Kuala Lumpur is the capital + biggest city in Malaysia, and turned out to be a highlight of our trip so far. We spent 2 weeks in KL, spending most of our time in an awesome bachelor apartment that we found on AirBnb. We spent much of our time working, but we did spend some time exploring the city. Here are a few of our favorite things from our time in KL:

1) Visit KLCC park + see the Petronas Twin Towers

KLCC park is a beautiful green space in KL’s city center. You can walk around, and take in the views of the beautiful Petronas Twin Towers. KL is a pretty busy city, and it’s nice to find a green space that is a little bit more calm (there are still a lot of tourists taking photos, so if you want a really quiet green space, this may not be your place).

2) Watch the sunset downtown KL

We watched the sunset with a cocktail in hand from the rooftop bar in Traders Hotel, where we were able to see the sun reflect off the buildings, and then the city get dark and light up. We had an amazing view of the Petronas Towers as the sun set, and it was amazing to see the city from up above at night. KL is a much more beautiful city than we had expected!

3) Visit the Batu Caves

The Batu Caves are one of the most popular things to see in KL. Located about 30 minutes outside of KL, the Batu Caves are a set of limestone caves with a Hindu Temple inside, guarded by a large, golden Buddha / goddess. The caves themselves aren’t extremely spectacular, but the view from below is pretty amazing. And even though the temple isn’t the most extravagant, we would recommend walking the 272 steps past the golden goddess to visit the caves and see the Hindu Temple. How often do you get to see a temple in cave?!

You can take a bus, an Uber or a tour to get to the Batu Caves, and you only need a couple of hours for your entire trip.

4) Get outside of the city to enjoy the nature that surrounds KL

There are a ton of great nature reserves and green spaces to explore outside of KL. Even though KL is a nice city, it is awesome to get out of the city to enjoy the surrounding nature. We were surprised by how luscious and hilly the surrounding area was.

We tried to do the East Tabur hike, which is the most popular hike to do in the KL area. Unfortunately it was closed because someone had died recently, but we visited the Kanching Waterfall instead, and had a lovely walk up a mountain with multiple waterfalls and some curious monkeys. Be aware – the monkeys will steal your food!

5) Eat delicious food!

Eating good food has been a trend for us throughout our entire time in Asia, and Kuala Lumpur was no different! Be sure to try nasi goreng, nasi lemak, and laksa. We also ate a ton of great Indian + Thai food in KL. The city is quite international, and it is possible to find almost anything that you might be craving there. We even found a couple of great juice bars + a nice Mexican restaurant!

6) Try your luck at an escape room

Escape or breakout rooms have become our new obsession! For those of you who haven’t tried them, they are SO fun! We did 2 escape rooms with Breakout Malyasia, and we had an awesome experience both times. We did 2 of the easier ones – escaped one and almost escaped the other.

7) See a luxury movie!

One of the best things about traveling in Asia is the luxury movie theaters. We saw Dr. Strange on our last night in KL in a luxury theater, and we each had our own adjustable lazy boy, a blanket, a table for our drinks and popcorn, and a buzzer to call someone if we needed anything. Seeing a luxury movie is more expensive than a regular movie (even by North American standards), BUT it is totally worth it! Treat yo’ self!

8) Take your time in KL

A lot of people (both locals + tourists) were surprised that we were spending so much time in KL. If you aren’t working than 2 weeks would probably be a lot, but we really enjoyed having a while to explore KL. We were able to explore slowly, try a ton of great restaurants, and get a bit deeper into the city than the standard tourist to-do items. We would recommend that you do the same, if you have the time!

If we missed anything that you loved in KL, send us an email and let us know – we would love to hear from you!

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