It's not easy to travel around Melaka since the public transportation there is not that advanced. They don't have MRT or stuff like that. So, your best bet will be rental car (taxi), trishaw and bus. Melaka is not as user-friendly as Penang.
Melaka Sentral is a transportation hub of buses services and taxi services in Melaka. All the buses will stop in Melaka Sentral as their last stop.
In Melaka, the taxi is actually rental car. It is quite cheap to get a rental car. You can take the taxi from the Melaka Sentral, and the price is around RM15 to Melaka Red House during daytime. Metered taxi is everywhere but normally they don't go by meter. RM5- RM10 should be enough to bring you around unless you're going somewhere far. The taxi from Melaka Sentral bus station to Jonker Walk is around RM12 at 7pm. Cheaper than Penang!
Trishaw used to be a cheap transport in Melaka. Since tourism in Melaka bloomed, so does the trishaw fare. Now, trishaw has become the most expensive transport in Melaka! If you wanted to just try out for once, go ahead. For the price will be MYR 40 per hour per trishaw.
Bus service is reasonably cheap. Some of the buses have windows and no air-conditioning. They don't use travel pass / 1-day ticket or anything like that. You pay per ride. They have a bus conductor that goes around to collect bus fare. If you're from a big city, it's nice to try out the old style bus. The Panorama Melaka bus from Sentral (7am blue line & 9am red line until 8.30/9.30pm) are hop on/off buses for RM2 per person. Local bus from Hang Tuah Mall to Sentral is RM1.
- Malacca Town Bus No 17 (green bus): Melaka Sentral Terminal to the historic core, Mahkota Parade, Melaka Raya and the Portuguese Settlement
- Malacca Town Bus No 18: Melaka Sentral Terminal to Tengkera and onwards to Pokok Mangga
- Malacca Town Bus No 19: Melaka Sentral Terminal to Ayer Keroh
- Malacca Town Bus No. 50: Melaka Sentral Terminal to the Mahkota Parade shopping centre and nearby seafood restaurants
- Kenderaan Aziz (red and white): Buses from Melaka Sentral to Muar via Padang Temu also go past the historic core, Mahkota Parade and Melaka Raya .
You can buy your interstate bus tickets at Melaka Sentral. e.g. 707 bus from Melaka Sentral to Singapore Queen St is RM22. Buses run every hour. Book a day in advance if possible.
Melaka is a city that comes alive Friday evening until Sunday evening. Weeknights it is very quiet. Not many shops in Chinatown opened for dinner after 7p.m. weeknights.