KL to Muar by car is about 180 km, roughly two hours on the North-South Expressway with no traffic. That makes it a proper day trip: two hours down, a day of eating, two hours back. Muar is the royal town of Johor, declared in 2012, and it sits at the mouth of the Muar River, south of Melaka. The reason to drive down is the food, and the plan below is built around it.
The plan
7.30 am. Leave PJ. Take the expressway south through Seremban; the Seremban food trip is the same road if you want a different day. Skip the rest areas unless you need one: breakfast is in Muar.
8.45 am. Pass the Ayer Keroh exit for Melaka. If you're tempted, that's a separate day: our Melaka day trip has it.
9.30 am. Off at Tangkak, Bukit Gambir or Pagoh (exits 235, 236 and 238). Let Waze pick depending on where you're eating first. There's a rest area at Pagoh if you need one.
10 am. Kopi 434, on Jalan Maharani. It opened in 1953 and is named after the last digits of an old house phone number. Order the iced coffee or the hot Muar white coffee with toast, and buy beans to take home.
11 am. Walk it off. Dataran Tanjung Emas is the riverside park at the river mouth, and Masjid Jamek Sultan Ibrahim sits beside the river nearby. Then find the Maharani mural lane, a narrow back lane of painted walls.
12.30 pm. Mee bandung at Mee Bandung Abu Bakar Hanipah on Jalan Abdullah, which has served it since 1930. It's a daytime shop, so this is your window. They also sell the paste to take home.
2 pm. Take the 30-minute river cruise from the Tanjung Emas jetty, or sit somewhere with air-conditioning.
3.30 pm. Asam pedas: a stall on Jalan Junid is known for its fish and beef versions. If you'd rather have soup, Muar Soup House on Jalan Sisi does mamak-style mutton soup from noon.
5.30 pm. Ikan bakar at Sabak Awor, the riverside food court with grilled fish and seafood stalls. They open in the evening, so this is your last stop.
7 pm. Head home. Expect to reach PJ around 9 pm, later on a Sunday evening or at the end of a holiday, when traffic heading back to KL is heavier. Our guide to KL traffic times shows when the roads into the city are worst.
Opening hours at small shops change, and many close one day a week. Check each place on Google Maps the night before.
Day trip or one night
Two hours each way is fine for one driver, and with a Grandpride self-drive car only the named renter may drive. If the same person is doing both legs and eating heavily in between, staying one night and driving home after breakfast is the more comfortable plan. It also lets you add Kluang, inland in the middle of Johor, the next morning.
Mileage
The round trip is about 360 km before any driving in town. Every rental includes 120 km a day.
| Plan | Included | Add | Total allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day trip (1 day) | 120 km | Unlimited | No limit |
| One night (2 days) | 240 km | +100 km a day | 440 km |
Unlimited costs less per km than paying the car's per-km rate after the trip. Pick up a loaded Touch 'n Go card with the keys for the expressway tolls (RM 50 to RM 500, you pay what you load), and bring the car back with the same fuel level.
The car
Nothing about this trip needs a big car. For two, the BMW 3 Series at RM 1,500 a day is plenty. On a tighter budget, the Perodua Myvi is RM 200 a day and fits the smallest shophouse parking spaces. For four adults and their takeaway bags, look at the bigger cars on the sedan list.
