We are planning a trip to Malaysia and Bangkok next month for close to 2 weeks. Planning on spending a couple days in KL and then head to a beach for a few days just to relax, then head to Bangkok for about 4-5 days, and back to KL before we fly out. The question is where to spend beach time--we are not big beach people in terms of soaking up the sun but more into enjoying natural beauty and just relaxing. Also, have a toddler with us--so relaxing will be key! We had originally thought of Phuket but lately have heard a lot about Langkawi. Any advice?

There is a great article about Langkawi in this month's Conde Nast Traveller (US edition). lots of pictures...might help you with your decision.

i have been to both places and i prefer langkawi...there is not much to do there but relax which would be fine with a child...i would look for one of the larger places like the out of town sheraton or the malay resorts out past the sheraton---forget the names...

plus langkawi is very near to K/L

i recently saw an article on the bon ton...when i was in langkawi this was only a restaurant but now i guess they accept guests as well...you might check it out....it is a wonderful restaurant so i would guess the rooms are nice as well

I went to Langkawi several times whilst living in Phuket in the 'old days' when there were flights. They are so totally different.

What I liked about Langkawi: Driving around the island, quiet roads, easy driving, lovely scenery, quiet and relaxing.
What I didn't like: Well, after Phuket is was 'very quiet', so that it not a criticism just to compare. There was little in the way of shopping although I had had high hopes as it is duty free, but that turned to nothing.

If you are traveling from KL to Bangkok then perhaps a nice quiet beach area in between would be nice, and for relaxation Langkawi is very nice.
The only logistical problem you would have is flights as there still are no flights between langkawi and Bangkok, so you would have to route via Penang or Langkawi. However, you can fly easily from KL to Phuket and then more than 20+ flights to Bangkok. Phuket is getting very busy now and prcies start to hike up.

As you say you are not so much into the beach but want some natural beauty and relaxation had you considored taking a straight non stop flight from KL to Bangkok ( 1 hr 50 ) and then perhaps head to one of the beaches close to Bangkok ?

That would be the ease of flying straight to bangkok and then you could spend a few days perhaps in Hua Hin where you will get the pools and nice resorts plus be able to do some sightseeing trips and be just a couple of hours cab ride from and to Bangkok, with a toddler that would be easy. Pick a nice beach place that has baby-sitting and then relax by the pool, enjoy some great spa and massage, nice resdtaurants and then some elephant rides/national park/temples trips, just an idea.

On those flights to clarify for langkawi you would need to do either KUL-Langkawi-KL-Bangkok or, if you can fit the times ok ( there are I believe only 2 per day between Langkawi and Penang ) KL-Langkawi-Penang-Bangkok ( penang to bangkok is once daily Thai which is early morning so that's no good for a connection but Air Asia do it once a day, budget airline, "maybe" you could connect to that flight but chances are slim ) so you would have to go back thu KL.

Thank you so much--this is so helpful. It was the Conde Nast article that piqued my interest but had no idea about logistics. So thanks for all that great info. The idea of Hua Hin is a good one too--thank you. Will get back to trying to figure this out!