Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia's capital and the arrival city for almost every flight from India. The Petronas Twin Towers and KLCC park, the 272 rainbow steps up to the Hindu cave temple at Batu Caves, Merdeka Square and the old Moorish railway buildings, Chinatown's Petaling Street and the night food street of Jalan Alor. Indian food is everywhere: Brickfields (Little India) by KL Sentral has pure-vegetarian South Indian restaurants and banana-leaf rice, and mamak stalls serve roti canai round the clock.

Highlights

• Petronas Twin Towers skybridge
• Batu Caves and its 272 rainbow steps
• Merdeka Square and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building
• Jalan Alor night food street
• Petaling Street (Chinatown)
• Banana-leaf rice in Brickfields
• Islamic Arts Museum
• KL Tower and Forest Eco Park canopy walk
• Day trip to Putrajaya's mosques
• Bukit Bintang malls

Things to do

• Petronas Twin Towers skybridge & KLCC ParkMorning · 2h 30m
• Batu Caves temple climb (go early)Morning · 2h 30m
• Merdeka Square, Masjid Jamek & Central Market walkAfternoon · 2h 30m
• Islamic Arts MuseumAfternoon · 2h
• Jalan Alor & Bukit Bintang street foodEvening · 2h 30m
• Brickfields banana-leaf lunch & Little India walkAfternoon · 2h
• Putrajaya mosques & lake half-dayMorning · 4h
• National Mosque (Masjid Negara) & the old railway stationMorning · 1h 30m
• Chinatown: Petaling Street, Sri Mahamariamman & Guan Di templesAfternoon · 2h
• Thean Hou Temple on Robson HeightsAfternoon · 1h

Tours & tickets

When to go

Best time: May – July, December – February

• Thaipusam at Batu Caves — The biggest Thaipusam outside India: hundreds of thousands walk overnight from KL's Sri Mahamariamman temple to Batu Caves, many carrying kavadi and with pierced skin, and climb the 272 steps to the Murugan shrine. Penang (Waterfall Hill temple, with a silver chariot procession) and Ipoh celebrate too. Extraordinary to see; go before dawn, expect huge crowds, road closures and packed trains, and leave shoes and bags at the hotel.
• Chinese New Year — Two public holidays and a week of lion dances, lanterns and open houses, finest in Penang (Kek Lok Si lit up) and Melaka's Jonker Street. Many Chinese-run shops, hawker stalls and kopitiams close for 3-5 days, and buses and flights out of KL sell out the weekend before as people go home.
• Ramadan and Hari Raya Aidilfitri — During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk: Malay restaurants are quiet by day and the evening Ramadan bazaars, with food stalls at every mosque and market, are the best street food of the year. Don't eat or drink in the street in Kelantan and Terengganu. At its end, Hari Raya Aidilfitri brings the "balik kampung" exodus: buses, trains and flights sell out weeks ahead and KL empties for a week. Dates move about 11 days earlier each year; they are set by the new moon.
• Deepavali — A national holiday for Malaysia's Indian community: Brickfields in KL and Little India in Penang fill with lights, kolam and stalls of sweets and saris in the week before. Homes hold open houses on the day.
• National Day (Hari Merdeka) — Independence Day parade and fireworks in Kuala Lumpur (or Putrajaya); flags everywhere in the weeks before. Roads round the parade route close early in the morning.

Part of a longer route

Kuala Lumpur is a stop on 2 curated circuits through Malaysia.