Four days through Malaysia on the Eastern & Oriental Express, a Belmond train. You're not really going anywhere in a hurry. That's rather the idea. Deep green and gold, the whole length of it. Art Deco inside, fittings of a sort nobody commissions any more. The windows do most of the talking: a city out of one, jungle out of the next, the two swapping over while you sit perfectly still and let the route do the joining-up. Dinner is silver service. Tables laid properly, on a moving train, which is fiddlier than over a fixed floor and rather the point of it. The guides are what people go on about afterwards. Ask one something and you get an answer worth having, not a line off a card. There are photography excursions too, off the train and on foot, so Malaysia turns up twice. Once through glass. The second time at walking pace, next to somebody who actually knows the country. And slow. On purpose. You won't make good time and nobody's pretending otherwise. Somewhere around the second night the cabin quietly stops reading as transport. It becomes a room you happen to be living in. Yours, for now. A train, strictly speaking. Behaves like one about half the time.

Guests who prioritise location and a comfortable stay.

Eastern & Oriental Express consistently delivers comfortable stays with reliable service standards.

People say this train journey through Malaysia is a four-day adventure that delivers a five-star experience on rails. They highlight the beautifully set tables, the photography-tour excursions, and the silver-service dining. They also like the level of knowledge from the onboard guides and the quality of the accommodation in the cabins.

The classic Eastern & Oriental cabin. Daytime sofa seating converts to comfortable berths come evening, with an en-suite bathroom, air conditioning and round-the-clock steward service.

A spacious cabin with two single beds at floor level, an en-suite bathroom and air conditioning. Recline by day, then settle in with a nightcap as the Malaysian landscape slips past, with round-the-clock steward service throughout.

The largest cabin on the train, and the windows to match. Room to sit, a bathroom of your own. Champagne flows freely, and a steward's on hand whenever you ring, day or night.

Your Sands Premier Room comes with floor-to-ceiling windows and a choice of one king or two twin beds. City or garden, depending on the room. There's a deep soaking bath, a work desk, and Wi-Fi that won't show up on the bill. Part of the redesigned Sands Collection.

The train stops at Merapoh, a small station in Pahang on the edge of Taman Negara National Park, a rainforest commonly put at around 130 million years old. You pick one way to spend the day there. The conservation tour takes you into Malayan tiger habitat with local activists working to protect the species; sightings aren't expected, and the visit is run to leave the animals undisturbed. A nature photographer and conservationist leads the photography outing. The caves route links the limestone caves around Merapoh by e-bike, with guides who know their history and geology. If you'd sooner slow down, there's sunrise yoga, forest bathing and sound meditation in the forest. Options are allocated first come, first served, and each one is guided.

Three ways to take George Town, depending on your mood. Art first: a guided tour of the Old Quarter, past the shophouses and the cultures layered into them, then into the studios of artists actually working there. Or chase the food: shop the spice and grocery stores for Peranakan ingredients, then cook the dishes yourself in a class. Want neither? You get a tri-shaw, a driver and a map, and you wander the streets, stopping wherever takes your fancy.