Things To Do In Taiping – Budget Travel In Malaysia

Visit Taiping, Malaysia, the second biggest city in Perak and known for its well-preserved colonial buildings and the rain. It experiences more rainfall than anywhere else in Malaysia. Locals do not bet on IF it will rain, but WHEN it will rain.

Taiping is also a city of firsts. The first museum, clock tower, library, prison, railway station in Malaysia were all built here. There are other firsts too; check out the full list at the information centre in the clock tower. We only spent a short time in this underrated city but hopefully this guide will persuade you to add it to your itinerary.

Taiping or Ipoh?

We had not heard of either cities until we began to research where would be a good destination after our time in George Town. A local had told us about the Cameron Highlands. Once we began to look into that, we noticed other travellers had also included Ipoh in their travels of Perak. Once we looked at what Ipoh had to offer, we then noticed that travellers to Ipoh had also spent some time in Taiping. They are close to each other and fairly small so we decided to split our time amongst the three. If you have time, there is no reason why you cannot do the same. Each place is a little small to warrant a long visit, but each has its own unique charm. From George Town, we travelled first to Taiping, then to Ipoh before moving on to the Cameron Highlands.

How To Get To Taiping From George Town

To begin our Taiping travel experience, we looked into taking a train. However, the only trains available were late in the evening so we decided to take a bus. There were no buses directly to Taiping so we took a bus to Kamunting which was a short taxi ride away from our hotel.

First of all, we had to get from our hotel in George Town to Butterworth Central Station. We took a Grab taxi to the ferry port. There are two main ferry ports in George Town. To get to Butterworth, you need to go to ‘Pangkalan Raja Tun Uda Ferry Terminal’ (map). The ferry is free when crossing from George Town.

The ferry dropped us off right at the bus station where we had just enough time to eat in the food court upstairs and enjoy coffee and pastries on level 2. Our bus to Taiping left from level 1. It left bang on time and the journey time was just over one hour.

We booked our bus tickets through busonlineticket.com. There was no need to print tickets and check in was straight forward (though there was an extra 2 MYR charge).

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Things To Do In Taiping

From our hotel, we could take a Grab taxi to the centre of Taiping for 6 MYR. We also had a bus stop nearby. Though there was no timetables, we decided we wanted to use the public transport. After a few minutes, along came an old, cranky red bus. The bus stopped and the driver told us he was going to Taiping centre. Result!

We got off the bus at the station and had to wait for the rain to stop before we could go and explore. After about 5 minutes, this was possible but something told me we had not seen the last of the rain.

After a few more minutes, the rain came. We took shelter and had to wait for almost an hour as the rain was so heavy. We were trying to get to a bar and we were not far away but just a few seconds exposed would have meant being soaked to the skin.

Mansion 5 Bar

Eventually, the rain slowed just enough for us to run the 50 metres or so to ‘Mansion 5’ (map). Apart from karaoke bars, there are barely any places to enjoy a few beers in central Taiping. We decided to buy ‘sets’ of beer as it was cheaper. Before 8 pm, a set of ‘Connor’s Stout’ cost 50 MYR for 5 half-pints. We ended up having three sets and also decided to eat there. The food was decent, the staff were good and there was even live music after 9 pm. A good choice if you fancy some beers in Taiping.

Antong Coffee Mill

As we only had one full day in Taiping, we had to cram in as much as possible. Our day began with a visit to a nearby coffee mill. Antong (map) has been producing coffee since 1933 and we were looking forward to a tour around the mill and seeing how they produce their coffee. Unfortunately, it being Sunday, the mill itself was closed. Thankfully, the showroom was open and we were able to try all the different coffees, including a durian flavoured! All apart from one were very sweet (they are clearly producing for local tastes), but it was great to try the different flavours.

Antong Coffee Mill Opening Times: 8.30 am – 5.30 pm, every day (the actual mill was closed on Sunday when we visited).
Antong Coffee Mill Entrance Fee: Free admission.

Taiping Heritage Trail

We continued from the coffee mill towards the city centre where we joined on to the ‘Taiping Heritage Trail’. This trail includes all of Taiping’s most historic buildings. We were shocked to discover there is a ‘Sheffield Hostel’ in Taiping (Sheffield is my home town). The hostel is now part of the King Edward VII school and is named after an old teacher and not the city of my birth.

Not all of the buildings on the trail are incredibly interesting and we didn’t stay on it for long as we had other places to discover that were not on the trail. It is a good way to move around the city centre, however. The trail can be found here.

Abandoned Pre-War House

One of the places we wanted to visit which is not on any tourism sites or blogs that I had visited is an abandoned, pre-war house (map). We found it on Google Maps. Located just past a small housing estate, next to the King Edward VII school field, it has a very creepy atmosphere, made more so by the high-pitched chirping of the local insects. Why this building has been left empty for so long is a mystery, at least to me!

On our way out of the estate, we noticed we were being carefully monitored by a group of monkeys!

Larut Matang Hawker Centre

We then headed back into town to look for some lunch. There are many big food courts around the centre selling local favourites and Malaysian food. I was after some ‘curry mee’ or ‘laksa’. We ended up in ‘Larut Matang Hawker Center’ (map) which was busy with locals and Joanna found some vegetarian food fairly quick. I basically had whatever the stall next to hers sold.

Clock Tower

We then headed out of town, passing the Clock Tower (map) on our way. The tower, which was once a police station, is now a tourist information centre. We were going to have a look inside but we had some weird old chap making his way towards us so we carried on!

Town Hall And Officer’s Mess

We were heading towards the ‘Perak Museum’ and our journey took us past both the ‘Taipin Town Hall’ (map) and the ‘Wisma Perwira 9 RRD (Former British Officer’s Mess)’ (map); both good examples of late 19th century, British colonial architecture in great condition.

We then passed ‘All Saints’ Church’ and cemetery (map). As it was Easter Sunday, we were a little surprised to find the church was locked up.

Perak Museum

Further up the road, we came across our next destination: ‘Perak Museum’ (map). The museum (the first museum to be opened in Malaysia) focuses on the history of Malysia, both natural and cultural. It doesn’t take long to walk around but it is a well-presented museum and worth a visit. I’m sure children would love the animal skeletons and taxidermy sections.

Perak Museum Opening Times: 9 am – 6 pm, every day.
Perak Museum Entrance Fee: 10 MYR.

Taiping Prison

Opposite the museum is ‘Taiping Prison’ (map). Built in 1879, it is the oldest prison in Malaysia. It is still in operation and, therefore, there are no tours.

Casuarina Inn (Abandoned Hotel)

Turning right after the prison, we were now heading towards the ‘Lake Gardens’. We had considered continuing further to visit the ‘Taiping War Cemetery’ (map) but our legs were already tiring. We had heard about an old hotel that had been left to ruin near the entrance to the gardens. The hotel was called ‘Casuarina Inn Taiping’ (map) and we found it tucked away in the far corner. There are no signs to help people find it. I’m guessing they wouldn’t imagine people would WANT to find it. There are also no fences to keep people out. I took that as meaning it was OK to explore.

Taiping Lake Gardens

We then headed deeper into the Lake Gardens (map). The gardens are very pretty and very peaceful and it was a great place to sit and rest our feet and read for a while. The birdsong is incredible. The birds here have a massive range! The park is well maintained and completely free of litter. Even smoking is banned.

Taiping Lake Gardens Opening Times: 8 am – 10 pm.
Taiping Lake Gardens Entrance Fee: Free admission.

Jalan Istana Larut Food Court

In the evening, we headed down to the Jalan Istana Larut area as we had spotted a small street food market outside a Tesco supermarket (map). There was a great choice of food here. We both ended up at the same stall and ordering curry. The food was spicy and delicious and reasonably priced.

There was also a bar in the food court selling big beers for only 14 MYR. I stayed for a couple and then the rain came, meaning I was forced to have another. Travelling can be tough.

Is Taiping Worth Visiting?

Don’t choose between Ipoh and Taiping. Visit both! They are both fairly small and you can easily fit Taiping into two days. Taiping was a nice town with hardly any tourists but friendly locals. It is certainly worth a couple of days of your time in Malaysia.