DIY Walking Tour of Melaka's Dutch Square

Photo by Joel Lopez.

The historical portion of Melaka lies in parallel with its river. It is a small portion of Melaka City, and an even smaller portion of Melaka, the state. Melaka, according to Malaysia's tourism website, is the heart of the nation. We were in Melaka for its heritage and culture, and taking a DIY walking tour was an easy feat as it is very doable. When we arrived at Layang-Layang Hostel, the attendant gave us a "welcome kit." The welcome kit was a printed map of all the places to eat in Melaka, keys to the hostel, instructions on how to rent their bikes, and tidbit that there is a free walking tour in the city every Thursdays every Thursday at 9AM and 1PM, which will run for at least 3 hours each tour. All you need to do is show up at the tourism office, at the Red Square, before the designated time and sign up for the tour. If you can't avail of the tour, a DIY tour is easy to achieve because the historical portion of the city is not that big but I think a more knowledgeable tour guide would have made our tour fun, interesting, and insightful.

After freshening up at the hostel (and me, after depositing all I've eaten for that day in the hostel's toilet), we walked towards the square. It was not a long walk and we found the square was full of tourists at that time. If you take the photo above as a reference point, we started from the white building far head. That is an old building that was converted into an H&M shop. The opening day was the following day. On the left of the photo would be the tourism center. We walked towards the right.

Here's the itinerary to our DIY walking tour:

We crossed the bridge from Hard Rock Cafe to the first red building we saw. There was no inscription as to what the building was called but we saw that most of the building was closed and there were lots of bird droppings (which means it has not been used for some time). We walked further along Jalan Laksamana until we saw the Church of St. Francis Xavier. The only thing I learned about this church was that it was established in 1856. We could not enter because the gate was locked that time. Then we crossed the street to the other side of Jalan Laksamana. (Note: There was no pedestrian lane, so cross with caution). Along Jalan Laksamana, we saw Chinese curio shops, reggae bars, a coffee shop, and a museum.

Photo by my cousin.

After Jalan Laksama, we walked towards Melaka Art Gallery. We did not enter because it seemed close that day also.

We proceeded to Christ Church Melaka. I was surprised that somebody was selling souvenirs at the door of the church. I loved the interiors of the church because it had high ceiling and was not stuffy, although I must say there are grander churches here in the Philippines compared to this church. I found an inscription at the wall romantic (see below).

Queen Victoria's Fountain

Because it was so hot that day, we walked towards a souvenir shop to seek comfort under the shade. This building was the Stadthuys. We climbed the stairs towards a museum but did not go inside again because there was a fee. The thing is, you can just visit the tourism office and get their brochure, and learn more about the city through the brochure. I also noticed that what was unique in Melaka were the buildings themselves. The buildings will tell you of history already.

Photo from my cousin.

Photo from my cousin.

We walked further until we saw an old train and realized they were relics from World War II. The train has a shop inside but you have to pay to get in. I think the train used to travel to Kuala Lumpur, and maybe from Johor Bahru? There's a train, by the way, from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur, but it won't stop over in Melaka.

After touring this area, we walked further until we saw a mall. And that will be subject to another post. :) Stay tuned.