Is Johor Bahru Worth Visiting?
During my summer in Southeast Asia, I wanted to say that I stepped foot into as many countries as I can. Given that Malaysia was right there, I knew this had to be one of them. While Singapore is just a short flight (or drive) away from Kuala Lumpur, the biggest tourist destination in Malaysia, I didn’t get a chance to make a trip there; instead, I took a day trip to Johor Bahru, right on the border with Singapore.
Johor Bahru is known for cute food shops & cafes as well as being an awesome place to go shopping for trinkets. I took the 170x bus across the Johor Causeway to the immigration checkpoint to begin with; the drive was less than a half hour and I was officially in a new country!
Once there however, I didn’t really have much of a plan for the few hours I wanted to kill, because there wasn’t that much to do that’s different than in Singapore itself. The main attractions I had a chance to see were:
Paragon Marketplace: This is a shopping mall with both Western and Eastern chain stores, as well as a place to get knick-knacks. This is a pretty standard Southeast Asian mall and nothing that excited me.
Glass Temple: The Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman temple is a great attraction to see a temple where everything is made of glass (the only one in all of Malaysia). It’s a nice walk down a hill to get there and, while taking pictures inside the temple is frowned upon, made for a really great sight.
Zaharah Botanical Gardens: This was a small park of botanical gardens that on the day I went was free admission. Nothing too special about the upkeep of this place, but a nice sight nonetheless.
Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque: This is a 120+ year old mosque that overlooks the Straits of Johor; it is quite large and free to enter for all, so I enjoyed the peace inside the mosque and admiring the architecture.
There are few things to do just outside of the town, most notably being visiting Legoland Malaysia. However, I didn’t get a chance to leave Johor Bahru as I wanted to stick somewhat close to the bus that I had to take back to Singapore. All in all I probably spent 4-5 hours in the town (and country) itself!
Overall, I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite place to visit given it’s similarity to sights in other parts of Southeast Asia that are grander and more accessible, but I think Johor Bahru is a good entrypoint into Malaysia. If you happen to be in Singapore and looking for a short day trip to do while visiting a new country, this could be a good option!
