Kuala Lumpur to the Cameron Highlands

Tanah Rata, the main town of the Cameron Highlands, sits at around 1,400 metres, and the last stretch of every route up is a climb of tight switchbacks. Nothing avoids that. What you are choosing is which road, and how much control you have over when you stop.

The bus

Direct coaches to Tanah Rata leave from TBS — Terminal Bersepadu Selatan, at Bandar Tasik Selatan, which is on the city rail network and easy to reach from central Kuala Lumpur. Several operators run the route, with several departures a day between early morning and late afternoon rather than a turn-up-and-go service.

Departure terminal

TBS (Bandar Tasik Selatan), not KL Sentral

Journey time

Around 4 to 5 hours, depending on route and traffic

Frequency

Several departures a day, morning to late afternoon

Typical fare

In the region of RM 30–55

Booking

Online in advance, or at the TBS counter on the day

Book ahead in peak periods and at weekends. Outside them, buying at the counter on the day is often fine — but with only a handful of departures, the one you wanted may be full, so an early start and an online booking are the safer plan.

The two roads

This is the part nobody warns you about. There are two approaches and they are not equivalent.

• Via Tapah — the older, shorter, considerably more twisting road. Faster on paper, harder on anyone prone to motion sickness.
• Via Simpang Pulai — the newer, wider, gentler climb from further north, near Ipoh. Longer in distance and usually in time, and much easier to sit through.

Operators do not always make the route obvious when you book. If you are travelling with someone who gets carsick, ask which road the service takes, and if the answer is Tapah, consider the alternative. The extra half hour buys a great deal of comfort.

Private car

A chartered car costs several times the bus fare and buys three things: departure when you want, stops at the viewpoints and roadside stalls the coach passes, and a door-to-door drop at your accommodation rather than a walk from the Tanah Rata terminal. Split between three or four people it stops looking extravagant.

The train — sort of

People ask about the train because the ETS is such a good way to move up the west coast. It does not go to the highlands. What you can do is take the train north to Ipoh and approach from there via Simpang Pulai, which is the gentler road and cuts the mountain section considerably — Ipoh to the highlands is under two hours by road. On a route heading north anyway, this is often the better shape: it turns the highlands from a detour out of Kuala Lumpur into a stop on the way.