Malaysia Travel Budget
We spend 3 full weeks in the diverse country of Malaysia. Just like all the other countries we visited during our seven-month Asia trip, we had a tight budget. We tried to not go over our €66 budget a day (for two people). Let’s hit the road again and see if this all worked out as we planned!
Currency
The currency in Malaysia is the Malaysian Ringgit.
If you’re planning your trip to Malaysia, we recommend taking some cash. You can either change in your home country or withdraw in Malaysia. We did the last option as we couldn’t take cash for 7 months with us. We didn’t have any issues withdrawing money in Malaysia. Keep in mind that the withdrawal limit is RM 1,500 per transaction (about 300 euro).
Download a convenient converter app on your phone, that will make converting Malaysian Ringgit to your currency very easy. We have used Currency+.
Visa
Tourists who visit Malaysia under ninety days, don’t require a visa. That makes travelling to Malaysia a bit cheaper and more convenient.
Transportation
We drove into Malaysia by bus from Singapore. We paid 56 Singapore Dollars (about €38) for this trip for both of us. This includes border crossing (is free!).
It is convenient to fly to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Prices differ depending on when and where you’re flying from.
Travelling through Malaysia is easy. There are multiple private buses driving around the country and there is also a good train network. We booked most bus (e.g. redBus) and train tickets online and this is perfectly doable.
When travelling in Malaysia, we were surprised by the good infrastructure. If we would go again, we would definitely rent a car and drive ourselves around the country. The streets are perfect and the traffic is not as hectic as we experienced in Vietnam or Indonesia.
In most countries we visited in Asia, we rented a scooter. In Malaysia, this was not a possibility because you require a motor driving license. That’s a bit sad, but we got around easily with public and private transport (and even by bike!). Download the Grab app. This is the same concept as Uber, and you will get good and affordable rides (especially in Kuala Lumpur).
For this whole 3-week trip, we spent €174,43 on transport for both of us.
Accommodation
Accommodation in Malaysia was always good. Let’s be honest, it was a bit more expensive than in other Southeast-Asian countries, but maybe that was because of the local holidays. Just like most countries, there are multiple accommodations ranging from cheaper backpacker hostels to high-end resorts. You know us already, we went for the budget options, but we always had a private room for the two of us. We paid between RM50 and RM90 for a night (between €10 and €18).
In total, we spent €328,25 on accommodation for both of us (23 nights).
Food
The food we had in Malaysia was soooo delicious! There is a nice blend of Malay, Indian and Chinese cuisine in this country. The Indian food in Malaysia was our favourite, at these bars you can order breakfast for €1 to €2. For the same price, you can buy a fresh smoothie on the streets. We always bought food where the locals were eating and had lots of street food. That’s also the best way to immerse yourself in a new culture.
We spent €390,90 in total on food.
Activities
Doing activities is a big part of travelling. In Malaysia, we didn’t do any huge activities. Here is a list of some paid activities.
- Renting electric steps in Malacca for €8,74 (two people)
- Park permit for Taman Negara RM6 per person (about €1,5)
- Night Jungle Trek in Taman Negara RM40 (about €9)
- Canopy Walk in Taman Negara for RM5 per person (about €1)
- Entrance Bharat Tea Plantation RM3 per person (less than €1)
- Entrance Mirror Lake RM8 per person (about €2)
We did lots of free activities such as the Batu caves, Federal Mosque and Penang Hill.
In total, we only spend €38,14 on activities.
Others
Other expenses we had during our three weeks in Malaysia:
- Sim card for 30 days for RM53 (we always share one sim)
- Hairdresser for Marnick for RM20
- Three times laundry for RM51,5 in total
- Withdrawal fees
- Personal stuff
We spend €66,96 on personal and other purchases.
Total Breakdown
We had calculated a tight budget of €66 a day for the both of us including everything except insurance for our Asia travels. With this budget, we would be able to travel for six months (little did we know we would stay for one extra month). How did we do with this tight budget in Malaysia?
In total, our Malaysia trip of 23 nights cost €1175,14 including every cent we spent. This gives a beautiful average of €48,96 a day for both of us. This is under our budget of €66 a day. We’ve done a good job in Malaysia, but the good and cheap food and affordable attractions helped a lot!
