Travelling around Malaysia with elderly parents
 

Hi there, I am moving from the UK to Nusajaya in August and my parents have booked to come and stay with me for 5 weeks over Christmas, they came with me to Singapore last year and are generally good travellers however my Dad is in his mid 70's and finds it hard to walk too far. I was thinking of travelling to KL and Penang but I don't really know the best way to go about it. I am open to ideas, train from JB, plane from Singapore etc. Also I was thinking about hiring a car but again don't really know what to expect taking long journeys on Malaysian roads, any ideas are welcome. Many thanks.

Re: Travelling around Malaysia with elderly parents
 

I presume you won't have your own car?? I imagine you could hire a car from Nusajaya and maybe split the journey. Must be about 4 hours to KL, another 4 hours to Penang. Taiping is also en-route. I bet they would love the lake gardens.

Or.... there are plenty of flights Penang to Singapore and back. You can get some really good bargains if you plan ahead. Easy enough to hire a car at Penang airport. I have flown Silk Air (usually expensive but good timings) and Jetstar from Singapore to Penang and both seem good to me. Air Asia and Tiger also fly I believe. Lots of choice.

Re: Travelling around Malaysia with elderly parents
 

Here's a couple of pics of Taiping Lake Gardens. Pics are a bit old. I took them a couple of years ago, but I doubt that the place has changed that much. You can easily get there from the North-South highway. The rain trees by the lakeside are just fabulous.

Re: Travelling around Malaysia with elderly parents
 

Plenty of coaches from JB to anywhere or you could fly from Senai airport.

Driving???? Well get the feel of things first.

I drive from Singapore to Malacca no problem but Sing to KL would be my limit. Done that many times.
Never drive Sing - Penang too far at 7 ish hours, although we do hire a car in Penang.

I want to sort out a driving holiday around Pen Malaysia staying at least overnight in towns with a max of 3 hours driving between each place but the missus isn't keen .... yet!

Oh yes, I wouldn't bother driving around KL. Too much trafficand not that easy to find your way. Public transport there is OK.

Re: Travelling around Malaysia with elderly parents
 

Hi regybear

Welcome to the forum and it'll be nice to have another Nusajaya dweller around.

We drove up yesterday from Nusajaya to Penang. It took us 8.5 hours with a 1 hour stop for lunch. No traffic jams so it could take longer. Hubby and I shared the driving so it was fine (and miraculously both kids behaved really well until the last hour!)

If I were you I'd stop off in Malacca - it's a nice place to take visitors. Then onto KL for a short stop off, then a stop in Ipoh/Taiping then onto Penang - make a week of it! That's what I'd do if I were doing it again.

Re: Travelling around Malaysia with elderly parents
 

Hi regybear!
My in-laws visited us for two weeks last February. We took them to Cameron Highlands (fly to KL from JB Senai airport). Malaysia Airlines have great family promos for their local flights. From KLIA we hired a car and drove 3 1/2 hours to the Highlands. Stayed at the Cameron Highlands Resort which we absolutely enjoyed. My father-in-law sounds just like your Dad, he wasn't keen on walking far. Cam High was perfect for him as the weather was cool (15-20c when we were there so if you go in December it'll be much much cooler, but with sunshine and no gray drizzly skies)and we just played golf and did walks around the road ringing the golf course, all in time to head back to the hotel for tea! Melaka is lovely too...just a 2-hour drive away from N'jaya! We drove there. But once we got there the car pretty much stayed in the parking lot for three days until the day we headed back to JB. The in-laws loved Melaka. Lots of historic architecture. We stayed at Courtyard at the Heeren, great location as all the places of interest were within walking distance. And there's also Batu-Batu Resort on Tengah Island, absolutely fantastic, you will all be spoiled rotten there! Have fun planning the holiday!

Re: Travelling around Malaysia with elderly parents
 

Thanks Froggy, thanks is great advise! I'll start looking at these places now, but they sound perfect many thanks! :)

Re: Travelling around Malaysia with elderly parents
 

Thanks Bocat, it sounds like Malacca is going to be on the 'to do' list. How long have you been in Nusajaya?

Re: Travelling around Malaysia with elderly parents
 

Thanks ex reg, is that ex reg as in ex regiment?
Yeah 7hours would be too much, I am thinking of spending some time in Penang. Flights are a good price from JB so I think that may be the way to do it. :)

Re: Travelling around Malaysia with elderly parents
 

Thanks that does look really nice, I need to work out what I am going to do yet, but it looks like flying JB to Penang is going to be the cheapest, although I do want to see some of Malaysia and not just go 'point to point'... need to work it out. :)

Re: Travelling around Malaysia with elderly parents
 

Lots of different ways of doing it. If you're doing JB to Penang, could hire a car in Penang. Taiping is only (I think) a couple of hours drive down the Expressway. It's certainly good to have a car in Penang as the public transport system leaves much to be desired.... unless.... you like buses of course.

And if you want to chill out, there's always Langkawi :blink: aiyoh...so much choice.