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Kuala Lumpur

A skyline punctuated by minarets, Mogul-style domes and skyscrapers; colourful, food-stall-lined streets shaded by a leafy canopy of banyan trees – this is Kuala Lumpur.

Multicultural Modernity

Malaysia’s sultry capital is a feast for all the senses. Here you'll find historic monuments, steel-clad skyscrapers, lush parks, megasized shopping malls, bustling street markets and lively nightspots.

Essential parts of the vibrant mix are the incense-wreathed, colourfully adorned mosques and temples of the country’s Malay, Chinese and Indian communities. A reverence for these ancient cultures is balanced with a drive to be plugged into the modern world, a desire that's reflected in a creative contemporary-art and design scene, an ambitious riverbank-regeneration project and dynamic architecture: the new Exchange 106 tower is taller than the iconic Petronas Towers.

Historical Canvas

Today's KL-ites are separated by barely a handful of generations from the tenacious Chinese and Malay tin prospectors who founded the city, carving it out of virgin jungle. By the time the British made it the capital of Peninsular Malaysia in the late 19th century, erecting grand colonial buildings, KL had only been in existence for a couple of decades.

Since then, KL has been centre stage on Malaysian history. Stadium Merdeka was where, in 1957, the country’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, declared independence. The city also celebrated as a new national government came to power in 2018.

Shopping

To fully connect with locals, join them in two of their favourite pastimes: shopping and eating. Malaysian consumer culture achieves its zenith in KL, where you could spend all day browsing glitzy air-conditioned malls such as Pavilion KL, Suria KLCC and Mid Valley Megamall in search of designer fashion and bargains. Bangsar and Publika are the places to go for local labels and the work of offbeat independent designers. Alternatively, explore Central Market for locally made souvenirs and handicrafts; and hunt out the few remaining artisans and antiques dealers still keeping shop in and around Chinatown.

Street Feast

Despite the heat, this is a city best explored on foot. Walk and you can catch all the action and save yourself the frustration of becoming entangled in one of KL's all-too-frequent traffic jams. Walking, you'll discover parts of KL retain the laid-back ambience and jungle lushness of the kampung (village) it once was. What's more, you'll be sure to come across some of the city's best dining spots: the hawker stalls and traditional neighbourhood kopitiam (coffee shops) that beckon you over with the aroma of freshly cooked food and the promise of refreshment with tropical juices and cooling drinks.

Must see in
Kuala Lumpur

  • Petronas Towers

    It’s impossible to resist the magnetic allure of the Petronas Towers: the 452m-high structure is beautiful to look at, as well as being the embodiment of Malaysia’s transformation into a developed nation. Designed by architect César Pelli, this glistening, steel-wrapped structure is the focal point of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), a 40-hectare development that also includes an imaginatively designed tropical park, a fun aquarium, an excellent kids museum, a world-class concert hall and one of KL’s best shopping malls.

  • Islamic Arts Museum

    The dazzling collection of objects housed in this fine museum proves that religious devotion can be married with exquisite craftsmanship. The building itself – with its Iranian-tiled facade and decorated domes – is a stunner, its galleries filled with natural light and amazing works gathered from around the Islamic world. Don't miss the architecture gallery, with models of some of the great Islamic buildings. The museum's gift shop is also one of the best places in KL to buy beautifully designed and expertly made items created by Muslim artisans.

  • Shopping Malls

    Come for the air conditioning, stay for the designer bargains! The roll call of brands in malls Pavilion KL, Suria KLCC and Publika will impress even the most sophisticated of shoppers. Refreshments are never far away, with masses of restaurants and excellent food courts always part of the retail mix, along with everything from luxury spas to vast multiplex cinemas and karaoke rooms. It’s the unexpected finds – the feng shui stores, art galleries and Hindu temples – that really set these malls apart.

  • Merdeka Square

    Stand beside the Victorian fountain next to the empty expanse of lawn and take in the impressive scene. When it was called the Padang (field), members of the Royal Selangor Club would politely clap as another wicket fell in a colonial cricket match. At midnight on 31 August 1957, the flag of the independent nation of Malaya was hoisted on the 95m flagpole. The eastern flank is dominated by the handsome Sultan Abdul Samad Building, decorated with copper-clad domes and barley-sugar-twist columns.

  • Street Food

    White tablecloths? Snooty waiters? A roof? No need to bother with all that! In KL some of your best dining experiences will happen on the street. Delicious, freshly cooked meals served from mobile carts, stalls and humble shophouse kopitiam (coffee shops) are the way to go. Jalan Alor is the city's most famous eats street, jammed with alfresco tables. The atmosphere and food are good here, but prices will be higher than at more locally patronised hawker gourmet destinations such as Lucky Gardens, Glutton Street or the stalls scattered around Brickfields.

  • Thean Hou Temple

    KL has plenty of Buddhist temples but none are as visually striking as this. Rising out of the leafy surrounds of Robson Heights in four terraced levels, this architecture is the stuff of pure Chinese fantasy, with dazzling mosaic dragons and phoenixes flying off the eaves and snaking around columns. It was built to house effigies of the heavenly mother Thean Hou as well as Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy, and Shuiwei Shengniang, goddess of the waterfront. Visit on festival days and weekends to see the temple at its liveliest.

  • Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Samad

    Renamed in 2017, this 1907 onion-domed mosque designed by British architect AB Hubback is truly glorious – even more so today having recently been given a thorough restoration as part of the River of Life city beautification project. Outside of prayer times, visitors are welcome to stroll through the serene compound. Do make sure to return to view the structure at night when coloured lights, fountains and fog effects on the surrounding rivers lend the mosque even more of a fairy-tale quality.

  • Kampung Baru

    This charming enclave originates from colonial British times when the government set aside 224 hectares of land in the late 1890s – on what was then the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur – as protected Malay agricultural land. Settlers were encouraged to plant crops in this new village: Kampung Baru. It's a fascinating area to wander around and discover traditional wooden homes – but do so soon as the pressure to redevelop this prime slice of KL real estate means they might not be here for much longer.

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