Taiping begins just beyond the gate
Hermitage Boutique House is a peaceful base for discovering Taiping, from its celebrated greenery and wildlife attractions to local food and the character of its historic town streets.
Taiping is the wettest town in Peninsular Malaysia, and everything good about it follows from that. The rain trees are enormous, the gardens are green in a way that nowhere else in the country manages, and the hills behind the town hold cloud most afternoons. From the house, the Lake Gardens, the zoo and the old shophouse grid are each a short drive, and the railway station is roughly three kilometres away.
Taiping Lake Gardens
The Lake Gardens are the reason many travellers come to Taiping in the first place. Rain trees lean out over the water with branches that reach further than seems reasonable, joggers and families share the paths in the cooler hours, and the whole place has an unforced calm that fits the pace of a stay here.
Laid out on the site of former tin mines, the gardens are among the oldest of their kind in the country, and they still function as the town’s living room. Early morning is the best time to walk them, before the humidity settles and while the reflections on the lakes are still perfectly still.
The property sits close enough that a visit is an easy addition to the day rather than an excursion to plan around, whether that means a walk before breakfast or an hour there on the way back from dinner.
Zoo Taiping and Night Safari
Set beside the Lake Gardens, Zoo Taiping is a familiar part of a family itinerary in Perak, and its night safari gives the visit a different character from a daytime trip. Animals that spend the afternoon asleep are considerably more interesting after dark, which is often reason enough to plan an additional evening in town.
Because the drive back to the house is short, families can go out for the evening session without worrying about a long journey with tired children afterwards.
Visit Zoo Taiping & Night SafariThe town itself
Taiping rewards wandering. Old shophouses, kopitiam breakfasts, small cafes and street food stalls give the town centre its atmosphere, and the surrounding hills and green spaces are never far away. The grid is compact enough to cover on foot in a morning, which is the best way to notice the ironwork, the tiles and the faded signage that survive from the tin-mining years.
Taiping railway station is roughly three kilometres from the property, which is useful for guests arriving by train from Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh or Butterworth. Free private parking on site makes the house equally practical for anyone driving.
A few minutes from the gate
A handful of nearby places give a sense of the immediate neighbourhood. These are independent businesses with no affiliation to the property, and distances are approximate and may vary depending on the route you take on foot.
- SKY Bar approx. 300 m
- A short walk from the gate, useful for an unhurried drink once the day has been walked out of your legs.
- Rain Tree Cafe approx. 300 m
- Close enough for a morning coffee run before anyone in the house has properly woken up.
- Kopitiam 126 approx. 550 m
- A local coffee shop of the kind Taiping does particularly well, a few minutes on foot from the property.
Plan more of your Perak journey
Tourism Perak publishes practical information on the Larut, Matang and Selama district that surrounds Taiping, including the mangroves at Kuala Sepetang, the hill stations above the town and the smaller villages in between. It is a useful starting point if you are building an itinerary beyond the gardens and the zoo.
Make Hermitage your Taiping base
Spend the day among gardens, wildlife and old shophouses, then come back to a quiet house with the pool waiting in the courtyard and the town settling down around you.
The 24-hour front desk can answer questions about arrival times, extra beds or anything else you need to settle before you travel.
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