Malaysia small group holiday
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.com
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The leaders are not guides – they’re not there to shepherd you around. Instead, they’ll let you know which local restaurant serves great value food – without running the risk of travellers’ tummy. They’ll allow you to avoid hour-long queues at train stations and attractions.
We like to think of small group travel as the Goldilocks option. It is independent travel without the fuss, worry and bunk beds – and organised travel without the coaches. And it’s cheaper than a tailor made tour. It’s sits somewhere in the middle – and we think it’s just about right.
Have big, life-enriching experiences that would be impossible to organise without lots of time and insider knowledge.
Simplicity
Make the most of your holiday time by letting someone else do the hard work and boring logistics!
Peace of mind
Small group tours take care of the security aspects – and provide a safety net should anything unexpected happen.
If you don’t have three months to spend exploring, small groups trips let you cover more ground in less time. Your days are not spent queuing for tickets or finding hotels – so you can squeeze more into your holiday.
Solo travellers who’d like company
Likeminded travel companions plus peace of mind for those travelling alone. Single supplements are usually available – providing privacy if you want it.
Less confident travellers
Stray from the tourist trail without worrying about getting lost, and meet local people without dealing with the language barrier.
Couples and friends have private rooms, and you can choose to eat alone or not. Single supplements give solo travellers their own room.
“There won’t be any free time”
Free mornings or afternoons let you explore on your own, or just relax.
“The accommodation will be basic”
Trips are as high or low end as you like. Though off the beaten track destinations won’t have luxury hotels, this is all part of the adventure.
“I won’t like the other travellers!”
Tour operators try to create groups with a similar demographic – age, families, activity levels... Chances are, you’ll even make new friends.
“Will we be following an umbrella?”
No.
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.
Our Malaysia trip visits the Bukit Merah Orang-utan foundation in Perak, a centre that is dedicated to the care of these beautiful and gentle giants. The foundation rescue orang-utans from illegal possession or illegal trade and works to rehabilitate them before they are returned to the wild. Our visit here will help to provide funding for the vital work they are carrying out, whilst also increasing awareness of the centre. Malaysia is a well- developed tourism destination and on this trip we try to explore it in less conventional fashion. Transport is a mix of public buses, ferries, boats, train and minibus so customers get a much more local experience and reduce the footprint left in the country.
Hotels are generally small and locally owned. A great example is the Belum Rainforest Resort, located in the Royal Belum State Park which covers a large swathe of northern Malaysia and is believed to be one of the oldest rainforests in the world, dating back over 130 million years. The resort offers a huge number of opportunities to ‘live a step closer to nature’. We provide nature trails, rafts to hire, kayaking and canoeing – all designed to allow customers to experience the rain forest in its natural state.
Whilst Malaysia’s islands are renowned for their pristine beaches we arrange cycling trips in Langkawi to allow customers to get away from the magnet of the beach and to explore in a sustainable way the beauty of the island.
Food is very important in Malaysia and we do not eat in our hotels but our tour leaders will take customers to local restaurants and the street food markets. We are eating authentic, local produce amongst a melee of stalls offering other local products to purchase. We ensure that our customers try ‘Teh Tarik’ a cappuccino tea made with foam and milk or the ‘steamboat’ a speciality of satay sticks cooked in a pot in the middle of the table and eaten communally.
As a company we support Cool Earth. Protecting rainforest is one of the most effective actions to tackle climate breakdown. CoolEarth work with indigenous communities empowering them to conserve their forest; keeping CO2 locked in.
The Impacts of this Trip
We explore the charming Dutch colonial city of Malacca on foot and include a visit to Villa Sentosa. This house-come-museum offers an insight to early 20th Century Malaysian living and is hosted by a third-generation family member of the house. The money from our entrance fee helps to preserve this small window into the past and directly benefits the local family that runs the house.
In order to really be a benefit to the local people in the areas we travel to, we use an entirely local crew, the hotels we use are locally owned and we eat out at a variety of small restaurants and street stalls, thus spreading their spending wealth. We also think this gives you a better experience as you get more personal service, get that bit closer to local life and are able to sample the best of the fantastic local cuisine.
In addition to the above, we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key and so all staff, Tour leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our UK Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage. As well as this, we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of UK travel industry bodies Tourism Concern and AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.
Our Malaysia trip visits the Bukit Merah Orang-utan foundation in Perak, a centre that is dedicated to the care of these beautiful and gentle giants. The foundation rescue orang-utans from illegal possession or illegal trade and works to rehabilitate them before they are returned to the wild. Our visit here will help to provide funding for the vital work they are carrying out, whilst also increasing awareness of the centre. Malaysia is a well- developed tourism destination and on this trip we try to explore it in less conventional fashion. Transport is a mix of public buses, ferries, boats, train and minibus so customers get a much more local experience and reduce the footprint left in the country.
Hotels are generally small and locally owned. A great example is the Belum Rainforest Resort, located in the Royal Belum State Park which covers a large swathe of northern Malaysia and is believed to be one of the oldest rainforests in the world, dating back over 130 million years. The resort offers a huge number of opportunities to ‘live a step closer to nature’. We provide nature trails, rafts to hire, kayaking and canoeing – all designed to allow customers to experience the rain forest in its natural state.
Whilst Malaysia’s islands are renowned for their pristine beaches we arrange cycling trips in Langkawi to allow customers to get away from the magnet of the beach and to explore in a sustainable way the beauty of the island.
Food is very important in Malaysia and we do not eat in our hotels but our tour leaders will take customers to local restaurants and the street food markets. We are eating authentic, local produce amongst a melee of stalls offering other local products to purchase. We ensure that our customers try ‘Teh Tarik’ a cappuccino tea made with foam and milk or the ‘steamboat’ a speciality of satay sticks cooked in a pot in the middle of the table and eaten communally.
As a company we support Cool Earth. Protecting rainforest is one of the most effective actions to tackle climate breakdown. CoolEarth work with indigenous communities empowering them to conserve their forest; keeping CO2 locked in.
The Impacts of this Trip
We explore the charming Dutch colonial city of Malacca on foot and include a visit to Villa Sentosa. This house-come-museum offers an insight to early 20th Century Malaysian living and is hosted by a third-generation family member of the house. The money from our entrance fee helps to preserve this small window into the past and directly benefits the local family that runs the house.
In order to really be a benefit to the local people in the areas we travel to, we use an entirely local crew, the hotels we use are locally owned and we eat out at a variety of small restaurants and street stalls, thus spreading their spending wealth. We also think this gives you a better experience as you get more personal service, get that bit closer to local life and are able to sample the best of the fantastic local cuisine.
In addition to the above, we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key and so all staff, Tour leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our UK Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage. As well as this, we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of UK travel industry bodies Tourism Concern and AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.
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