Cameron Highlands
A cool hill district of Pahang at about 1,500 metres, known for its tea estates.
Pahang's tea country
The Cameron Highlands is a hill district of Pahang at about 1,500 metres, rising to Gunung Brinchang at 2,032 metres. The surveyor William Cameron described the plateau in 1885, and it developed as a holiday destination in the 1920s. There are three towns: Ringlet, Tanah Rata, the main commercial and tourist town, and Brinchang, the highest of the three. Tea is the reason most visitors come: the BOH Sungei Palas Tea Centre, near Brinchang, has a viewing deck over the estate and runs factory tours. The district has no airport or railway and is reached by road.
Explore Cameron Highlands on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
The unmissable Cameron Highlands
What to do in the Cameron Highlands
Tea estates first, then the forest and the farms.
Tea
- Tour the factory at the BOH Sungei Palas Tea Centre and see its exhibition gallery.
- Take tea at the BOH café, whose balcony overhangs the estate.
- Try the local cream tea: scones with strawberry jam made in the highlands.
Forest and farms
- See the mossy forest on Gunung Brinchang.
- Walk the forest trails; Tourism Pahang advises going with an experienced guide.
- Visit the strawberry farms, flower gardens, butterfly farm, honey farms and markets.
Two nights in the highlands
Arrive
Drive up through Ringlet to Tanah Rata or Brinchang and settle in; walk the town and its market.
Tea and forest
Spend the morning at the BOH Sungei Palas Tea Centre: factory tour, gallery and tea on the deck. In the afternoon see the mossy forest on Gunung Brinchang or a strawberry farm.
Reaching the highlands
Road is the only way in.
Getting there
- Tourism Pahang puts it plainly: the only way to reach the Cameron Highlands is to drive or be driven.
- Public buses run from Tapah to Tanah Rata.
On the plateau
- Tanah Rata is six kilometres beyond Ringlet on the road up, with Brinchang above it.
- The BOH Sungei Palas Tea Centre has a Brinchang address, so Brinchang is the nearer town for the tea estate.
Cameron Highlands at a glance
From Tourism Pahang and BOH.
William Cameron described a plateau shut in by mountains.
The highlands developed as a holiday destination in that decade.
The commercial and tourist centre, and the district council's seat.
The tea centre's terrace and overhanging deck look across the estate.
Planning notes
Editorial advice based on the altitude and the road access.
Planning
- Treat the journey up as most of a travel day; there is no rail or air shortcut.
- Stay two nights so that one full day is free for the tea centre and the forest.
- Avoid placing the tea-centre day on a Monday outside school and public holidays.
Packing
- Pack a light jacket; the towns sit at about 1,500 metres and are cooler than the lowlands.
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