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 Ipoh Tourist Attractions

Belfield Street
Belfield Street
Birch Memorial
Birch Memorial
Hale Street
Hale Street
Cenotaph
Cenotaph
Church of St John the Divine
Church of St John the Divine
Ipoh Flagpole
Ipoh Flagpole
HSBC Building
HSBC Building
Indian Muslim Mosque
Indian Muslim Mosque
Ipoh Railway Station
Ipoh Railway Station
Ipoh Tree
Ipoh Tree
Royal Ipoh Club
Royal Ipoh Club
SPH de Silva
SPH de Silva
St Michael's Institution
St Michael's Institution

 Sights & Travel Destinations Near Ipoh

Bota Kanan
Bota Kanan
Cameron Highlands
Cameron Highlands
Gua Tempurung
Gua Tempurung
Kampar
Kampar
Kellie's Castle
Kellie's Castle
Kuala Kangsar
Kuala Kangsar
Lata Iskandar
Lata Iskandar
Lata Kinjang
Lata Kinjang
Lenggong
Lenggong
Lumut
Lumut
Pasir Salak
Pasir Salak
Taiping
Taiping
Teluk Intan
Teluk Intan

Exploring Ipoh Made Simple

Map of Ipoh Tourist Attractions

Red squares mark the sights within Ipoh. Zoom out on the map to see the green squares marking the sights near and around Ipoh.


View Ipoh in a larger map

Ipoh Railway Station
Ipoh Railway Station (19 August 2006)
© Timothy Tye

Nan Thien Tong, one of the cave temples in Ipoh
Nan Thien Tong, one of the cave temples in Ipoh (19 August 2006)
© Timothy Tye

Ipoh Budget Travel Guide helps you prepare for a trip to the capital of Perak state in Malaysia. All the major sights in Ipoh are described on this page for your convenience.

Ipoh, capital of Perak, is a moderate-size city in Malaysia. It is located between Penang and Kuala Lumpur. I have visited Ipoh many times, and took the above photograph at the Ipoh Railway Station, a beautiful heritage building, on a trip which I organised for members of AsiaExplorers.

Since being accorded city status, the Ipoh City Council or Dewan Bandaraya Ipoh, includes smaller towns such as Chemor, Jelapang, Falim, Menglembu and Tanjong Rambutan. Historically however, Ipoh referred to the Old Town and New Town, two areas divided by the Kinta River at its heart, from which the city grew.

Getting there

Most visitors reach Ipoh by car or bus. Exit the North-South Expressway (E1) at the Jelapang Interchange (Exit 141), if you're coming from Penang. If you're coming from Kuala Lumpur, exit the expressway at the Ipoh Selatan Interchange (Exit 139).

Accommodation in Ipoh

There is quite a number of hotels in Ipoh. You can also place online booking for a selection at Budget Accommodation Guide. The following are some of the hotels in Ipoh, in alphabetical order:

Embassy Hotel, Jalan C.M. Yusuf. Tel: 05 254 9496
Grand Park Hotel, 19 Jalan Bendahara. Tel: 05 241 1333
Grand View Hotel, 36 Jalan Horley. Tel: 05 243 1488
Majestic Hotel, above the Ipoh Railway Station. Tel: 05 255 5605
New Caspian Hotel, Jalan Ali Pitchay. Tel: 05 243 9254
Shanghai, 85 Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri. Tel: 05 241 2070
Syuen Hotel, 88 Jalan Sultan Jalil. Tel: 05 253 8889
West Pool Hotel, 74 Clare St. Tel: 05 254 5042
YMCA, 311 Jalan Raja Musa Aziz. Tel: 05 254 0809

Ipoh History

The name Ipoh is said to have come from a local tree, pohon epu, which is now more commonly known as pokok ipoh. This plant produces a poisonous sap that is used by the orang asli for their blowdarts. Ipoh is also known as san seng in Chinese, which means "hill city" in the Cantonese. This probably refers to the many limestone outcrops around the city. An old nickname for Ipoh is City of Millionaires, referring to the vast fortunes made during the days of the tin and rubber industry.

Being in the rich tin-bearing Kinta Valley, Ipoh was a boom town in the 1920s and 30s. When the price of tin collapsed in the 1950s, it resulted in the closure of many Ipoh tin mines, stagnating the growth of the town, and propelled its population to seek employment in other parts of Malaysia. Ipoh has a reputation of being one of the cleanest cities. It is also well known for its clear water supply, which allows it to be a choice producer of vegetables, especially bean sprouts.

Ipoh Cuisine

Ipoh is famous among the people of Malaysia for its food. Ipoh people claim that their water supply, which is relatively hard (high alkali content) owing to Ipoh's location on top of a large karstic formation, makes the food especially tasty. Ipoh is particularly famous for its "Sar Hor Fun", a flat white rice noodle taken with shredded chickehn meat and prawns. Folks from other towns often stop over in Ipoh to enjoy the dim sum if they arrive in the morning, and the nga choi kai, a dish of chicken and bean sprouts, if they come in the evening. Ipoh's Hakka Mee and yong tau fee is also popular.

Heritage Ipoh

Ipoh, like many major towns in Malaysia, has its share of heritage buildings. Unfortunately, a good number of them are today in a run-down state. Some, like the Pasar Bulat, is no longer standing, although it continues to appear on guidebooks (something which AsiaExplorers, being a web-based information provider, am able to update immediately). As I continue to write and document about the buildings and sights in Ipoh - as I do about the rest of Asia - I hope that this effort will generate into greater awareness and appreciation for these beautiful buildings, and that more effort will be invested to conserve them.

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AsiaExplorers is researched and written by Timothy Tye. Reasonable care is taken to check and verify the accuracy of the content. AsiaExplorers disclaims responsibility for any inconvenience, mishap, injury or death resulting from following the tips and advice provided directly or indirectly by this website. All pages may be printed out for your own personal, non-commercial use. You may use the information on this website on your blog or website so long as you place a dofollow link back to the page in AsiaExplorers where it appears. Photographs not credited to a third party belong to Timothy Tye and may not be reused in any form unless you are first given permission. Write in to inquire if interested. Third party photographs are governed by their respective licenses. To contact Tim, write to the following email address: