Malacca City

St Paul's Church first, Jonker Street second over two days

Two days cover Malacca's heritage zone. Start day one at the Porta de Santiago gate by eight, climb to St Paul's Church and come down to Dutch Square, then take the 45-minute river cruise in the late afternoon. Give day two to Chinatown, beginning at Cheng Hoon Teng temple on Jalan Tokong.

Be at the Porta de Santiago gate by eight, climb to the roofless St Paul's Church while the air is still bearable, and look out over the strait. Come down the far side to Dutch Square for the Stadthuys and Christ Church, where the floor is set with Dutch tombstones. By late morning the heat is serious, so duck into the museums around the square, then eat a lunch of chicken rice balls near the river.

In the late afternoon take the 45-minute river cruise, which slides past old godowns and the stilted houses of Kampung Morten, and stay on the riverbank as the lights come on.

Spend day two in Chinatown. Start with Cheng Hoon Teng on Jalan Tokong, its 1685 inscription and its incense-smoked halls, then walk the length of Jalan Tukang Emas past the Kampung Kling Mosque. After lunch, book the Baba and Nyonya Heritage Museum on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock for a look at how the richest Peranakan families lived. Cendol is the right mid-afternoon break. If it is Friday, Saturday or Sunday, finish on Jonker Street when the night market fills it. Do not plan either day for a Tuesday.

Nyonya pongteh, chicken rice balls and satay celup

Malacca is known for Peranakan cooking, the Straits Chinese mix of Chinese technique and Malay spice. Order ayam pongteh, braised with fermented bean paste and gula Melaka, then try two local habits, chicken rice balls and satay celup. Cendol with a dark pour of palm sugar is the dessert.

Look for ayam pongteh, chicken or pork belly braised with fermented bean paste and gula Melaka, and ayam buah keluak, a dark, earthy stew made with the black nut of the kepayang tree. Nyonya laksa, rich with coconut milk, turns up at the stalls along Jonker Walk. A warning: many places using the Nyonya label sit on the tour-bus circuit, so ask locals where their own families eat.

Two street habits are pure Malacca. Chicken rice balls press the rice into small rounds served beside Hainanese-style chicken, and the queues around Jonker Street at lunchtime tell you which shops are good. Satay celup works like a steamboat: you dip skewers of fish balls, prawns and vegetables into a pot of bubbling peanut sauce and pay by the stick.

Dessert means cendol: shaved ice, coconut milk, green rice-flour noodles and a dark pour of gula Melaka, the palm sugar the city gave its name to. It is the best answer to a 33C afternoon.

Dry February, weekend crowds and Festa San Pedro

Visit Malacca on a weekday between January and March. February is the driest month, at about 80 mm of rain, and highs stay between 31 and 33°C all year. Weekends bring traffic jams from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and the Portuguese Settlement's Festa San Pedro is the festival worth timing a trip around.

Daytime highs sit between 31C and 33C in every month and nights stay around 24C, so the real variable is rain. February is the driest month at about 80 mm, and January and March are not far behind, which makes the first quarter the easiest time to walk the hill and the squares. From April the monthly total climbs past 160 mm, and November is the wettest month at around 230 mm, usually in short, violent afternoon storms.

Crowds matter more than weather. Every weekend, cars from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore jam the one-way lanes, and the Jonker Street night market draws thousands from Friday to Sunday. Chinese New Year and the school holidays push hotel prices and traffic higher still.

The Portuguese Settlement, home of the Kristang community a short ride south-east of the centre, holds the Festa San Pedro in late June, when fishing boats are decorated and blessed for the fishermen's patron saint. Christmas is celebrated there with lights on the houses. Ramadan changes the rhythm of the Malay quarters, with food bazaars setting up in the late afternoon.