Malacca

Malacca is a small city on the southwest coast of Malaysia with a truly giant history. Centuries ago, it was one of the busiest trading ports in the world, attracting merchants from China, India, Portugal, and the Netherlands, and each of these cultures left something behind. You can see this layered past everywhere you look, from the crumbling stone gateway of a Portuguese fort built over 500 years ago, to a striking red Dutch building that still stands proudly in the city center, to a hilltop church ruin that gazes out over rooftops and the glittering strait below.

What makes Malacca truly magical is how all these different influences blend together into something completely its own. Wander through the lively shophouses of Chinatown, breathe in the smell of sizzling street food, and then look out to sea where a beautiful mosque seems to rise straight from the water. Malacca is a city that feels like a living history book, and exploring it is an adventure on every street corner.