Experience the best of Melaka

Melaka was a great trading port of the fifteenth century, then a Portuguese, Dutch and British possession, and its historic centre, listed by UNESCO with George Town, still bears all of those layers. The red Stadthuys, a Dutch town hall, and Christ Church stand around a square, and the ruined church of St Paul crowns the hill above, near the gateway of A Famosa, the old Portuguese fort. The Melaka River, lined with old shophouses and murals, runs through the centre.

The town's Chinese and Malay heritage is visible in Cheng Hoon Teng, a Chinese temple of the seventeenth century, the Kampung Kling Mosque, with its Sumatran-style roof, and the Baba and Nyonya Heritage Museum, in a Peranakan townhouse. Jonker Street is lined with antique shops and, on weekend evenings, a night market. Inland, Mount Ophir, or Gunung Ledang, rises to over a thousand metres.

Nyonya cooking, a mix of Chinese and Malay flavours, is the pride of Melaka, with laksa, ayam pongteh, a chicken stew with fermented bean paste, and cendol, a dessert of shaved ice, coconut milk and palm sugar called gula Melaka. Chicken rice balls and satay celup, skewers dipped in bubbling peanut sauce, are local traditions. It is hot all year, and evenings by the river are the cool time.