When we were looking for possible Halal Honeymoon Destinations, we looked for:
the perfect getaway
a picture-perfect destination
a destination that is Muslim friendly
a destination that welcomes dressing modestly without constantly having eyes on you
a destination with many choices of delicious halal food.
One of the main considerations, when we travel, is Halal food. We love to enjoy good food. Like, is it really a holiday if you cannot overeat without feeling guilty? Next to all these things we also find culture and adventure important.
Going on adventures together bring Muslim couples closer.
We’re not the type of couple that would enjoy just sitting next to a pool/beach every day. Don’t get us wrong, we do enjoy some relaxing days too. But it’s just not for us to do that every day. We want activities, adventures, and walks... we want to discover things and be crazy.
Turned out, after a lot of research, Malaysia would be THE perfect Muslim friendly destination for us.
We booked our tickets, quite a last-minute, and only booked a hotel for the first nights. We were ready for a new adventure, not really knowing where it would take us…
Shortly said, Malaysia was the best destination we could’ve picked!
We started our honeymoon in Kuala Lumpur. We kept the first day relaxing. Food, pool, walking around in town. After a day of relaxing, we were ready to start our journey in this Muslim friendly country full of natural beauty and dozens of activities.
We have put together a list of Top 5 Places to visit in Malaysia as a Muslim Couple.
1. Cameron Highlands
We took a bus to Cameron Highlands, a place that is very scenic and picturesque.
Nature there was lovely. Since we were only planning to stay one day we had to fit everything in.
We arrived quite late in the afternoon and we still had to find a hotel, so you can imagine how rushed it went.
But first of all, we had to eat! Our taxi driver recommended us to try a Halal local dish. We got a pot filled with soup on our table on top of a burning fire. Next to that, we got all types of fresh uncooked sides that we had to put in. Think of noodles, eggs, veggies, meat….
We didn’t really have a clue what we were doing but it tasted delicious!
After that, we took a taxi to the tea gardens of Cameron highlands. We bought a ticket to walk around there and oh my God, did that look stunning…
The view was absolutely breathtaking. We had never seen anything similar to that in real life.
We also really wanted to go to the strawberry gardens but sadly enough it was too late for that.
After a packed but definitely fun day, it was time to have a good rest for our early bus the next morning. Up to Penang… One of the other amazing destinations we went to.
2. Penang
The bus trip to Penang took us around 4 hours. The buses in Malaysia are very comfortable so we didn’t really feel it.
Penang is known as the food capital of Malaysia. It’s well known for its street food in particular. So to us that sounded like a dream.
Besides that, it’s also a really artsy place. You can find street art all over the city.
We booked a room in a hotel with a rooftop pool. Since I’m a hijabi I only swim in a burkini. It was mostly Western tourists staying in that hotel so you could notice some strange looks. But who cares, I still really enjoyed myself there.
The first thing we noticed in Penang was that it’s really busy. It’s filled with cars and not really a nice place to walk around for pedestrians.
The thing we really loved in Penang was that you could always discover something new. Every day we just decided to walk out and take a different route.
All those little streets with street art were really cute.
During our walks, we also discovered a long street full of street food. In Penang, it’s really important to ask if it’s halal since not everything is halal. You have lots of Chinese influences there, so there is also non-halal meat and pork.
With a bit of research, we also found out that one of the most famous Indian/Pakistani restaurants is situated in Penang. The restaurant Kapitan has by far, the best Halal food we had in Penang. It was so good that we ended up going there twice.
After a few days, we were done with discovering everything ourselves so we decided to book a local guide. We would definitely recommend doing that because you get to see the town from a different perspective.
For example, we probably wouldn’t have gone to the floating fishers village if it wasn’t with the local guide, and it’s definitely a place you must see. Also, we had no idea Jackie Chan has an apartment complex there!
We already noticed that Penang was a melting pot of different cultures and religions and the guide helped us going to all those religious/cultural places and provided extra historical background.
3. Langkawi
Our hotel in Langkawi was perfectly located right next to the beach.
In the evening the beach got transformed to an Arabian night’s themed chill zone. Ït was lovely to sit there and watch the fire shows.
The next morning we decided to have a beach day. In Langkawi, there are all types of watersports at the beach that we really wanted to try. After a lot of swimming, we decided to try the banana boat. It was fun but be aware that after a certain point, they make a sharp turn to make everyone fall off. We weren’t aware of this and ended up being in pain the following days.
After our positive experience with a tourist guide in Penang, we decided to book an excursion in Langkawi. It was supposed to be a great experience. We just didn’t get lucky with the weather. But we still managed to island-hop. We saw an island full of monkeys and visited a bats cave. We also had a delicious halal local lunch. The only downside was the fact that private island swimming got canceled.
Another super fun thing we did in Langkawi was visiting the oriental village. It’s sort of a theme park where you can do lots of activities like watching 4D movies, ride a quad, etc. You can also go on the famous cable cars. It was creepy but definitely worth to watch the amazing view.
4. Kuala Lumpur
As we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, we already knew about all the interesting places to go to. We went to the KUL Eco forest gardens, which was a great experience. It’s an awesome place if you love walking in nature. One of the main things to do there is walk on the canopy walk to get an amazing view over the park.
There are also different activities to do there like visiting the KUL Tower with a beautiful view of the city. One thing that we enjoyed doing there was going to the 3D and upside-down museum. You can get awesome mind-blowing pictures out there.
Another must-do thing in KUL is visiting different malls for some shopping. We absolutely loved Halal Chinese food there. Also, visiting the cinema was a great experience. And of course, halal fast food.
Something else we tried in KUL was a quad ride in the jungle. It was a whole experience on its own. I have to admit I was really scared at some points with the bumpy roads! But in general, I don’t regret doing it, it was a really unique experience. I definitely recommend it.
After all this, it was time to take our flight to ‘The Maldives of Malaysia’ a.k.a the Perhentian islands.
5. Perhentian Islands
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to take a flight to the Perhentian Islands. You take a flight and after that still need to do a 40 minutes drive and take a boat.
Once we arrived at the Perhentian Islands, it was like a dream come true. It was such a magical place like a real paradise on earth. This was definitely the perfect way to end our honeymoon.
The clear blue water, white sand, a chalet right on the beach… it was just perfect.
We spent our days snorkeling, eating, relaxing, swimming… Besides that, we also loved walking around the island to discover the area.
The nice thing about the Perhentian Islands is that there are two islands. The big island, also known as the family island, and the small island, also known as the party island. We really enjoyed how respectful it was. On our side of the island we almost only had Muslims, so barely any people wearing bikini’s, etc.
The small island or ‘party island’ is accessible with a small boat. We really enjoyed going on a day trip to the small island. Nature there also looks absolutely breathtaking. It also felt as if there were a lot more food options out there. We did notice there were a lot less Muslims though but we didn’t notice any partying… maybe because it was still early.
To every beautiful story comes an end just like our honeymoon. We spent 23 days in Malaysia and it still didn’t feel like it was enough. We enjoyed every second of it and we would love going back one day. If you’re wondering if you should visit Malaysia one day, do it! Really, you won’t regret it.
