Beautiful Places to Visit & Things to do in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is a huge city with a very rich culture from locals, Indians and people from all over Asia living all together in the multicultural capital of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur has many different beautiful places to visit, from high end retail malls and rooftop restaurants to local eateries and the famous Batu Caves.
We spent 7 days in Kuala Lumpur and we were able to get a good feeling for the city. You will feel pretty safe everywhere you go, just make sure you take the usual precautions with your belongings, but we walked pretty much all around the city at night feeling pretty safe.
Transportation
KL Metro The metro is a good alternative for transportation, it is fairly cheap, just keep in mind that it gets pretty crowded during rush hours, so if you don’t mind being in tight spaces with a lot of people riding the metro is a great choice for getting around.
Kuala Lumpur Taxis You can get a taxi pretty much everywhere, but we DO NOT recommend getting a taxi in Kuala Lumpur just because every single one of them that we talked to wanted to rip us off. Once the know you are a tourist, they will not use the meter, they will tell you a fix price based on where you are going right before getting into the taxi. Becuase of this reason, we did not use taxi services much while in Kuala Lumpur.
Uber!!! 😉 Best Alternative If you have a cell phone, my best recommendation is to get a sim card at the airport. They are fairly cheap (about 30 Ringgit for 7 days and 1gb of Internet) once you have internet in your phone download and apply to use Uber if you have not already done so. Using uber was the best thing ever while we stayed in Kuala Lumpur, it was like having our own personal chouffer for very little money.
You will find most ubers in the afternoon and night, but we had no trouble getting an uber pick us up from different places. To give you a sample compared to a taxi, we wanted to go from our hotel to the Petronas towers and taxis were charging us 25 ringgit, on the other hand we called an uber and we paid 10 ringgit. Best of all is that since it is conected to your c.card you don’t have do handle any cash. Here are some of the best places to visit and things to do in Kuala Lumpur.
Atmosphere 360
Check out our review of Atmosphere 360 at the Menara Tower In Kuala Lumpur. When we first looked it up on tripadvisor it had very mixed reviews about the place (we have actually stopped reading many reviews about different places because of this). We decided to go for their Hi-Tea time and it was great. Click here to read the full review of Atmosphere 360
The Petronas Towers
The icon of Kuala Lumpur famous worldwide are the tall and beautiful Petronas Towers. From the time you fly into Kuala Lumpur you get a birds-eye view of these great towers. Make sure you don’t miss visiting and taking plenty of pictures of these famous towers.
Jalan Petaling (ChinaTown)
Jalan Petaling is considered the China-Town of Kuala Lumpur. In this street you will find all kinds of things to buy, from brand knock-offs to souvenirs to take back home. Definitely a very interesting area to visit. Make sure you know how to haggle if you are buying here and be ready to be attacked by all vendors who want to make you believe you are their best friend.
Sri Mahamariamman Temple
Near Jalan Petaling you will find the most iconic Indian Temple in Kuala Lumpur besides de Batu Caves. Of many Indian temples in Asia that we have seen, Sri Mahamariamman is one of our favorites, the art and architecture of this place is amazing. As with all Indian temples you will be expected to take off your shoes at the entrance and be respectful inside, but locals are very welcoming of tourists and happy to show you around. Make sure you stop by to take some great pictures and contemplate some amazing Indian art.
Central Market & Kasturi Walk
Again not too far from Jalan Petaling and the Sri Mahamariamman temple you will find the famous Central Market. Kuala Lumpur’s central market is a great place for you to get a sense of the Malaysian culture. Definitely geared towards tourists inside the Central Market and Kasturi Walk you will find many souvenir shops and restaurants offering local food.
While in Central Market check out the Fish Doctor stand. This is a very popular practice in Asia where basically you let fish eat your dead-skin. This was the first time we saw it and we were glad to do it at the Central Market in Kuala Lumpur as it was probably one of the cleanest places we saw in all of Asia for trying this out.
Dataran Merdeka & Sultan Abdul Samad Building
Walking downtown Kuala Lumpur is a very pleasant experience. Full of great architecture and history Kuala Lumpur offers plenty of interesting places for you to see. The Sultan Abdul Samad is a beautiful building with a museum inside of it. Dataran Merdeka square in front of it offers a well maintained park and water feature for you to relax and admire.
Kuala Lumpur City Gallery
Next to Dataran Merdeka you will find the Kuala Lumpur City Gallery where you can make a quick stop to take the cool “I Love KL” photo. After waiting in line to take the picture where oftentimes the “selfie” lovers take more time than normal, go inside the building to check out an awesome small replica of the city.
Shopping ’till you drop!
Pavilion and StarHill are probably the most high end shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur. As a traveler it is always important that you understand and get to see first hand everything within a city. From the poor neighborhoods to the fancy malls, this is the only way you can really appreciate what a city really feels like.
These two malls are right next to each other among one of the nicest part of the city.
Berjaya Times Square
Berjaya Times Square is one of the largest malls in the world. Once you step in into this megamall you will see how big it is. We spent a good couple of hours wandering around and did not get to see all of it. Inside of Berjaya Times Square you will find a full size roller coster (pictured above). Now this is something you don’t see in many malls around the world.
Batu Caves
Batu Caves probably one of the most famous attractions in Kuala Lumpur is a must visit for every tourist. This world renowned tourist destination is full of art, natural scenery and beautiful religious elements. The best way to get to the Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur is to get the train that takes you directly to the caves as they are somewhat out of the city. As of 2015 they are doing a lot of renovation and a newer cave was just opened a couple months ago with beautiful statues.
Jalan Alor Food Street
If you have time make sure you stop one night by Jalan Alor Food Street. This block of restaurants has all kinds of local and international delicacies for you to try. Make sure you don’t get rip-off like we did, I ordered a fish from the menu and without asking they brought me a larger one and charge me twice as much saying that the other one was not available. Ensure you know what you are getting before you order, but other than that it’s a very lively street with music and plenty of food options to choose from.
Enjoy the Nightlife in Kuala Lumpur
There are plenty of bars, restaurants and nightclubs for you to enjoy in Kuala Lumpur. We visited a couple of restaurants and an amazing Rooftop Bar which had a pool and live DJ. Kuala Lumpur has something to offer for everyone and will surely keep you entertained while you visit.
