Rucksack Caratel

Top choice in Melaka City


There's a fun flashpacker vibe at this great budget choice. The cheapest rooms are in mock 'caravans' on the ground floor, each given a famous star's name and decorated with their portrait. Pricier rooms offer king-sized beds and views of the neighbouring lush gardens of Sultanate Palace.

If it's full, ask after Rucksack's excellent Jonker Wing accommodation on nearby Jln Laksamana.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Melaka City attractions

1. Sultanate Palace

0.06 MILES

This wooden replica of the palace of Sultan Mansur Shah, who ruled Melaka from 1456 to 1477, houses an open-air cultural museum and lovely gardens. The…

2. Proclamation of Independence Memorial

0.09 MILES

Centuries of Melaka's history are explained within this handsome 1912 mansion that used to house the Malacca Club, a one-time social hub of British…

3. St Paul's Church

0.13 MILES

The evocative and sublime ruin of St Paul's Church crowns the summit of Bukit St Paul overlooking central Melaka. Steep stairs from Jln Kota or Jln Chang…

4. Porta de Santiago

0.13 MILES

Most visitors pause for a photo here before hiking to the ruined church on Bukit St Paul. Porta de Santiago was built as a Portuguese fortress in 1511;…

5. Christ Church

0.17 MILES

Built in 1753 from laterite bricks brought from Zeeland in Holland, this eye-catching cherry-pink church is one of the most photographed and imposing…

6. St Francis' Institution Melaka

0.17 MILES

Originally founded in 1880 and once named St Mary's School, this charming, red-roofed Roman Catholic school is worth a visit to explore its pleasant…

7. St Francis Xavier's Church

0.19 MILES

A central landmark, this mid-19th-century neo-Gothic building was once the largest church built by the MEP (Paris Foreign Missionary) in the Malay…

8. History & Ethnography Museums Complex

0.19 MILES

The ground floor of the Stadthuys houses Melaka's most interesting museum, which focuses on the city's fascinating history and ethnography. Exhibits…