Despite being relatively close to Malaysia, I’ve never been to Kuala Lumpur until last month, when I flew over during a long weekend for a concert. Here are some things to do in Kuala Lumpur and how to make the most of your trip in Kuala Lumpur with this KL itinerary.
Overview of this KL Itinerary
Day 1: Petronas Twin Tower, KLCC, Pavilion, Jalan Alor Food Street
Petronas Towers
Also known as the Petronas Twin Towers or KLCC Twin Towers, the Petronas Towers have become an iconic landmark of Kualu Lumpur. The Petronas Towers are made up of 2 88-storey skyscrapers and houses the headquarters of Petronas, the national petroleum company of Malaysia, which is why you will see Petronas-branded race cars in the lobby area.
You can get tickets to tour the towers and get a bird’s eye view of the city, but I think the towers are best viewed from the base of the towers, where the fountains are. You can also check out various rooftop bars around the area such as Vertigo, for a different perspective of the towers.
Opening hours: Tues – Sun, 10.00am – 6.00pm (Last Admission at 5.30pm), closed on Mondays
Address: Lower Ground (Concourse) Level, PETRONAS Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50088, Kuala Lumpur
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Suria KLCC
Known as KLCC for short, Suria KLCC is a large 6-storey mall connected to the Petronas Towers. With over 300 stores, there’s definitely something for everyone.
KLCC is a good stop to get a meal or even just to get out of the heat after taking photos outside of the Petronas Towers.
During my trip, the Isetan at KLCC was hosting a branded goods discount fair and my friend managed to buy a vintage Gucci tote for SGD 200! I think it’s definitely worth checking out if there are events happening during your trip.
Opening hours: Daily, 10am – 10pm
Address: 241, Petronas Twin Tower, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50088 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
Just when you thought KLCC is huge, Pavilion tops that with over 700 stores, with a large portion of them being branded boutiques.
To be honest, we did not explore Pavilion much but we did find ourselves coming back for food options as it was near our hotel.
Tip: If you don’t mind walking, I would really recommend walking to Pavilion from KLCC as it would take the same amount of time walking and getting a taxi, due to the crazy traffic in the city centre. It would take about 15 minutes to get from KLCC to Pavilion on foot.
Opening hours: Daily, 10am – 10pm
Address: 168, Bukit Bintang St, Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Website
Jalan Alor Food Street
An 11-minute walk away from Pavilion is Jalan Alor Food Street, which consists of many food stalls selling mainly Malaysian, Chinese and Thai. With both sides of the streets lined with food stalls, there’s plenty for you to choose from, but you’ll definitely not be able to cover every stall in 1 visit.
Jalan Alor Food Street is definitely a great place to get a taste of the Malaysian (and Asian) food culture.
We ate at Alor Thai BBQ, which is a Thai food stall at the end of the street, and our bill came up to RM 56 ( ≈SGD 16.85) for a beef boat noodle, a minced pork rice with egg, a plate of vegetables and two drinks. The food was only average, I’d say try some other stalls instead.
Opening hours: Daily, 4pm – 3am (individual stalls’ opening hours may differ)
Day 2: Batu Caves, Wilayah Mosque, Midvalley Megamall
Batu Caves
The Batu Caves are one of the most popular tourist attractions and this is also a place of pilgrimage for Tamil Hindus. There’s a total of 272 steps and 3 caves here — the Temple Cave, Ramayana Cave, and Dark Cave.
When you first enter the compound, you’ll be greet by a 140 feet tall Lord Murugan statue and fun fact, over 300 litres of gold paint was used in painting the statue.
Dress moderately, which means that to have your shoulders and knees covered. Do not carry food around as the monkeys will snatch them from you! We witnessed monkeys snatching a bottle of chips out of a woman’s plastic bag.
Note: If you are taking a taxi, it will cost RM2 ( ≈SGD 0.60) if your taxi drives into the compound.
Opening hours: 7am – 9pm
Entrance fee: Free
Wilayah Mosque (Masjid Wilayah)
Also known as The Federal Territory Mosque, the Wilayah Mosque is a must-see for architecture lovers. When you get to the mosque, you’ll be handed a robe (both males and females) and head covering (for females), even if you’re wearing long pants.
Once you’re dressed, you’ll be led on a guided tour around the mosque. Our guide, Bob shared really interesting facts about the mosque and religion with us and you’ll have many chances to get photos during the tour. The tour took about an hour because we were in a group with quite a few guests and stopped many times for photos.
Due to the rules of the mosque, if you want to walk around without a guide after the tour, you’ll have to inform your guide and he/she will have to arrange it for you.
Address: Jln Tuanku Abdul Halim, Kompleks Kerajaan, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Day 3: Midvalley Megamall, Ring making @ Zo.Craft, Mitsui Outlet Park
Mid Valley Megamall
Midvalley Megamall is one of the biggest shopping malls in Malaysia and has everything from restaurants to a cinema. We started our day here to get a meal and walked around for a bit.
Note: The mall is huge and has several entrances. The taxi stands are at the North and South entrances on the Ground floor. Check out the mall map for more information.
Opening hours: 10am – 10pm
Address: Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Optional stop: Midvalley Megamall is a 6-minute drive from Thean Hou Temple, which is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Kuala Lumpur, and is also an Instagrammer’s heaven. Please be respectful if you do visit as it is a place of worship.
Zo.Craft
I chanced upon Zo.craft on Tiktok a few days prior to my KL trip and thought it would be an interesting experience as I’ve always wanted to try making a ring!
When we got to the studio, we were shown the designs available and to pick a design we wanted to recreate for our rings. Once we chose our design (we chose the infinity design), we were shown to our work stations and the ring making process began! The staff will guide you step by step but most of the soldering and polishing were done by the staff.
The couple rings workshop we attended came with silver rings, but you can top up for gold rings and diamond inlays too. Many couples have their wedding bands done here and I can see why, it’s pretty special to create your own wedding bands!
There are 2 time slots per day for Zo.craft — 10am and 2pm, it would be best to book in advance to secure your preferred date and time slot.
Price: RM580/2pax (≈SGD$173.25)
Address: Malaysia, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Sentul Point Suite Apartment, Unit A2-23
Website | Instagram
Mitsui Outlet Park
Being 5 minutes away from the airport, Mitsui Outlet Park is a great buffer before heading to the airport. The KL airport is quite far away from the city so it would be good to be nearby. For context, it took us ~2 hours to get from Zo.craft to Mitsui Outlet Park via taxi and a taxi ride from the airport to the city centre takes around 40 minutes – an hour, depending on the traffic.
To be honest, the outlets in Mitsui Outlet Park were not very impressive and I very much preferred the outlet village in JB. We spent about an hour at the Mitsui and decided to head to the airport early.
Read also: The Alternative JB Itinerary
There is also a regular shuttle bus service between the airport and Mitsui Outlet Park that leaves Mitsui every 20 minutes so it’s great to take advantage of that to get to the airport.
Opening hours: 10am – 10pm
Website
Day Trips from Kuala Lumpur
If you have more days than things to do in Kuala Lumpur, you can consider taking a day trip out of KL. There are a number of destinations reachable within an hour or so.
Genting Highlands
Genting Highlands is a popular tourist location and home to the only gambling complex that is legal in Malaysia. Genting Highlands is also a great place for you to escape the heat, with usual temperatures hovering around 22 degrees. Many people also visit Genting for the Resorts World Genting Skyworlds theme park, which replaced the old Genting Highlands theme park.
Genting Highlands is around an hour by car or bus from Kuala Lumpur and the most affordable option would be to take a bus. Bus tickets can go for as cheap as RM6 (≈SGD 1.80).
Putrajaya
Putrajaya is the administrative capital of Malaysia and lies around 30km south of Kuala Lumpur. This city is home to many impressive structures such as the beautiful waterfront pink mosque — Putra Mosque. Putrajaya can be easily reached within 20 minutes via train.
Ipoh
Ipoh is the furthest away from Kuala Lumpur on this list and takes 2.5hours to get to via train. Ipoh is a city known for its limestone cliffs and food. Having been to Ipoh, I would strongly recommend paying this city a visit and consider staying a night! Check out this Ipoh Itinerary for ideas on what to do in this city.
