Malaysia’s 6 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (2025)

The Mulu Pinnacles
Photo: Nur Nafis Naim

Far too often, we hear our friends and family brag about their latest vacation to overseas UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

But what about Malaysia?

Far from being the wasteland that some of us like to assume it is, Malaysia is actually blessed with seven whole sites recognized by the international UN body!

So, in honour of the upcoming World Heritage Day or the International Day for Monuments and Sites on April 18^th, here’s a look at some of Malaysia’s very own world-renowned historical, cultural and natural treasures.

Kinabalu Park

View of Kundasang and Mount Kinabalu.
Photo: Ryan ‘O’ Niel

State: Sabah
Year Listed: 2000

Admission: RM10 for Malaysians, RM50 for foreigners

Way up in the Land Below the Wind, the Kinabalu Park of Sabah features some of Malaysia’s most biodiverse forests, which range from your typical dense rainforest to sparser alpine forests.

As a result of these varied biomes and habitats, a whole host of rare flora and fauna – some found exclusively within the park – call this natural World Heritage Site home, from tiny rodents like the Thomas’ Pygmy-squirrels and Kinabalu Shrew to massive horned majesty of the famed Rhinoceros Hornbills.

And we haven’t even mentioned it’s home to Malaysia’s highest mountain – Mount Kinabalu!

Even if you aren’t planning to scale the summit of Sabah, there’s still plenty of hiking trails, botanical gardens, outdoor sports and even the Poring Hot Springs to keep any occasional outdoors-lover happy. The park is also one of Malaysia’s best highland campsites thanks to its unique alpine weather.

Sutera Sanctuary Lodges.
Photo: Booking.com

If even that is too much, then the cool weather and abundance of chalets and villas also make Kinabalu Park a great retreat from the hot weather months.

How to Get There

Buses are available from Kota Kinabalu, with those heading to Kundasang from the Inanam North Bus Terminal usually passing by the park. Taxis and e-hailing are an option, but the long distance might be prohibitively expensive.

For those driving, look up the entrance at Kinabalu Park Headquarters (Google Maps).

Gunung Mulu National Park

State: Sarawak
Year Listed: 2000

Admission: RM15 for Malaysians, RM30 for foreigners for 5 days

Another Borneo site recognized by UNESCO, the Gunung Mulu National Park is a world of wonders both underground and on the surface.

Over millions of years, the limestone topography of Gunung Mulu has been carved by rain to form a vast network of caves and karst landscapes.

Four of these caves have been elevated as the park’s main “show caves”:

Deer Cave is famed for its gigantic cave mouths and the bat exodus, when millions of free-tailed bats fly out to feed on insects.
Lang’s Cave is a cave adjacent to Deer Cave that contains rock formations lit dramatically by spotlights.
Clearwater Cave is known for being Southeast Asia’s longest cave system while also having underground rivers navigable by boat and pools for swimming.
Wind Cave – part of the Clearwater Cave system – is so named thanks to its breezy sections.

But perhaps the park’s most wondrous sight is the surreal Mulu Pinnacles – sharp, jagged walls of limestone that rise up like ghostly daggers of flame out of the green slopes of Gunung Api (Fire Mountain). Sharp-eyed currency aficionados may notice that the Mulu Pinnacles are featured on the RM100 bill!

NOTE: Climbers looking to tackle certain trails like the Gunung Mulu summit or the Mulu Pinnacles MUST hire a licensed Park Guide.

Looking for more local camping options? Check out our article on Highland Glamping & Camping in Malaysia!

How to Get There

MASwings offers daily regional flights to Mulu Airport from Miri, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.

The dry season from June to September is also the park’s peak period, so those interested in visiting then should consider booking guides and accommodation earlier.

Niah National Park Caves

State: Sarawak
Year Listed: 2024

Admission: RM10 for Malaysians, RM20 for foreigners

Whereas Mulu is the older and more famous UNESCO site, Niah National Park Caves is Malaysia’s youngest UNESCO site (listed in 2024) with its very own trump card – the origins of humanity itself.

Burial sites, everyday bone tools, rock paintings, boat coffins and more – the Niah caves show a bounty of evidence for human habitation stretching back 40,000 years ago, reshaping our understanding of human evolution and migration altogether.

The main star of Niah is arguably the Great Cave which, true to its name, features a jaw-dropping entrance that towers as high as 60m at its West Mouth. Its walls are covered by bats and swiftlets nests, the latter of which were and are still collected by Penan and Malay climbers for use in Chinese cuisine, albeit in gradually diminishing numbers.

After exiting the cave, you will come across Gua Kain Hitam or the Painted Cave, which houses some of Niah’s most fascinating archaeological finds. Here, unbelievably ancient paintings of humans in boats journeying to the afterlife line the walls in red hematite paint. Below lie the sadly deteriorated remains of the famous coffin boats that once ferried their deceased passengers.

Besides archaeology, the park also offers your usual jungle trekking and wildlife spotting in trails such as the Bukit Kasut trail.

How to Get There

Malaysia Airlines, MASwings and AirAsia offer direct flights from Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Sibu.

In Miri, from the Pujut Corner Bus Terminal, it costs about RM10-15 for a bus ride to the Niah National Park Headquarters and the museum. A final boat ride will take you to the entrance walkway.

Other options from Miri can be rather hefty, such as private taxis (RM160) or e-hailing (~RM120).

Lenggong Valley

State: Perak
Year Listed: 2012

Getting out of Borneo for a moment, we come upon one of Peninsular Malaysia’s two UNESCO sites – the Lenggong Valley.

Long, long ago, the Lenggong Valley was a lush, fertile and stable environment where early humans flourished, resulting in an abundance of continuous human settlements as evidenced by buried workshops and burial sites spread out over various caves and dried-out lakebeds.

Though the Niah cave burials date back to a respectable 40,000 years old, the Lenggong Valley in Perak blows it out of the water with handaxes that date back to a mind-boggling 1.8 million years old, confirming the valley’s importance in uncovering the story of human migration.

Among these Paleolithic, Neolithic and Metal age sites lies Gua Gunung Runtuh, the final resting place of the anthropological superstar Perak Man. One of the oldest and most complete skeletons of ancient humans found in Southeast Asia, he is arguably the face of Lenggong Valley.

Sadly, the original Gua Gunung Runtuh cave is restricted to researchers. Although apparently, according to this BBC article, guided entry can be applied for by emailing the Lenggong Archaeological Museum, which also houses a replica of the Perak Man alongside various artifacts found throughout the valley. On the other hand, this travel guide by Teja says they are still reserved for researchers only.

For those looking for a rural retreat, a plethora of lakes, fishing villages and homestays also await in this quiet corner of Perak.

How to Get There

From Taiping or Ipoh, ETS and KTM trains can take you to Kuala Kangsar, where the Perak Transit Bus No.99 can take you to the Lenggong Bus Terminal (1.5 hours). It is still a 2km walk to the Lenggong Archaeological Museum (Google Maps) however, so you might consider taking a car instead.

Melaka & George Town

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Georgetown-Penang-1024x684.jpg — Chew Jetty in Port Weld, Penang.
Photo: Steve Douglas

State: Melaka/Penang
Year Listed: 2008

Instead of individual listings, UNESCO saw fit to combine the historic cities of Melaka and George Town into one joint heritage listing.

And it’s not hard to see why.

Both cities tell remarkably similar yet unique tales about the colonialism of various European powers and the legacies its multicultural residents have left behind.

A typical street filled with colonial-era shoplots in George Town, Penang
Photo: Gryffindor

Throughout almost 500 years, both cities’ ivory white shophouses and ornately decorated public buildings that blend Asian and European influences have captured the imagination of visitors both near and far.

The Stadhuys building, Melaka
Photo: bari abikar/Unsplash

In Melaka (Malacca), one can find some of the earliest monuments of colonialism in Malaysia in the form of the Portuguese hilltop fortress of A Famosa and the brick-red Dutch façade of the Stadthuys.

Meanwhile, ancient places of worship mark the birth of Malaysia’s multicultural society in places such as Masjid Kampung Hulu, the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple and St. Paul’s Church.

Of course, the mercantile spirit has never really left Melaka, with bustling shops and local cuisines abound at the ever-busy Jonker Street.

Meanwhile in Penang, the focus shifts to the British as heritage buildings like Penang Town Hall and St. George’s Church steal the show with their brilliant marble-white exteriors. Some of these building have even been refurbished as tourist information centres, giving them a new lease of life like the famed REXKL movie theatre in Kuala Lumpur.

However, the down-to-earth places where Penang’s locals and migrants lived and worked are just as eye-catching, with the colourful shops of Little India, the picturesque Chinese clan jetties at Weld Quay and the serene Kapitan Keling Mosque being just some of the many living, breathing attractions on the island’s George Town quarter.

How to Get There

Various bus, train and car transportation options from Kuala Lumpur are available for both Penang and Melaka.

FRIM Selangor Forest Park

State: Kuala Lumpur
Year Listed: 2025
Admission: RM1 for locals, RM5 for foreigners

The youngest entry on Malaysia’s UNESCO World Heritage List – listed in 2025 – FRIM is a unique mix of historical, cultural and natural heritage.

In the 1920s, the British colonial government undertook a revolutionary experiment in forestry by attempting to rehabilitate a deforested piece of tin-mining land in Kepong.

By establishing forestry nurseries, labs and quarters, the newly established Forest Research Institute would go onto achieve wildly successful results by reestablishing a living, thriving rainforest ecosystem.

Renamed the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) in the 1980s, FRIM is now home to recreational sites, waterfalls, lakes and hiking trails.

Its pioneering attempts at forestry and land rehabilitation, not to mention its beloved status as a green lung right next to highly urbanized Kuala Lumpur have earned it a place among the UNESCO greats!

Visitors to FRIM today can get a close-up look at its forestry efforts at its FRIM Research Gallery, which features forestry tools, tree samples and even artifacts made from wood.

Those looking for a more up-close forestry experience can pay a visit to the reserve’s various arboreta, botanical gardens and even a wetland area.

FRIM also has a vast array of recreational areas and facilities that make full use of its vast green landscape.

At the weekends, many families also flock to the Sungai Kroh Picnic Area thanks to easy access and a chance to cool down in the gentle falls here.

Meanwhile, various hiking trails crisscross the surrounding hills and slopes, giving you some peace and quiet amidst the of the rhythmic cacophony of the rainforest.

On one of these trails is the Forest Skywalk, which allows you to soar up to 50m high above the dense rainforest canopy and attain a bird’s-eye-view over this green wonder.

Can’t get enough of that green magic? Then take advantage of the camping and glamping opportunities at the Perah Campsite, which can accommodate up to a hundred happy campers.

How to Get There

Driving or e-hailing are unfortunately the only convenient ways to access the FRIM entrance (Google Maps).

Parking is extremely limited both inside and outside the reserve, so arrive early or use e-hailing services.

Tentative UNESCO List

Besides the official UNESCO World Heritage Site list, there is also a tentative list of potential sites kept by Malaysia too. Let’s take a quick look at each of them!

Taman Negara

State: Pahang/Kelantan/Terengganu
Admission: RM1 for entry permit, RM5 for photography license

Malaysia’s first and largest national park that sprawls over three entire states, Taman Negara is a rainforest paradise that’s remarkable for its unique geology and biodiversity.

How to Get There

Get to Jerantut by train or bus and then take a boat or bus to the park headquarters at Kuala Tahan (Google Maps).

Gombak Selangor Quartz Ridge

State: Selangor

Quite the hidden gem, the 82-million-year-old Gombak Selangor Quartz Ridge is Malaysia’s and even the world’s longest exposed quartz ridge, stretching as far as 14km in a geological formation that’s exceedingly rare in the world.

How to Get There

Take a e-hailing ride or drive to the trailhead next to the Klang Gates Dam entrance (Google Maps).

Royal Belum State Park

State: Perak

Admission: One-time permit – RM10 for locals, RM20 for foreigners (2-week processing time)

Part of the northern tip of the gigantic central Titiwangsa Mountains, its unique geography has given birth to a lake and rainforest region filled with some of Malaysia’s most iconic species such as the awful-smelling rafflesia flower and threatened species like the tapir and elephant.

How to Get There

Drive or take a bus to Gerik before moving on by taxi or car to the Pulau Banding Jetty. Then, take a boat into the park.

Sungai Buloh Leprosarium

State: Selangor

One of the largest and most cutting-edge centres of leprosy research, the Sungai Buloh Leprosarium provided a sanctuary for previously ostracized leprosy patients. Here, they could live and even work freely in a self-sustaining multicultural community filled with cozy chalets, well-ventilated hospitals and community gathering spaces.

How to Get There

Take a train to the MRT Sungai Buloh Station and then take a e-hailing ride to the Valley of Hope museum (Google Maps), which showcases artifacts from the settlement. Outdoors heritage tours are also available.

Looking for more local Malaysian destinations? Then check out Malaysia’s Five Greatest Diving Destinations or for something closer to home, try these Five Staycation Places Next to Kuala Lumpur!