Kuala Lumpur, the sprawling metropolitan capital of Malaysia. A melting pot of culture, excellent food and an ever-popular transit hub for flights in and around Asia. Whether it’s your first stop on a South East Asian adventure, a visa run bolthole or a quick stop over, whatever the purpose of your visit then you’ll need to know which spots are worth adding to your KL itinerary. So, I’ve put together a list of the best things to do in the city – most of which are FREE!
Best time to visit:
Due to Malaysia’s proximity to the equator, there is little variation in temperatures throughout the year. The main thing to note before visiting is that Monsoon rains hit Kuala Lumpur from October to March and peak rainfall and humidity strike between September and November. We didn’t check this beforehand and timed our visit to KL bang in the middle of November.
It wasn’t awful all the time. Generally the mornings and evenings were sunny and calm so we went out early and then in the afternoons there were pretty horrendous storms so we just sheltered from the rain in our Airbnb or at one of the many shopping complexes with AC.
If you are looking to avoid the heaviest of the monsoon then June-August is your best bet.
Currency:
The currency in Kuala Lumpur is the Malaysian ringgit (MYR). We hardly ever withdraw cash before arriving in a country as the exchange rate isn’t strikingly different either way. More often than not we just rely on finding an ATM and then withdraw X amount which has worked for us so far. Since leaving the UK in 2018 we have both used Monzo and more recently Transfer Wise as they make banking around the world so much easier. Trust me, you don’t want to even try ringing Sainsbury’s bank from a different time zone every time they block your card.
Best way to get around the city:
The easiest and most affordable way to get around Kuala Lumpur is by metro, you can get your tickets from the machines or at the counter. Fares between two connecting stations are about RM1.20 approx. £0.22. Alternatively, we found it super cheap to use Grab (Uber in SE Asia) so we used that a lot of the time, especially when the monsoon rains hit!
Things to do in KUALA LUMPUR
Thean Hou Temple
Probably my favourite place in the city, Thean Hou is one of southeast Asia’s largest Chinese temples. It is just a gorgeous place, super peaceful and wonderfully colourful. Thean Hou is situated on a hilltop just outside the centre of the city. It has a terrific vantage point over the city and we loved it there. We visited for opening at 8.00am and it was so quiet, there was like one other person there, it was our favourite spot in the city for sure.
Entrance fee: Free!
Petronas Towers & KLCC Park
It wouldn’t be a visit to Kuala Lumpur without seeing the Petronas Towers. Until 2004 they were the tallest buildings in the world until they were surpassed by Taipei 101. Visiting is not for the feint hearted as, I’m sure you can imagine these iconic towers are no hidden gem. As with any popular site in any city, if you want to avoid huge crowds then try to visit early in the morning. If not then be very prepared for people doing ridiculous things for photos with the towers in.
Otherwise pop over to KLCC Park, located right behind the towers where you can chill on the grass and admire the towers without being disturbed. Be sure to make a trip back to the towers in the evening as they look pretty epic lit up and again make sure to head over to KLCC, specifically the esplanade under Suria KLCC, as there is a light show over the lake. Every night two musical fountains display over 150 animations in sync with a snazzy symphony of light and water. The light show is free and takes place at 8pm, 9pm and 10pm daily.
Batu Caves
The Batu Caves are an important pilgrimage site for Hindus dedicated to Lord Murugan, you cant miss him – he’s that ginormous gold statue. As well as a Hindu shrine, the cave is a popular tourist attraction, becoming even more popular due to its rainbow coloured staircase. The 272 stairs carved in to the limestone hill were painted in 2018. We visited at 7am and there was hardly anyone else there, except for the insane amount of pigeons.
Be sure to cover your shoulders/knees if you want to enter the caves at the top and please don’t have any food with you, or anything hanging out of your bag as the monkeys will swipe it and it was really infuriating to see people not adhering to this request and the monkeys eating plastic and other trash.
We got a Grab to and from the Batu Caves for around 25MYR approx £4.60 each way but the easiest and cheapest option is to get the train as a one way train ticket to Batu Caves is only 2.6 MYR. For all the info on how to get to the cave check out The Daily Pill’s guide.
Entrance fee: Free
KL Forest Eco Park
Hidden amidst the bustling streets and towering skyscrapers you’ll find KL Forest Eco Park – one of the oldest forest reserves in Malaysia. Previously known as Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, urban development has meant that the parks size has shrunk to just over 9 hectares and is the only remaining stretch of tropical rainforest within the KL metropolis. At the heart of this forest reserve is a super cool 200m canopy walk providing awesome aerial views across the soaring treetops to the city and beyond.
Just note that this is a forest reserve and there are wild monkeys knocking about. Just be calm (not like Josh) and they’ll keep their distance. KL Forest Eco Park is open from 7am to 7pm daily, entrance to the park and walking the canopy walk is FREE!
Bukit Bintang Street Art
Bukit Bintang, translation: Starhill, is one of Kuala Lumpur’s most-visited districts, home to some of the city’s biggest shopping malls as well as the popular street food district of Jalan Alor. In recent years Kuala Lumpur City Hall decided to transform these streets into art projects, turning otherwise dull tower blocks into jazzy, colourful works of art.
Cocktails at the Heli Pad Bar
Kuala Lumpur is home to many rooftop bars overlooking the city. One of the more novelty bars is probably The Helipad Lounge – an active helicopter landing pad that transforms into a bar after 6 PM. Don’t be under any illusions this is no more than what it says on the tin and its just a bunch of tables/chairs sprawled across a helipad with somewhat questionable health and safety protocols. Nonetheless, it’s still a pretty novel place to watch the sunset with a cocktail. FYI we paid 120MYR for 4 cocktails so approx £22.00.
Dress code: Casual from 6 – 8 PM.
Sri Mahamariamman Temple & Chinatown
Chinatown is very much at the heart of Kuala Lumpur in Petaling Street. Oozing with culture and tradition, Chinatown is also well-known for being a bargain hunter’s paradise, a treasure trove of traditional Chinese herbs and every imitation pair of sunglasses, jeans and trainers that you can think of. One of our favourite spots in Chinatown was the Sri Mahamariamman temple, a large and elaborate Hindu temple founded by Tamil immigrants, from southern India, its meticulous craftsmanship and vivid colours are definitely to be admired.
Indian food at The Ganga Café
If you love Indian food then you can’t go wrong in KL. Now there is obviously Little India also known as Brickfields located a stones throw from KL Sentral. However, our favourite Indian Restaurant was located a little further out of the city in Bangsar – The Ganga Café – A cosy little vegetarian place serving up delicious food and drinks! With their garden just behind the restaurant supplying many of the ingredients for their dishes, they are taking ‘local and organic’ to the next level. We ordered based on the waiters recommendations and the food was just delicious. The restaurant was super busy when we arrived so you might have to wait for a table — but its well worth it! We paid 62MYR for 2 so approx. £11.50.
The Ganga Café
Indian Vegetarian Restaurant
19 Lorong Kurau
Taman Bukit Pantai
5100 Kuala Lumpur
+6 (0)3 2284 2119
Merchants Café
Featured in many a blog post, I bring you the most Instagrammable cafe in Kuala Lumper – Merchant’s Lane Café. Worth the hype, Merchant’s Lane Cafe can be entered via a tiny blue door next to a local newspaper store, keep an eye out as its not all that obvious at first. Also check the opening hours as we went on a weekday and the café doesn’t open until 11.30ish, it wasn’t too busy though and the food was really good. We spent 67MYR so £12.40 for both of us.
And that’s it! I really hope you enjoyed reading and that this helped with planning your trip to the Malaysian capital. If you are looking for somewhere to stay then check out this post all about the AirBnb we stayed in with excellent views of the Patronus Towers. If you are travelling further afield in Malaysia then check out my guide on How to Spend 24 Hours in Malacca or perhaps you are heading north to Georgetown and need some foodie recommendations.
You must be logged in to post a comment.