A country that works at child height.

What works, by kind of event

Theme park days anchor most family trips: Sunway Lagoon for water and rides in one park, Genting SkyWorlds in the cool hill air, and Legoland Malaysia in Johor for younger children. The festive season is the perfect family evening: the Deepavali and Christmas lights, outdoors, spectacular at child height, and early enough to end before bedtime. Festival days give children the country at its most alive: the Thaipusam procession to Batu Caves, Chinese New Year in George Town, and the Rainforest festival in Kuching. Hill and island trips carry the quieter days: the Penang Hill funicular, the Langkawi cable car, and the island boats from Jesselton Point in Kota Kinabalu.

The logistics that help

Convenience stores and malls are on every corner with milk, snacks and suncream at all hours, and children ride the LRT and MRT at concession fares with a Touch 'n Go card. The trains beat traffic with a stroller, every station has lifts, and the KLIA Ekspres has space for everything a family travels with. Heat and the afternoon rain are the real planning constraints: do the outdoor sights early, rest or swim through the middle of the day, and go out again for the evening markets. In the east coast monsoon, from November to February, some island boats stop, so island plans in those months earn a spare day.