Top 10 Kuching Travel Destinations You Must Not Miss

Travel to Kuching on your own is not as difficult as you may think. Here I’m going to list down the top 10 places or attractions that you should not miss when traveling in Kuching.

1. Weekend Market (a.k.a. Sunday Market)

The locals simply call it “Sunday Market”. It really more than a Sunday’s market, because the market start operating from Saturday’s afternoon around 2pm. The crowd is forming from 3pm onwards, 99% are local shoppers & traders, and you will be that remaining 1%. At this weekend market, you get to see all kind of stuffs people are selling & buying there. Goods been traded ranging from cloths, home accessories & supplies, local produces, meat & fresh vegetables, foods, so on and so forth. Basically everything you can think of that can be found at Kuching, but definitely not the branded merchandise of course. This is the most traditional market that you will ever find in Kuching, which remain never change since some 20 years ago, or longer. You can easily hire a taxi from your hotel and will never cost you more than a RM15, unless you are staying somewhere off the Kuching city.

2. Sarawak Museum

If you have no time to travel to the entire Sarawak, you owe a visit to the Sarawak Museum. Some travelers commented that simply spend an hour at Sarawak Museum is as good as traveling to the entire Sarawak for a week. There are simply too many things to tell you about Sarawak in this museum. It’s located right in the city centre, and within a walking distance from major hotels in Kuching, especially Merdeka Palace Hotel. The best part of it is, the entrance to Sarawak Museum is free of charge, and no ticket purchase needed, nothing, so why not?

3. Traditional Malay Village across the Sarawak River

Another highly recommended place to visit and the best part is, it won’t cost you much to get there too, perhaps around RM2 per person only for the boat transfer. The small boat (called Tambang) transfer you from Kuching Waterfront across the Sarawak river already half of the fun. In the village itself, you won’t get to see a lot of tourist there, and I also must say this is not a place for tourist, but an authentic local Malay village. Take short walk around the village, you will find that it’s so much different from the Kuching city centre right just across the river. Try their local “Kampung” (mean village in Malay) Malay’s food, cheap and delicious, but be caution, almost all of them are spicy, just in case you have problem a taking spicy food. Just my 2 cents, do not leave Kuching if you haven’t visit this village yet.

4. Main Bazaar Souvenir Shopping

This is a place where almost all the travelers will patronise and shop for the souvenirs. There are many souvenirs and collectible shops there. Their price is very competitive, so rest assured that you will find a good bargain for your souvenirs shopping. Main Bazaar is located right next to Harbour View Hotel, and the shops are stretching for about a kilometre long. Lots of interesting things are waiting for you to explore at this stretch of old shop lots.

5. Annah Rais Longhouse

If you really don’t have time and budget to travel inland to places like Rejang river’s Iban longhouse, then Annah Rais Bidayuh Longhouse is your best choice. This is a very real authentic Bidayuh longhouse located at some 90km away from Kuching city. It is patronised by the tourists daily and many say that it has become a tourist place. Nevertheless, the local people still carried on with their traditional life there, despite lots of tourist visiting the longhouse everyday. Rest assured that you will not see the local people are trying to sell you the tourist piece stuffs. Although the longhouse itself has already equipped with satellite or antenna, the main longhouse structure still remain pretty much original. They are working very hard to preserve the way it should be. If you prefer to stay back and to experience yourself the local way of living there, you can opt to stay with one of the local villager there who run a homestay program called Annah Rais Longhouse Adventure.

6. Semenggoh Orangutan Wildlife Centre

This is one of the most important “Must Go” place among all places in your Kuching travel destinations plan. You get to see the Orangutan in the wild and not caged. They roam freely in the surrounding jungle & will appear at the Park headquarter during the feeding time. Interestingly, they know the timing better then you do. So remember the feeding time, 9am & 3pm daily, if you miss it, you got to find them in the jungle then. The entrance fee cost you RM3 per person, a fraction of cost compare to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Sabah that cost you RM30 per person, and you get to see pretty much the same thing, but only with the better facility.

7. Sarawak Cultural Village

Sarawak Cultural Village, as the name implied, it’s a village that showcase of all ethnics’ culture in Sarawak. It was built mainly for the tourist and it’s not a real village though, however, they have built the various ethnic house models in the actual human size. The best part is that, they even employed the local people to live in the village based on their original traditional way of living. When you enter into the village and the houses, you are like visiting the family who are staying at that particular house. It’s like a living museum indeed. Highly recommended, you can find all sorts of longhouses there, and learn more about the tribes in Sarawak.

8. Bako National Park

I can’t stretch enough that this is the only place that will get you excited every moment when you are in the park. The journey on the boat transfer alone already part of the adventurous trip, because you will get a chance to see the wild crocodiles when you are on the boat, however, this is not a guaranteed sighting though. When arrive at the park, you will most likely be greeted by the long-tailed macaque or the wild bearded pig. The wildlife is almost everywhere. This is also a good place for jungle trekking too. You will find a lot of trails, some offering you a good chance to see the endangered species of flora & fauna, such as proboscis monkey. Opt for the night jungle trekking too, the ranger can arrange for you and you will get to see the different creatures at night. Remember to bring mosquito repellent, lots of mosquito in the park though and they are simply, wild too!

9. Jong’s Crocodile Farm

Lots of people like the idea that the crocodiles are kept in the huge piece of land that form pretty much like a swampland, the crocodile natural habitat. The crocodiles are not caged, but you do! What a good idea right. This crocodile farm is well worth your visit, as you get to see thousands of crocodiles that are kept pretty much like they are in the wild. Moreover the entrance is barely RM8 per person, highly recommended!

10. Jalan Song Eatery Place (Must Go)

Again I need to mention, this is another non-tourist place, but it is very important for you to know that this is the most popular eatery place in Kuching for the local Kuching people. If you are a good food lover, this is the place for you to sample all kind of Kuching’s local dishes, such as Kolo Mee, Sarawak Laksa, and etc. Only visit this place for your dinner, because during the day, it’s just like a ghost town, but it gets very happening when the day turns dark. Since you are travelling in Kuching and you got to try the local dishes, this place have put everything together for you. I would say it’s a “Must Visit” place to include in your Kuching travel destinations plan.