Super Saver Kuala Lumpur

The Delhi to Kuala Lumpur nonstop runs about 5.5 hours into KLIA; Malaysia sits 2.5 hours ahead, so land, transfer in, and go straight to the best free evening in Southeast Asia - KLCC park's fountain show beneath the lit Petronas Towers. A saver itinerary that opens with its best photograph.

Do the city on a small budget and a big appetite: Merdeka Square's colonial quarter, Central Market's craft stalls, and mamak restaurants around every corner - vegetarian mee goreng, roti canai with dhal, tosai at any hour. Cap it with the Petaling Street night market, where bargaining is the sport.

Batu Caves first thing, before the heat and the coach parties: 272 rainbow steps below the golden Murugan statue, knees and shoulders covered, bags held close against the resident monkeys. Then a banana-leaf lunch in Brickfields, KL's living Little India, and a lazy afternoon in the Perdana Botanical Gardens.

Day trip up to Genting Highlands, about an hour out, swapping tropical heat for genuinely cool hilltop air at 1,800 metres. Ride the Awana SkyWay cable car through the cloud line, spend the day between theme parks and the SkyAvenue mall, and carry a light jacket - everyone is surprised, every time.

A last mamak breakfast, one more teh tarik pulled properly, and out to KLIA. The super-saver maths of this trip is done at the till: Kuala Lumpur delivers big-city Asia while staying famously easy on the pocket, which is exactly the trade this itinerary was named for.