Langkawi & Kuala Lumpur, 5 Nights

The island's airport is a few minutes from the west-coast beaches, and the hotel has you checked in by early afternoon. There is time to rest before the evening, when the cruise boat leaves for a slow sail along the coast as the sun goes down over the Andaman Sea. Dinner is served on board, usually a buffet, and there is often a chance to swim from the boat in calm water. Tell us about vegetarian needs when booking and we will pass them to the boat.

A shared boat into the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park in the north-east of the island, part of Langkawi's UNESCO Global Geopark. The river winds between mangrove roots and grey limestone towers, some weathered into shapes the boatmen have names for. The boat stops at the Bat Cave, a boardwalk into a cavern roofed with sleeping fruit bats, and at a floating fish farm where archerfish spit at targets and stingrays glide in the pens. The afternoon is free for the beach.

A speedboat south to the islands off Kuah. On Pulau Dayang Bunting, a short path through forest leads from the jetty to the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden, a freshwater lake in a bowl of limestone where you can swim or float on the platforms. Off Pulau Singa Besar, the boat pauses to watch eagles over the water, and the trip ends on Beras Basah, a small island of white sand and shallow water. Sunscreen and swimwear under your clothes are the essentials.

Breakfast, then the transfer to Langkawi airport for the hour's flight to Kuala Lumpur and the drive into the city. After check-in and a rest, the evening tour starts at Merdeka Square, where the floodlit Sultan Abdul Samad Building shows the Mughal-style domes the British brought from India, and moves on to the lanes of Chinatown. It ends at the KL Tower observation deck, 276 metres up on a forested hill, with the Petronas Towers lit across the skyline.

A brief stop at Batu Caves on the way out of the city, for photographs of the Murugan statue and the painted steps. Then up into the hills and onto the cable car for the long glide over rainforest to Genting, around 1,800 metres high and pleasantly cool. The resort has shops, restaurants, rides and a casino, all at extra cost, and the Chin Swee temple a little below the summit has one of the best views. Back in Kuala Lumpur by evening for a last dinner in Bukit Bintang.

Breakfast and checkout, and then the private transfer to KLIA, about an hour away. With a later flight there may be time to walk KLCC Park or pick up chocolates and batik at Central Market beforehand; the hotel can keep your bags.