Festive Malaysia
Singapore → Kuala Lumpur → Langkawi → Penang → Singapore
The Eastern & Oriental Express Festive Malaysia journey is a three-night, four-day celebration that glides through the heart of Peninsular Malaysia during the festive December season. Departing from Singapore, the train travels north through Kuala Lumpur, pauses at the gateway to the Langkawi archipelago, and arrives in the storied port city of Penang before looping back south through Johor to Singapore — a complete circuit of Malaysia's west coast carried out in style aboard one of Asia's most iconic luxury trains.
What sets Festive Malaysia apart from regular departures is its seasonally transformed atmosphere. The train's elegant restaurant cars and bar car are dressed in festive decor, and each evening brings themed entertainment ranging from local cultural performers to champagne-accompanied celebration dinners. The interplay of on-train luxury — cherrywood panelling, Thai silks, Malaysian embroidery, 24-hour steward service — with carefully curated shore excursions at Langkawi and Penang makes this journey as enriching as it is indulgent.
This is a journey that suits travellers who want more than mere transport: it is a mobile five-star hotel threading through ancient cities, marine parks, paddy-field landscapes, and a UNESCO World Heritage town, timed to capture Southeast Asia at its most celebratory. For booking and current departure dates, contact Palace Trains at 1-800-724-5120 or travel@palacetours.com.
- ✦Snorkelling at Pulau Payar Marine Park, Langkawi's pristine coral reserve
- ✦Christmas Day exploration of George Town, Penang's UNESCO World Heritage city
- ✦Peranakan cooking class with local spice-market visit
- ✦Christmas Eve gala dinner with champagne and festive live entertainment
- ✦Overnight rail passage through Kuala Lumpur with views of the illuminated Petronas Towers
- ✦Wellness experiences — yoga, sound bath, and massage — at a marine park pontoon
- ✦24-hour steward service and all-inclusive dining aboard a beautifully restored luxury train
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Day 1 — Singapore to Kuala Lumpur
The journey begins at Woodlands Station in Singapore, where guests board the gleaming emerald-green carriages of the Eastern & Oriental Express, already dressed in festive decorations. Cabins — Pullman, State, or Presidential — offer a warm cocoon of cherrywood panelling, Thai silks, and hand-stitched Malaysian embroidery. As the train rolls north across the causeway into Malaysia, stewards deliver afternoon tea to cabins while the scenery outside shifts from urban skyline to rubber plantations and kampung villages. The first evening dinner in the Dining Car introduces guests to locally sourced Southeast Asian cuisine paired with house wines, accompanied by the first night's entertainment in the Piano Bar Car. The train passes through Kuala Lumpur after midnight, offering a fleeting glimpse of the city's glittering towers before pressing north.
Day 2 — Langkawi Excursion
Morning breaks over a landscape of rice paddies and mist-shrouded limestone karsts as the train approaches Alor Setar in Kedah. Guests disembark for the day's centrepiece: a speedboat transfer to Pulau Payar Marine Park, Malaysia's only gazetted marine park, lying approximately 19 kilometres south of Langkawi. Snorkelling reveals technicolour coral gardens inhabited by parrotfish, angelfish, moray eels, and the occasional blacktip reef shark. Wellness options — yoga, a sound bath, and traditional massage — are available on a pontoon platform anchored within the park. A luxury picnic is served on the island before guests return to the train in the afternoon. Alternatively, travellers may choose a Perlis Geopark Adventure cycling through wildlife-rich countryside and exploring the legacy of an old tin mine, or a Cultural Immersion in Alor Setar covering batik-making workshops, a visit to an antique collection, and a lesson in traditional Malaysian tea preparation. The evening features local entertainers performing in the Piano Bar, and dinner continues the celebratory theme.
Day 3 — Penang (Georgetown)
Christmas morning brings the train into Butterworth Station on the mainland, from where guests cross to Penang Island to explore George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. Three excursion options are offered. The Peranakan Culinary Experience begins at a spice market, followed by a hands-on cooking class exploring the Baba-Nyonya fusion cuisine that blends Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Eurasian traditions. The Cultural Old Town Tour moves through Georgetown's atmospheric lanes visiting gilded Buddhist temples such as Kuan Yin Teng, the ornate Khoo Kongsi clanhouse, a Wayang (Chinese opera) puppet house, and vibrant street-art installations by artists including Ernest Zacharevic. The Independent Exploration option provides a trishaw and driver for self-guided discovery of the Blue Mansion (Cheong Fatt Tze) and the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. All guests reboard at Butterworth for a festive Christmas lunch, and the Christmas evening culminates in a celebratory dinner with champagne, irresistible seasonal cuisine, and live entertainment.
Day 4 — Johor to Singapore
The final morning unfolds at a leisurely pace as the train travels south through Johor, Malaysia's southernmost state, with its oil-palm estates and fishing villages drifting past the windows. A full breakfast — in cabin or the restaurant car — is included. The train re-crosses the Johor Strait to Singapore, completing the festive circuit. Disembarkation brings the journey to a close, leaving guests with memories of marine-park mornings, heritage city afternoons, and champagne-lit evenings under a canopy of stars.
Destinations & Highlights
Singapore — Gateway to Southeast Asia
The journey begins and ends in Singapore, one of the world's most dynamic city-states. Known for its extraordinary skyline, hawker-food culture, and seamless blend of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Western influences, Singapore is also Asia's pre-eminent luxury travel hub. The Eastern & Oriental Express departs from Woodlands Station in the north of the island, a graceful transition from city energy to the open landscapes of Peninsular Malaysia.
Kuala Lumpur — Malaysia's Cosmopolitan Capital
Although the Festive Malaysia itinerary passes through Kuala Lumpur overnight, the city's glittering silhouette — anchored by the Petronas Twin Towers, the world's tallest twin skyscrapers upon their completion in 1998 — is visible from the train windows. Kuala Lumpur is a city of striking contrasts: colonial-era Moorish architecture in Merdeka Square, the sacred Hindu shrine of Batu Caves rising in limestone cliffs north of the city, and the vast modern retail and cultural complex of KLCC. As Malaysia's capital, it embodies the country's multi-ethnic character and rapid modernisation.
Langkawi Archipelago — Duty-Free Island Paradise
Langkawi is an archipelago of 99 islands off Malaysia's northwest coast, recognised as a UNESCO Global Geopark for its 500-million-year-old geological formations, ancient rainforests, and pristine waters. The Festive Malaysia excursion targets Pulau Payar Marine Park, the archipelago's premier dive and snorkel site, where coral reefs support an abundance of tropical marine life. The marine park is among the few protected marine reserves in Peninsular Malaysia, making it a genuinely special natural encounter.
George Town, Penang — UNESCO World Heritage City
George Town was founded by Francis Light of the British East India Company in 1786 and rapidly grew into one of Southeast Asia's most important trading ports. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, its historic core is an extraordinary living tapestry of Straits-Eclectic shophouses, clan jetties, mosques, Hindu temples, Buddhist shrines, and colonial civic buildings — all within walking distance of one another. The Peranakan (Straits Chinese or Baba-Nyonya) culture that flourished here produced a distinctive hybrid art, architecture, and cuisine that is nowhere more richly preserved. Contemporary George Town has layered onto this heritage an internationally celebrated street-art scene and one of Asia's most admired food cultures, making it arguably Malaysia's single most rewarding city for curious travellers.