As some of you might have read my previous article , I had been to Kuala Lumpur for 3 days to attend an Air Asia loyalty scheme event. Since the event was only for a day, I managed to sneak in 2 additional days of sight seeing in this beautiful city. I had last been to Kuala Lumpur in 2006 and I had to see the transformation after 11 years. Malaysia , esp Kuala Lumpur had shot to bigger fame , after the release of Rajikanth’s latest movie, Kabali which was entirely shot there. I had great expectations about how much city this city has modernized and developed. It certainly didn’t disappoint me and prompted me to write this Kuala Lumpur travel guide.
The towering skyscrapers, the innumerable malls, new attractions and of course some of the classic iconic landmarks that defined the city, Kuala Lumpur always has plenty of things to offer. Your trip itinerary can range from 1 day to 10 days. Yet you can still do plenty of things each day. In the current trip I had roughly 2.5 days (apart from some official commitments) & I wanted to make full use of it.
Quick facts about Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Languages spoken : Malay, Chinese, Tamil & English
- Time Zone difference : GMT + 8 (2.5 hours ahead of India)
- Tropical climate (expect it to be really hot during summer) with frequent rains.
- Airports : KLIA for Malaysian Airlines , KLIA 2 for AirAsia (Free shuttle buses available between the two)
- Currency : 1 Ringgit = 17 INR
- Room : 2000-3000 INR (3/4 Star Hotel)
Kuala Lumpur Travel Guide
So here’s a 3 day Trip Itinerary that one could really make use of
Day 1 : Malls / ChinaTown
The first day in any city should be explore on foot or wander across areas in public transport. As you pass through local street food corners and different areas, you get to absorb the culture, language, preferences etc.
Post check in to hotel, head to the Aquaria KLCC to see some exotic oceanarium beneath the KL convention centre.
Meanwhile grab a famous donut like bun at RotiBoy
After an hour, head to Berjaya Times Square Mall for some branded shopping. You can also visit the following malls for some awesome shopping
- NU Sentral : Located within KL Sentral station, this is a great mall to buy most of the things you need and also has several options to dine. You don’t need to step out of the station and also located in the centre of the city
- Berjaya Times Square : Some really good collection of brands and ideal place for your branded shopping .
- Low YaT plaza / Sung Wei Wan Plaza : Located close to KLCC, these are two malls (former one mainly for IT , while the second one is mainly for cheap, unbranded goods).
- Central Market : An array of shops, ideal for both branded and unbranded goods and also a great place to buy your souvenirs.
Petaling Street : Post 5 PM head for the famous China Town area in Kuala Lumpur . The central street in this area is Petaling street. A myriad of shops selling fake bags, shoes and electronics await you here, as it tests heavily on the bargaining skills as well. Note: It’s predominantly an evening market, everything sold here is a fake and so be extremely cautious while buying.
Day 2 – Batu Caves / Genting Highlands
Early morning (7-8AM) : The first thing post breakfast is to head to the World’s largest Murugan statue just beneath the Batu Caves. The place is easily accessed by a Metro directly from KL Sentral to “Batu Caves” station, although you can also take a taxi to the place.
Apart from the astounding Murugan statue, you can go on a steep 240 steps climb to reach the Batu Limestone caves. This has the main temple inside. Temple here closes at 12noon, so you may want to do this first thing. Note : There are no lifts or any other quicker way to reach the top , so it could be a tough climb for very old people. (Total time required is approximately 2 hours)
Genting Highlands
Immediately after Batu Caves, you can head to Genting Highlands, a beautiful mountainous area with plenty of entertainment options including casinos, shopping , hotels, food, a mini theme park among other attractions. You can spend all day here , stay in one of the genting highlands hotels or just give it a quick tour and back to the city by 6-7PM. You can reach here only by public taxi or tour buses and not through a metro/train.
Petronas at Night : If there’s one must-do activity in Kuala Lumpur at night, it is visiting the Petronas tower, after all the lights are decked up. Standing majestically on top of Suria KLCC mall, Petronas towers is one of the iconic landmarks of this beautiful city. You can either prebook a ticket to the top and see the spectacular city view. Else you can just spend a leisure evening walking by the musical fountain gardens and look up to the beaming twin towers reaching up to the skies.
The food court out here wasn’t really that great and recommended to grab something in a nearby restaurant for dinner.
Day 3 Malacca / Sepang
If you have the entire day ahead of you, you can go for a Malacca Historical Tour. Malacca is a UNESCO heritage historical city, situated roughly 2 hours from the city . Through a tour agency, you can opt for an entire day Malacca tour.
Or
If you are staying near to the KLIA or KLIA 2 airport and have only half a day left, you can choose to go for the Sepang Race track tour along with a visit to the Mitsui mall, For the latter, you get a To & Fro free shuttle every 30 minutes (from both airports).
The Sepang Race track tour is a 90 minute tour of the track, museum, podium and a brief tour of the different races that happen here. This includes the recently concluded Formula One Championship as well.
KLIA2 Airport Mall : If you have chosen to fly Air Asia, don’t forget to visit the beautiful mall inside KLIA 2 airport (before check-in) which has a huge range of stores and surprisingly plenty of them is affordable.
Other Places to Visit
You can also refer to the complete area wise details of Malaysia in this Unseen Malaysia guide by traveloka
Unseen Malaysia | 41 Bucket-list-worthy Destinations. View the interactive version here
If you have an additional day in KL, some of the other places to visit include :
KL Tower, Butterfly Park, Merdaka Square ( Independence Square), Bukit Bintang (For Indian stores/restaurants) , Mariamman Temple.
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Beautifully narrated…Pictures are simply marvellous as usual…Loved the detailed description of the place. Thanks for sharing.
Malaysia is Beautiful country.
Thanks for sharing this information.