Kinabalu Highlands Express

Once you have arrived at Kota Kinabalu Airport, you are transferred to your accommodation in the city to check in. With the rest of the day free, you might spend time exploring the city and its nightlife at your own pace.

At 4:45 pm, you are transferred to Sutera Marina Jetty for a Sunset Dinner Cruise with North Borneo Cruises. Your evening unfolds along the South China Sea as you cruise past islands and water villages dotting Sabah's west coast, with panoramic ocean views and a gentle sea breeze from the upper deck. Below, a live band plays acoustic favourites in the ethnic-themed, air-conditioned restaurant.

Dinner is served buffet style, giving you the chance to sample some of Sabah's most sought-after dishes as the sun sets and the city's coastline comes alive with lights. You disembark at Sutera Marina Jetty and are transferred back to your accommodation.

After being collected from your hotel lobby, you head straight into Sabah's lush countryside. Your first stop is Tamparuli Town, where you walk across the famous Jambatan Tamparuli suspension bridge and take in the charm of this small town.

From here, you continue to Nabalu Handicraft Market, a rustic hillside spot where local natives sell fresh produce, fruit, homegrown vegetables and handicraft souvenirs. You stop for lunch at a local restaurant before continuing to Desa Cow Farm, set across 199 hectares of pristine farmland at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu. The farm's cattle graze the green valley pastures to produce nearly one million litres of mountain-fresh milk each year. Here, you can get close to the cattle, bottle-feed the calves, and sample fresh milk or yoghurt produced on site.

You then transfer to Kundasang and check in to your accommodation, noticing the change in air temperature at this elevated setting. The rest of the day is free for you to explore before a dinner and overnight stay in the mountains.

You wake to a misty morning, with Mount Kinabalu emerging through low-hanging cloud and birdsong drifting across the valley. Your first stop is Poring Hot Springs, where a 20-minute hike leads you to the Canopy Treetop Walk - a 175-metre walkway suspended 60 metres above a hundred-million-year-old rainforest, offering a bird's-eye view of the jungle and its resident wildlife.

Afterwards, you unwind with a soothing sulphur bath in Japanese-style open-air tubs, surrounded by landscaped gardens, with a cold-water pool nearby for those who prefer it. Following lunch at a local restaurant, you continue to Kinabalu National Park - part of the Kinabalu UNESCO Global Geopark and Malaysia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. Set 1,500 metres above sea level and covering 754 square kilometres, the park is centred on Mount Kinabalu, rising to 4,095.2 metres as one of the tallest peaks in South East Asia.

You take a guided walk along the nature trails of the Botanical Garden, learning more about the park's biodiversity, before returning to Kota Kinabalu, where you are dropped off at your accommodation.

After breakfast, you check out and transfer to the airport for your onward flight, bringing your tour of Sabah to a close.