Singapore & Malaysia: City, Heritage & Penang

Private transfer from Changi Airport to the Fullerton Hotel. Welcome dinner at a restaurant recommended by James along the Singapore River quayside.

A morning with James through the Colonial Civic District — the Padang, Raffles Hotel, Victoria Concert Hall and St Andrew's Cathedral — followed by an afternoon exploring Gardens by the Bay's Flower Dome and Cloud Forest conservatories. Evening at leisure; James suggests the Lau Pa Sat hawker centre for dinner.

Chinatown's Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, Maxwell Food Centre hawker lunch, and an afternoon exploring Tiong Bahru's Art Deco lanes and independent bookshops. Evening free — James can recommend the best Peranakan restaurant in Joo Chiat if you wish to venture east.

Morning transfer to Changi Airport for the included one-hour flight to Penang. James meets you at Penang International Airport and transfers you to the Eastern & Oriental Hotel — the most storied address in Georgetown, opened in 1885 by the same Sarkies Brothers who built Raffles. An orientation stroll through the UNESCO Heritage Zone this evening reveals the extraordinary palimpsest of Chinese clan houses, colonial government buildings and Indian temples that makes Georgetown unique.

A full day in Georgetown with James. The UNESCO Heritage Zone is a labyrinth of streets where Hokkien clan houses, Kapitan Keling Mosque, Sri Mahamariamman Temple and St George's Church stand within a few hundred metres of each other — the physical evidence of the extraordinary multicultural society the Straits Settlements produced. The street art murals commissioned by the city in 2012 — most famously Ernest Zacharevic's "Children on a Bicycle" — are scattered through the lanes and have become as much a part of Georgetown as its architecture.

Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera) by funicular railway to the 830-metre summit — cooler than the coast and with panoramic views over Georgetown, the channel and the Kedah hills beyond. Then Kek Lok Si Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, with its extraordinary seven-storey pagoda blending Thai, Chinese and Burmese architectural styles. Afternoon at leisure. Evening on the Eastern & Oriental's famous Farquhar's Bar — where Somerset Maugham once drank and which still maintains the most colonial atmosphere in Malaysia.

James leads a private Nyonya (Peranakan) food and culture trail — arguably the deepest single food experience available on this tour. Nyonya cuisine, the hybrid food tradition of the Straits Chinese, is one of Southeast Asia's most complex and remarkable: flavoured with lemongrass, belacan (shrimp paste), pandan and coconut milk, it exists only in the Straits Settlements. Visit the Tropical Spice Garden at Teluk Bahang in the afternoon — 500 species of tropical plants in a beautiful hillside setting with sea views.

Transfer to Penang Airport for the included flight to Kuala Lumpur. Private transfer to the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur — positioned directly at the base of the Petronas Towers, with the towers visible from most rooms. An evening orientation walk with James through the KLCC Park and the glittering base of the towers, followed by dinner in the Petronas Towers' own restaurant.

An early morning visit to the Petronas Towers Skybridge — the highest two-storey bridge in the world, connecting the twin towers at floors 41 and 42 — before the crowds arrive. Then to Merdeka Square, where Malaysia declared independence from Britain in 1957, surrounded by the Tudor Revival Royal Selangor Club, the Jamek Mosque and the remarkable Sultan Abdul Samad Building. The National Textile Museum beside the square houses a superb collection of Malaysian batik and weaving.

Batu Caves, 13km north of the city centre, is one of Malaysia's most dramatic Hindu shrines — a series of caverns inside a 400-million-year-old limestone massif, reached by 272 steps past a 43-metre golden statue of Lord Murugan. The Cathedral Cave at the top houses the main Sri Subramaniam Temple and is genuinely spectacular. Then to KL's Chinatown: Petaling Street Market, the magnificent Chan See Shu Yuen Temple and — with James as your guide — a lunch of dim sum at one of the old coffee shops that have operated continuously since the 1940s.

A morning in Brickfields — KL's Little India, a genuine neighbourhood of jasmine-sellers, saree emporiums, banana-leaf rice restaurants and the Sri Kandaswamy Kovil temple. Then the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia — the finest museum of Islamic art in Southeast Asia, with collections from the 7th century to the present across 12 galleries. Afternoon at leisure, or an optional guided visit to Melaka (90 minutes by private car) — the most perfectly preserved Portuguese, Dutch and British colonial town in Southeast Asia, a UNESCO site of extraordinary atmosphere.

A final morning at leisure — the Mandarin Oriental's pool and spa make departure mornings pleasant. James arranges private transfer to KL International Airport for your onward flight.