel buffet in the middle of town, with a spread wide enough that a fussy eater finds something. Children under a certain height usually eat free — check the voucher.

Italian in Johor, which sounds wrong and works: pizza and pasta are the reliable answer after a day of Malaysian food a child would not touch.

Cheap milk tea and toast at Mount Austin, bought as a voucher. Fifteen minutes and it costs less than a coffee at home.

Feed an ostrich from a cup on a stick. Twenty minutes inland and better than it sounds.

A guided tram through orchards, with fish feeding and a tasting at the end. Book the tour rather than turning up.

A working village with a small fishermen's museum and boats pulled up on the sand. Fifteen minutes north and almost nobody goes.

A surf pool, a long lazy river and a decent toddler zone. A full day, and worth buying tickets before you arrive.

Twenty kilometres of open sand facing the South China Sea. Swim in front of a resort where the flags are, not off the empty stretches — the undertow is real.

A quiet boat up a mangrove river after dark to trees full of synchronised fireflies. Go on a moonless night; a bright moon washes them out.

Short led rides along the sand at the resort end of the beach, booked by the half hour. Best just after sunrise, before the heat.

A fishing town twenty minutes south where the resorts buy their crab. Cheap, plain and much better than eating in the resort every night.

A small waterfront strip of restaurants and a night market on weekends, five minutes from the resorts. The only walkable food nearby.

The red church, the fort gate and a short climb to a ruined chapel with a view. Trishaws between them if legs give out.

A decommissioned French submarine you walk through, bunk by bunk. The one Melaka stop children actually ask about afterwards.

A revolving tower that lifts you 80 metres over the river and the straits. Seven minutes, and the queue is shorter before eleven.

Open until eleven on Fridays and Saturdays, when the animals are awake and the air is bearable. Bigger than you expect.

A furnished house built on its ceiling, for the photographs. Twenty minutes, and children find it much funnier than adults do.

Crocodiles, a small aquarium and a play area on one ticket, fifteen minutes out of town. Feeding times are posted at the gate.

A large water park and safari half an hour north of town. The full day Melaka otherwise lacks for anyone under eight.

A water park on the way into town with a wave pool and a tube ride. Cheap, dated, and exactly what a hot afternoon needs.

Forty minutes past painted shophouses, and the best forty minutes in Melaka. Runs into the evening, when it is cooler and lit.

A rotating-auditorium production about the town's founding, seventy minutes with no interval. Loud, spectacular, and not for under-sixes.

Rope bridges and ziplines through trees, with harnesses and a briefing. Three course levels; the lowest takes children from about seven.

Cendol, satay celup and pineapple tarts, Friday to Sunday evenings only. Go early with small children — it is shoulder to shoulder by eight.

Melaka serves the rice pressed into balls rather than as a mound, which children find funnier than it deserves. Queues at the Jonker Street shops from noon.

The whole of Melaka as a day trip, coach both ways. Two hours each way, so it is a long day — staying a night is gentler if you can.

The river cruise and a trishaw ride after dark, when it is cool and everything is lit. The best version of Melaka for children.

Under the convention centre, so it works in any weather. Two hours, including the tunnel.

272 painted steps to a limestone cavern. Go before nine for heat and crowds, and carry no visible food — the monkeys take it from hands.

Walk-through aviaries with hornbills landing on the rail beside you, and shade almost the whole way round.

A hands-on science centre inside Suria KLCC, so it slots into an afternoon at the towers. Better than most and rarely crowded on a weekday.

The old Lake Gardens, with a deer park, a hibiscus garden and long shaded paths. Free, and next to the bird park.

A higher observation deck than the towers, with a glass sky box and a small animal enclosure at the base for anyone who has had enough of views.

The national zoo, with pandas on loan and a walk-through aviary. Go at opening; by noon both animals and children have had enough.

A petting farm laid out as a village, half an hour south. Rabbits, koi and tortoises children are allowed to touch.

The skybridge on level 41 and the deck on 86. Timed tickets, and they sell out days ahead in the school holidays.

A government rescue centre two hours out, where rescued elephants are fed and observed. No rides, and the day is mostly the drive.

Free, shaded, with a wading pool and a fountain show after dark behind the Petronas Towers. The best hour in KL that costs nothing.

Water park, theme park and a wildlife section on one site, forty minutes out. The best single day KL offers a family.

The big theme park an hour above KL, twenty degrees cooler than the city. A full day, and the cable car up is part of it.

Genting's indoor park, which matters because the mountain is in cloud more often than not. Rides scaled for younger children than SkyWorlds.

A child-sized city where they work as pilots, firefighters and bakers for a currency they earn. Four hours, and they will not want to leave.

The newest water park in the Klang Valley, at Gamuda Cove near the airport. Better shaded and less crowded than Sunway.

An hour out for a small boat under mangroves lit like Christmas trees. Leave KL by four, eat seafood at Pasir Penambang, then go out at dusk.

Fifteen minutes up through rainforest to Genting, with glass-floor cabins if you book them. Worth doing even if you skip the parks.

The Sentosa luge, longer, at Gamuda Cove. Children ride alone from about six and with an adult before that.

Plastic stools, grilled chicken wings and satay from seven onwards. Loud, hot and worth one evening.

Lot 10 Hutong, a basement food court of famous hawker stalls with air conditioning and tables. What to do when a child will not manage the street.

Lunch or dinner while the floor turns a full circle over the city. The view is the meal; go at sunset and book the window ring.

A large buffet on Bukit Bintang with a dessert counter children make three trips to. Booked as a voucher, which is usually cheaper than walking in.

THIRTY8 and the ground-floor cafe, both bookable as vouchers. The 38th-floor windows do most of the work with children.

Sunday brunch with a garden to run in between courses, which is the difference between a long lunch working and not.

Worth knowing if you are out at IOI City Mall or the mosques: a proper buffet twenty minutes from both.

Pick three or five attractions from a list and pay once. Worth it only if you were going to two of them anyway — do the arithmetic before buying.

Batu Caves, the towers, the palace and the old town in one air-conditioned day. Worth it on a first visit and a waste on a second.

Transport up the mountain and back with the cable car included, which saves hiring a car for a road most people would rather not drive.

Twenty-odd stops on a loop, valid a day or two. With small children it is less a tour than air-conditioned transport that happens to narrate.

A night in a dome tent on the mountain, cold enough to need a jumper. Multi-night, and the novelty carries it further than the comfort does.

A terraced temple complex with a pagoda and an inclined lift. Best in the hour before sunset.

Two small, slightly odd indoor museums for a wet afternoon — one of figurines, one of giant plastic food. Cheap, and children like both more than the heritage houses.

Fifteen thousand butterflies in a covered garden near Teluk Bahang, with an indoor discovery centre. Better organised than anything else on the island.

A canopy walk and a rope bridge at the top of the funicular, in genuinely cool air. The reason to go up beyond the view.

Walk-through aviaries on the mainland side at Seberang Jaya. Quieter and cheaper than KL's, with hornbills at eye level.

A guided walk through 250 kinds of tropical fruit, ending in a tasting and a juice. On the road to Balik Pulau.

An outdoor adventure park on the north coast with the world's longest water slide. A full day, and the highlight of the trip from six up.

A sub-zero room with real snow at The TOP in Komtar. Jackets provided, twenty minutes is plenty, and it is a relief in April.

Give each child a list of murals to find and the walking sorts itself out. Start early — the shade runs out by eleven.

Six minutes up a very steep track to cool air, a canopy walk and a view over the strait. Book the fast-lane ticket at weekends.

A shaded hillside walk through nutmeg and lemongrass with a children's trail and a bamboo playground. Cool even at midday.

Char kway teow, assam laksa and rojak in one seafront row. The most forgiving introduction to Penang food with children.

Nine indoor holes and a drink, in George Town. A cheap hour when the heat has beaten everyone.

Same idea for Penang, and the one place it usually pays: Escape, the Habitat and Entopia together cost more separately.

The clan jetties, Kek Lok Si and the street art with a guide who explains what the murals are about. Half a day, and the explaining is the point.

An aquarium with a penguin enclosure at Pantai Cenang, and the wet-weather answer on an island that has few. Two hours.

Seven natural rock pools stepping down a hillside, at the top of a steep 638-step climb. Go early, and only in the wet months — it dries to nothing.

A walk-through bird park where the hornbills and flamingos come to you. Small, hot, and reliably a hit under eight.

A few thousand crocodiles, a feeding show and a walk-over bridge. Grim and completely riveting from about four.

A 138-metre tower over Kuah with a glass floor and a view across to Thailand. Newer and quieter than the SkyCab.

Shallow, west-facing and calm most of the year, with parasailing and jetskis at the busy end if anyone is old enough.

The quietest good sand on the island, at the north-east tip. Shallow a long way out at low tide, which is exactly what you want with a toddler.

A steep cable car to a curved suspension bridge over rainforest. Go at opening; cloud closes it in by afternoon more often than not.

Eagles, a bat cave and fish farms along limestone channels. Half a day by longboat, with life jackets provided.

Rope courses and ziplines in forest near the airport, with three difficulty levels. Harnessed throughout and well run.

Dayang Bunting's freshwater lake, an eagle feeding stop and a beach, in a shared boat. Half a day, and life jackets are provided.

A rotating pasar malam that lands in a different town each evening. Ask the hotel which one is on — that is genuinely how you find it.

Covers the SkyCab, Underwater World and the wildlife park among others. Check the SkyCab is in the tier you buy — it is the expensive one.

Three or four days of island hopping, the SkyCab and mangroves bundled with transfers. Multi-night: it is the trip, not a day in it.

Five tribal longhouses in forest outside town, with fire-making, blowpipes and rice wine for the adults. Guided, and the best half day here.

Sabah's zoo, with orangutans, pygmy elephants and a sun bear. Twenty minutes south and much smaller than it sounds, which suits young children.

An afternoon cruise for long-nosed monkeys, then the same river after dark for fireflies. Two hours each way by road, and worth it.

A cool-climate day at the foot of the mountain: a botanical garden, hot springs and a dairy farm that looks like New Zealand.

A fully furnished Sabahan house built inverted, with a 3D gallery next door. Half an hour and cheap.

Slides and a wave pool at Tuaran, thirty minutes north. Small, cheap, and the recovery day after two boat mornings.

The city beach, ten minutes from the airport, with the best sunset in Malaysia and kayaks for hire. Free, and where locals go.

Twenty minutes by boat to white sand and reef shallow enough to snorkel from the beach. The whole reason most families come.

Pick the fish off the ice and they grill it in front of you, on the waterfront. Busy from six, cash only, and agree the price by weight first.

The stilt water village, the state mosque and the market in one morning. Useful on arrival day when nobody has the energy for a boat.