By air
Langkawi International (LGK), ~10 km
Southeast Asia · Malaysia
Langkawi, Malaysia
Rainforest peaks and quiet bays
Getting there
Best time to visit
November to April — dry season
Don't miss
The Langkawi Sky Bridge
Kilim Karst Geoforest Park
Pantai Cenang
The Seven Wells Waterfall
Things to do
The Sky Bridge and cable car
Mangrove kayaking at Kilim
Island hopping
Duty-free shopping
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Cheon Fong Liew from Kluang, Malaysia · CC BY-SA 2.0
What to pack
Swimwear, sunscreen, insect repellent
A quieter corner
Tanjung Rhu at low tide, walking out towards the islets
Questions travellers ask
When is the dry season in Langkawi?
November to April. Pack swimwear, sunscreen and insect repellent.
What are the top things to do on Langkawi?
The Sky Bridge and cable car, mangrove kayaking at Kilim, and island hopping. Pantai Cenang and the Seven Wells Waterfall round out the list, with some duty-free shopping in between.
Where do people eat on Langkawi?
Grilled seafood at Pantai Cenang, and the night markets, which move from village to village.
What's a lesser-known spot on Langkawi?
Tanjung Rhu at low tide, when you can walk out towards the islets.
About Langkawi
- Island
Where it is
Langkawi is an archipelago of about a hundred islands off the north-west coast of the Malay Peninsula, part of the state of Kedah, Malaysia, just south of the border with Thailand.
History
Langkawi was long a quiet outpost of the Kedah sultanate, home to fishing and rice-farming villages, and it is rich in legend, above all the tale of Mahsuri, a young woman whose tomb is honoured on the main island. Its fortunes changed when it was made a duty-free island, and in 2007 UNESCO gave it World Geopark status.
People
Langkawi's islanders are mostly Malay, speaking the Kedah dialect of Malay, with smaller Chinese and Indian communities. Fishing and rice farming were the old livelihoods, and many families now work in tourism.
Known for
- The Langkawi Sky Bridge and cable car
- Mangrove trips in Kilim Karst Geoforest Park
- Pantai Cenang and Tanjung Rhu beaches
- The Seven Wells Waterfall
- Duty-free shopping
Did you know?
The name Langkawi is popularly said to come from the Malay words for eagle and reddish-brown, and a giant eagle statue at Eagle Square in Kuah greets arrivals by sea.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.