Must-see attractions in Kuala Lumpur

  • Medan Tuanku Station, Menara KL Tower.

    Menara KL

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    Although the Petronas Towers are taller, the 421m Menara KL, rising from the crest of Bukit Nanas, offers the best city views. The bulb at the top…

  • [UNVERIFIED CONTENT] Masjid Jamek is the oldest mosque in Kuala Lumpur. It is located at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak river. It was built in 1907 and officially open by the then Sultan Selangor in 1909.

    Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Samad

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    This graceful, onion-domed mosque, designed by British architect AB Hubback, borrows Mogul and Moorish styles with its brick-and-plaster banded minarets…

  • Thean Hou Temple

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    Sitting atop leafy Robson Heights, this vividly decorated multistorey Chinese temple, dedicated to Thean Hou, the heavenly queen, affords wonderful views…

  • Detail of ceiling in Islamic Arts Museum.

    Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    Inhabiting a building that's nearly as impressive as its collection, this museum showcases Islamic decorative arts from around the globe. Scale models of…

  • Lake Gardens – Tun Abdul Razak Heritage Park

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    This 70-hectare lush, beautifully landscaped park is most commonly known by its colonial-era moniker: the Lake Gardens (Tasik Perdana in Malay). This is…

  • Sin Sze Si Ya Temple

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    Kuala Lumpur's oldest Chinese temple (1864) was built on the instructions of Kapitan Yap Ah Loy and is dedicated to Sin Sze Ya and Si Sze Ya, two Chinese…

  • National Visual Arts Gallery

    Kuala Lumpur

    The artworks on display at the NVAG are worth a trip out of central KL for their inventiveness and sheer scale. In rotating exhibitions by regional…

  • Petronas Towers

    Petronas Towers

    Kuala Lumpur

    Resembling twin silver rockets, the Petronas Towers are the perfect allegory for the meteoric rise of the city from tin-mining shanty town to 21st-century…

  • Sultan Abdul Samad Building and Merdeka Square

    Merdeka Square

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    The huge open square, where Malaysian independence was declared in 1957, is speared by a 95m flagpole, one of the world's tallest. In the British era, the…

  • No sunrise this morning as it was pretty cloudy on the horizon but this picture taken during blue hour was sufficient enough. Worth it to walk from Medan Tuanku to LRT Kg Baru to come here early in the morning :)

    KLCC Park

    Kuala Lumpur

    At the heart of the mammoth KLCC development, this excellent park offers a 1.3km soft-surface jogging track, a great children's playground and paddling…

  • ILHAM

    Kuala Lumpur

    Housed in a 60-storey tower designed by British architects Foster and Partners, this impressive art gallery presents exhibitions spanning various media…

  • Canopy walkway at Hutan Lipur Bukit Nanas

    KL Forest Eco Park

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    KL's urban roar is replaced by buzzing insects and cackling birdlife at this forest of tropical hardwoods, covering 9.37 hectares in the heart of the city…

  • National Monument

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    On a palm-fringed plaza, with fine views of KL's skyscrapers, stands this bombastic monument. Commemorating military sacrifices in the name of Malaysian…

  • Me.Reka Makerspace

    Kuala Lumpur

    Search out this innovative project space, where various contemporary design and technology skills are taught and can be practised. Laser engravers, 3D…

  • Taman Tugu

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    The first stages of this 27-hectare park have opened in recent years, with the third and final stage originally due for completion some time in 2020. It…

  • Kebun-Kebun Bangsar

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    A community group led by local architect Ng Seksan has created this garden on an 8-acre linear strip of land reserved for the national electricity company…

  • Deity sculptures on wall of Sri Mahamariamman Temple.

    Sri Mahamariamman Temple

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    Rising almost 23m above this lively Hindu temple is its gopuram, a tower decorated with colourful Hindu gods. Founded in 1873, making it one of the oldest…

  • KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - SEPT 11: A shopper at a durian fruit stall on September 11, 2011 in Bazaar Baru Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Durian is revered in Southeast Asia as the King of Fruits.; Shutterstock ID 84916264; Your name (First / Last): Lauren Gillmore; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online-Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: 65050/ Online Design /LaurenGillmore/POI

    Bazaar Baru Chow Kit

    Kuala Lumpur

    This daily wet market, serving the working class of Chow Kit, packs a heady, chaotic atmosphere. It sprawls across several blocks including new sheds, old…

  • Two Rhinoceros hornbills (Buceors rhinoceros) in tree at KL Bird Park.

    KL Bird Park

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    More than 3000 birds flutter and soar through this 21-hectare aviary. Some 200 species of (mostly) Asian birds can be spotted here, from strutting…

  • Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Kampung Baru, traditional malay house,

    Kampung Baru Gateway

    Kuala Lumpur

    A modern concrete and blue glass gateway marks the entry to this neighbourhood of traditional Malay wooden houses. Gazetted by the British in 1899,…

  • Galeri Prima. The art gallery is located next to the New Straits Time newspaper publishing house.

    Galeri Prima

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    In an expansive double-storey building, this hidden gem promotes local art heavyweights and emerging names like Zarina Abdullah and Anassuwandi Ahmad. The…

  • Guandi Temple, Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Guandi Temple

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    Founded in 1886, this atmospheric temple offers photogenic high ceilings, red walls, tiled eaves and pointy gable ends. It's dedicated to Guandi, a…

  • Badan Warisan restored traditional Malay house built on stilts.

    Badan Warisan Malaysia

    Kuala Lumpur

    This heritage preservation society has its head office in a 1920s colonial bungalow. The building, once part of a neighbourhood of British officers'…

  • Ernest Zacharevic Mural. Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic left a mark at heritage area Jalan Sultan

    Sampan Boy Mural

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    Covering the side of a building and overlooking a parking lot, the subject of star Lithuanian street artist Ernest Zacharevic's first contribution to KL's…

  • Royal Museum

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    You can tour the first two floors of this grand mansion, originally built as a family home in 1928 by Chinese tin tycoon Chan Wing. From 1957 it served as…

  • Ruang Pemula

    Kuala Lumpur

    Pakhruddin Sulaiman and his wife, Fatimah, have been amassing one of Malaysia's top private art collections since around 1996, when they bought two major…

  • Stadium Merdeka

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    Built for the declaration of independence in 1957, this open-air stadium is where Malaysia’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, famously punched…

  • National Museum

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    This museum offers a good primer on Malaysia's history, from prehistoric to present day. The country's geological features and prehistory are tackled in…

  • Rumah Penghulu Abu Seman

    Kuala Lumpur

    This glorious wooden stilt house, which was once the family home of a village headman in Kedah, was built in stages between 1910 and the 1930s and later…

  • Old KL Train Station

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    One of KL's most distinctive colonial buildings, this grand 1910 train station (replaced as a transit hub by KL Sentral in 2001) was designed by British…

  • Sultan Abdul Samad Building

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    Seizing attention with its 41m clock tower, coppery domes and lacy arches, this was the first public building in Malaysia designed in the Mogul (or Indo…

  • Perdana Botanical Garden

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    Strolling around KL's oldest public park, established in the 1880s, you'll admire native and introduced flora, including 800 species of orchid, mahogany…

  • Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru

    Kuala Lumpur

    Founded in the late 1880s, this is Kampung Baru's principal mosque; it has been expanded and now sports a handsome gateway decorated with eye-catching…

  • National Textiles Museum

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    This excellent themed museum occupies an elegant Mogul-style building originally constructed for the railway works department. The lower floors cover the…

  • Free Tree Society

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    Set up to educate urbanites about gardens and plants, this NGO has given away over 21,000 trees since 2013. Its work is showcased at a lush compact garden…

  • Telekom Museum

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    Housed in the beautifully renovated former telephone exchange building, this interesting museum has creatively designed displays on the history of…

  • RUANG by Think City

    Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas

    The urban rejuvenation outfit Think City has taken over the elegant art deco OCBC building, originally designed in 1938 by British architect Arthur Oakley…

  • Tun Razak Exchange

    Kuala Lumpur

    Envisaged as KL's new financial district, this ambitious 70 acre, US$10 billion project has a multi-phased, 15-year development period. Its centrepiece is…

  • Bank Negara Malaysia Museum & Art Gallery

    Kuala Lumpur

    This well-designed complex of small museums focuses on banking, finance and money – yet is not dull in the least. Highlights include a collection of…

  • Orang Asli Craft Museum

    Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar

    Drop into this interesting museum to view the gallery of wood carvings and masks produced by the Mah Meri, who live along the south coast of Selangor and…

More destinations you need to see