Muar travel guide
Asam pedas, prewar shophouses and river cruises in Johor's royal town
Muar is Johor's royal town at the mouth of the Muar River, an easy hop from Malacca. Come hungry: asam pedas, satay and grilled fish are the reasons to stop. A day or one night is enough, ideally from December to March when the rain is lightest. Costs are moderate, and the MDAC card is needed on arrival.
Muar spreads along the mouth of the Muar River on Johor's Straits of Malacca coast, an hour or less by bus from Malacca. Officially it is Bandar Maharani, the Empress Town, and since 2012 it has been Johor's royal town. Most visitors come to eat and to wander streets of prewar shophouses.
The riverside is the place to start. A walk of just over a kilometre leads from the town to Tanjung Emas Park, past colonial buildings and rows of shophouses, and from its jetty a 45-minute to one-hour cruise shows the town from the water. Next door at Tanjung Ketapang, macaques live in the mangroves facing the strait. Laman Maharani, a newer garden by the Sultan Ismail bridge, is built around a clock tower.
Food is Muar's real attraction. Asam pedas (fish stewed with tamarind and chilli) is the town's signature, along with satay Muar, mee bandung and otak-otak. Javanese dishes such as soto and nasi ambeng are easy to find too. In the evenings, head to Medan Ikan Bakar Sabak Awor on Jalan Bakariah for grilled fish, then order a sirap bandung, rose syrup with milk.
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Top things to do in Muar
Riverside walks, prewar streets and serious eating.
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Best time to visit Muar
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
The lightest rain of the year, with February averaging about 110 mm, so the riverfront and the cruise are reliable.
Over 200 mm a month and frequent afternoon storms; walk the old town in the morning.
Tanjung Emas Park gets busy on weekends; go on a weekday for a quieter river cruise.
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Getting there
Bus from Malacca, KL or JB
Muar has no airport or railway station, so come by road. Buses from Malacca run often and take an hour or less, coaches from Terminal Bersepadu Selatan in Kuala Lumpur take 2 to 3 hours, and both use Hentian Maharani or the Bentayan Express terminal. Drivers leave the North-South Expressway at Tangkak or Pagoh.
- Nearest airports
- Malacca (MKZ) is closest; KLIA, Senai (JHB) and Changi have far more flights
- From Malacca
- Frequent buses, an hour or less
- From Kuala Lumpur
- From TBS, 2 to 3 hours
- Nearest trains
- Segamat, then a bus or taxi
- Check which station your coach uses before you travel; Hentian Maharani and Bentayan are separate.
Where to stay
Shophouse rooms or a Sabak Awor resort
Base yourself in Muar's riverside old town for a first visit. Hotels are few and simple, so choose by what you want to walk to: the old town for the shophouses and river, Sungai Abong for plain air-conditioned rooms, or Sabak Awor, by the second bridge, for the grilled-fish yards.
- Old town by the river
- Prewar shophouse streets and the promenade to Tanjung Emas; few rooms, so book ahead at weekends
- Sungai Abong
- Budget hotels such as Muarar Hotel 99 by the traffic lights; a short taxi from the river
- Sabak Awor
- A resort near the bypass and Jalan Bakariah's ikan bakar stalls; far from the old town
Getting around
Walk, cycle or take the river
Muar is dead flat, so walk or cycle. The shophouse streets, the riverside promenade and Laman Maharani by the Sultan Ismail bridge are close together, and NO-JOB (North Johor On Bike) rents bicycles and leads rides along the river. For the Sabak Awor and Parit Karang fish yards, take a chartered taxi and agree the price first.
- Walking
- Old town to Tanjung Emas Park along the river, just over 1 km
- Bicycles
- Rentals and guided rides from NO-JOB (North Johor On Bike)
- River cruise
- Leaves from the jetty inside Tanjung Emas Park
- Chartered taxis
- From the stands at Hentian Maharani and Bentayan
Know before you go
What makes Muar worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- Asam pedas at Tanjung Emas Park, eaten at the food court by the river.
- The Muar River cruise, with the shophouse waterfront seen from mid-stream.
- Grilled fish at Sabak Awor, picked fresh in the evening.
Good to know
- Public transport is limited to buses and chartered taxis; there is no train.
- Do not feed the macaques at Tanjung Ketapang, however tame they look.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Muar, month by month
Muar's driest month is February, with about 112 mm of rain, and October its wettest at about 238 mm. Highs hold at 32 to 33°C.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Muar (Climate-Data.org, via Wikipedia).
Mee bandung for breakfast, sunset at Tanjung Emas
Muar fits into a day from Malacca. Take an early bus, eat mee bandung or mee rebus near the bus stations, and walk the pre-war shophouse streets while it is cool. Follow the riverside path for just over a kilometre to Tanjung Emas Park, and stay for asam pedas and the sunset over the Strait of Malacca.
Then walk the old streets while the air is still cool, looking up at the pre-war shophouse fronts and the colonial buildings that line the river. Laman Maharani, the riverside garden by the Sultan Ismail bridge, sits where junks once unloaded charcoal and goods, and its clock tower makes a good landmark.
In the afternoon, board the river cruise at Tanjung Emas jetty, 45 minutes to an hour on the water, then look in on the macaques in the mangroves at Tanjung Ketapang next door, keeping food out of sight. Stay for sunset over the Straits of Malacca from the park. The grilled-fish stalls at Sabak Awor only get going in the evening, so if you want dinner there with a glass of sirap bandung, plan to sleep in Muar.
Asam pedas, satay Muar and the ikan bakar yards
Food is the honest reason to stop in Muar. Order asam pedas, fish stewed in a sour, chilli-red tamarind gravy, at the Tanjung Emas Park food court, try satay Muar, and look for Javanese-rooted soto and lontong. In the evening, the grilled-fish yards of Sabak Awor are the place to eat.
Satay Muar is the other dish people drive in for, along with mee bandung, rojak petis (fruit and vegetables in a dark shrimp-paste sauce) and otak-otak.
Johor's Javanese roots run through the menu as well. Look for soto, lontong and nasi ambeng, a shared platter of rice with several sides, and copy the local habit of dipping pisang goreng and tempe goreng into thick soy sauce with cut chilli. Pau Maharani buns and nasi beriani gam are two more local favourites.
Evenings belong to the grilled-fish yards. Medan Ikan Bakar Sabak Awor on Jalan Bakariah and Medan Ikan Bakar Parit Karang both grill the day's fish with prawns, squid and clams, eaten with nasi lemak wrapped in banana leaf. To drink, order sirap bandung, rose syrup with milk and a fixture of Malay weddings, or the corn milk sold at the old farmers' market site by the bus stations.
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How we research our Muar travel guide
Muar's bus links from Malacca and Kuala Lumpur, checked against Tourism Malaysia and the town's official site, are the part of this guide we update most. The MDAC page and Wikipedia's Muar entry cover entry rules and background.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of MuarMalaysia Digital Arrival CardTourism Malaysia
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Muar.
Getting there
Buses run frequently from Malacca and take an hour or less.
Asam pedas, satay Muar, mee bandung and otak-otak, plus grilled fish at Sabak Awor in the evening and a rose-milk sirap bandung.
A day trip covers the old town, the river cruise and lunch. Sleep over if you want dinner at the grilled-fish yards, which only open in the evening.
Muar has no station. The nearest is Segamat, with Kluang and Seremban further off; from any of them you continue by bus or taxi.
General
Malacca's small airport (MKZ) is closest, but most visitors fly into KLIA, Senai near Johor Bahru or Singapore Changi and take a coach, about 2 to 3 hours from KL or JB.
Yes. Boats leave Tanjung Emas jetty for 45 minutes to an hour on the Muar River, showing the old town from the water.
December to March, when rain is lightest; February averages about 110 mm. From April to November most months get more than 200 mm, much of it in afternoon storms.
Medan Ikan Bakar Sabak Awor on Jalan Bakariah and Medan Ikan Bakar Parit Karang grill fresh fish and seafood every evening.
NO-JOB (North Johor On Bike) rents bikes and runs guided rides. The town is flat, and bicycles have long been an everyday way to get around.
Macaques live in the mangroves at Tanjung Ketapang, beside Tanjung Emas Park. They are used to people, but keep food hidden and do not feed them.
Muar is dead flat, so walk or cycle. The shophouse streets, the riverside promenade and Laman Maharani by the Sultan Ismail bridge are close together, and NO-JOB (North Johor On Bike) rents bicycles and leads rides along the river. For the Sabak Awor and Parit Karang fish yards, take a chartered taxi and agree the price first.
Timing & weather
The best time to visit Muar is Dec to Mar. The least rainy months, February especially, for the riverside walk.
- Best overall: December - March (The lightest rain of the year, with February averaging about 110 mm, so the riverfront and the cruise are reliable)
- Wet months: April - November (Over 200 mm a month and frequent afternoon storms; walk the old town in the morning)
February is the warmest month in Muar, with average highs of 33°C, and July the coolest, with lows of 21°C. October is the wettest month, at about 238 mm of rain; February is the driest. Muar's driest month is February, with about 112 mm of rain, and October its wettest at about 238 mm.
Visa & documents
Citizens of the UK, the EU, the US, Canada, Australia and many other countries can visit Malaysia visa-free, usually for up to 90 days. All foreign visitors must complete the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) online before arrival. Sabah and Sarawak have their own immigration controls.
Health & safety
Malaysia is generally safe. Bag snatching occurs in cities, and governments advise against non-essential travel to islands off eastern Sabah.
