One of the first pitstops you can make as you cross the Thai border by land and start traveling through the Malay Peninsula, the onetime kingly city of Alor Setar sits wedged between the Malacca Strait and the low hills that eventually run into the misty rainforests and tea plantations further south. Typically, it is treated as a stopover town that allows for good access to the palm-fringed beaches of Langkawi and the buzzy neighborhoods of multicultural Penang. But linger a little, and you will be introduced to grand architecture, mostly the legacy of the Sultan right from the Royal Gate, to the Clock Tower and the Hall of Drums.

Alor Setar tour guides will however first want to show you the bulbous domes and spiked tops of the great Zahir Mosque. It's considered one of the finest Islamic achievements of Malaysia, sporting an elaborate tiled frontage and minarets gilded with filigreed spires. There is also the UFO-like Alor Setar tower with modern lookout points, and a whole museum dedicated to the cultivation of rice. Club a visit to the later with a jaunt to the cave-cut peaks of Gunung Keriang, a mystical mountain that rises from the rice farms to the north-west.