A fleeting 3 day visit to Kuala Lumpur saw us explore some incredible spots. Due to only spending minimal time within the city I have employed some extra knowledge from a multitude of incredible bloggers to come up with a list of 10 MUST DOs for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am sure there will be something to tickle everyone’s fancy.
Firstly, our thoughts:
1) PETRONAS Towers
When in Kuala Lumpur you certainly have to check out one of the most touristy spots, the world famous and iconic PETRONAS Towers. If anyone has seen the movie Entrapment with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones, these are the twin towers that they dramatically swing from within the movie. Having visited KL back in 2012 I never anticipated the PETRONAS Towers being that busy and unfortunately missed out on visiting them. Heading back in 2015 I wasn’t going to miss this chance a second time. In fact, I prebooked my tickets just in case, which can be done online. These tickets allow you to visit the Skybridge, which joins the twin towers together at level 41. Please note that unfortunately the Skybridge will be closed from the 1st March – 2nd May 2016, if you were thinking of visiting at this time. The tickets also allow you to access the Observation Deck at level 86. Both sections give incredible views of Kuala Lumpur City and something I feel cannot be missed while exploring the city.
2) Templer Park Waterfalls
Just north of Kuala Lumpur’s city boundary lies an area known as Templer Park, which is home to an incredible waterfall. Negotiating with a taxi for a reasonable price we bundled the trip to Templers Park with the Batu Caves, which you will read about shortly thanks to Skye Class. On arrival to Templer you take a nice stroll through a park passing many cheeky monkeys before entering a rainforest area for a short and relatively easy/moderate walk to the waterfalls. During the walk you reach the waterfall at different points with various swimming areas full of locals having a blast in the water. Here you can take a dip yourself but be careful with you gear. I have heard things can go missing by either those cheeky monkeys or some not so nice people. I didn’t see any of this occurring but our taxi driver did warn us so better to be safe than sorry.
3) Where’s Sharon – KL BIRD PARK
Even if you aren’t a bird fan, you are going to love KL Bird Park! This big bird park is located in the lovely Lake Gardens area of Kuala Lumpur and is home to the biggest walk in aviary in the world. The first half of the experience is like walking around a big botanical gardens which happens to have a big net overhead and a lot of birds. It is filled with plant life and it is easy to feel like you have the park to yourself as you walk around. It is beautiful and a nice place to hang out even if you don’t want to spot the birds. There are multiple points to buy food if you want to feed the birds or fish and we saw many monkeys playing overhead on the netting. The rest of KL Bird Park had smaller aviaries, educational centres and a cool bird show. You can also feed parrots out of a cup and emus and ostriches. The whole park is very well presented, just beautiful and fun. It’s easy to spend half a day here.
Want to read more about things to do in KL with kids, check out Where’s Sharon’s post.
4) Skye Class – BATU CAVES
The Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur are the top attraction the city as to offer, after the city itself. Located just a few minutes north of the city by train, this free attraction can get crowded in the busy season. They are the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India, but a bit overrated as a religious site. Nevertheless, there are other aspects to them which are enjoyable. The limestone cliffs and caves are majestic and worth exploring. The monkey population can be very comical, except that it seems their primary purpose is screwing trash everywhere. If you really want a great adventure, book the full Adventure Tour for 80 Ringgits (about €20) to get a full tour of the Dark Cave. Just make sure you book a week in advance and bring clothes to get wet and dirty! If you just want to climb up to the main caves, there are 272 stairs to climb, and monkey’s to keep away from your possessions.
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5) A World To Travel – HELI-PAD LOUNGE BAR
Enjoying a particular love-hate relationship with cities, one of my favorite things to do every time a reach one is heading to a tall building’s top terrace and experiencing sunset – and gorgeous views over the city’s skyline – from there. In Kuala Lumpur, the HELIPAD in Menara KH did a perfect job and kept us entertained for a good couple of hours. Tons of pics were taken (and you can have a peak to the best of them on our Instagram account but this one has to be our favorite.
Not too overpriced for what’s worth, it must definitely be one of the coolest spots in KL!
6) Traveling Thru History – I-CITY
I-City is on the outskirts of a suburb of KL that covers 72 acres. This city within a city contains apartment complexes, offices, hotels and will soon host a shopping mall and various retail centers. But the main reason people go to I-City is the City of Digital Lights. When people say they are going to I-City, 99% of the time they’re talking about the City of Digital Lights. This place is pretty fascinating. There are giant sunflowers made of lights, a forest of electronically illuminated trees, peacocks, swans, camels, flying horses, Chinese lanterns and so many other things made out of beautifully colored lights. Along with the lights there is a carousel, ferris wheel, motion theater, trick art museum, wax museum, an elevated train ride through the park and various children’s activities. There are many booths to buy trinkets and the biggest attraction (after the lights) is the snowalk. It’s an indoor snow park complete with snow, igloos, ice houses, slides, snowmen, ice penguins, ice sculptures and more lights. Even if you don’t want to pay to do all of the activities at I-City, it’s free to walk around the park and I think it’s worth checking out.
Want to read more from Traveling Thru History? Please check out their blog.
7) Our3kidsvtheworld – KUALA GANDAH ELEPHANT CONSERVATION RESERVE
In October 2014 we took the kids on a trip to Asia, part of the trip included a few days stopover in Kuala Lumpur. I was keen to take the kids to visit an elephant sanctuary and was hoping for a voluntourism type environment where the kids could interact with the elephants. I came across a fella called Zali that is the lead elephant keeper at Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Reserve about 90 mins out of Kuala Lumpur. From the reviews on Trip Advisor it looked like this was exactly what we were looking for. I emailed Zali and arranged a suitable date and he picked us up from the pre-arranged location and drove us out to Kuala Gandah. Zali only encourages people that are willing to get their hands dirty as you will be required to prepare the elephants food, feed them, clean up after them (kids called that the poo patrol) and lastly get in the water and wash one of the elephants after their daily swim. This experience cost us $280AUD and an extra $170AUD for the mini bus and driver as there were 5 of us. The kids loved this experience and if your in KL I highly recommend it
Want to read more from our3kidsvthe world? Check out their blog.
8) Nomadic Boys – LITTLE INDIA
We are Stefan and Sebastien, gay couple and owners of travel blog Nomadic Boys. We based ourselves for 2 months in Kuala Lumpur in June/July 2015 in the heart of Little India. We are foodies and love love all culinary discoveries. Little India is of course the area where you’ll find some of the best Indian influenced prizes from the staples like tandoori chicken, chicken tikka to more distinct Malaysian ones like roti cannai. The best thing about being so close to a market? The giant mangoes we bought every evening…bigger then Stefan’s face!
Want to read more from Nomadic Boys? Check our their blog.
9) The Island Drum – KL HOP-ON HOP-OFF CITY TOUR
Public transportation is one thing Kuala Lumpur does quite well. The various options for getting around the capital city embrace all budgets, but for sightseers those options can often eat up precious holiday time. The bang-for-the-ringgit KL Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour bus is a 23-stop loop through Kuala Lumpur, which runs daily from 09:00 until 20:00 and stops at what are deemed as the more important, visit-worthy landmarks. The waiting time between buses is approximately 30 minutes, allowing ticketed riders to ‘hop-on or hop-off’ at any of the 23 stops. Adding to the convenience, the strategically placed stops are also just a stone’s throw from over 100 area hotels. Tickets can be purchased the day of and directly on the bus, without prior reservations, for 45-ringgit for adults and 24-ringgit for children age 5-12. Tickets are valid for 24 hours, but 48 hour tickets are also available. The full ‘loop’ tour takes about three hours and the areas covered are broken up into commercial, nature and heritage. The handy Hop-On Hop-off brochure map color codes these areas for simplicity. From the iconic PETRONAS Twin Towers to the gates of the National Palace and beyond, the tour also offers informative narratives along the way that make for an interesting day of sightseeing.
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10) Smash Vintage – KL STREET ART
There’s a part of Kuala Lumpur that almost goes unspoken these days, yet it’s the first reason why the city even exists. The Klang River passes through the city and was once the reason that people settled in the marshy area that has now become the cosmopolitan city we all know and love today. It’s a shadow of its former self, but it’s being given new life by a formidable army of local artists who repeatedly go down to the now concrete-lined river to add some colour to the grey-moulding concrete on either side. For seekers of alternative culture it’s a great place to walk along for a half hour or so, but it won’t be there for much longer. Soon the city council will be spending a vast fortune to cleanse the river and build a range of new entertainment centres, bars, clubs, and shops along the route. If you’re keen to see the best street art in Kuala Lumpur today – before it’s gone – then head down towards the Klang River.
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Want to check out more of Malaysia outside of Kuala Lumpur? Check out this Cameron Highlands Travel Guide.
So there is our thoughts? What are yours? Is there anything striking that we have missed? I would love to hear your feedback so feel free to comment!
Looking for more about KL Check out 15 hidden gems in Kuala Lumpur.