Red walls
Brick ramparts on the riverbank.
The Bangsawan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marufish — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Malekhanif at ms.wikipedia — CC BY-SA 3.0
A red-brick fort at the mouth of the Kedah River, built between 1771 and 1780 under Sultan Muhammad Jiwa to guard the capital and the river entrance, and designed by an engineer named Hafiz Sab with designers from India. Its walls witnessed attacks by the Bugis, the Acehnese and the Siamese in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The fort's story continued long after: the British added government offices and a lighthouse nearby in 1909, and the Japanese used it as a military headquarters in the Second World War until 1945. It was declared a historic site in 1978, and since 2000 excavations have uncovered parts of its buildings and its gateways have been rebuilt. Today the site is an open-air museum: red-brick walls running along the riverbank, an elegant white gateway and exposed foundations. Entry is free, and it opens daily from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon. It stands near the Kuala Kedah ferry jetty, where boats leave for Langkawi, so make it a stop before or after the ferry. It is loveliest just before sunset, when the walls glow red above the water.
Brick ramparts on the riverbank.
The fort's rebuilt entrance.
Before or after your trip to Langkawi.
Kuala Kedah, at the mouth of the Kedah River, about 12 km west of Alor Setar
Yes, it is close to the Kuala Kedah ferry jetty, and half an hour to an hour is enough to walk its walls. Leave enough time before your ferry.