How to Spend Three Nights in Kuala Lumpur

What will you find in this blog?

~ How to get around
~ What to see
~ Survival guide

Kuala Lumpur has been on our list for a long while. So, after deciding to book a 2-week trip to Bali, this Malaysian city seemed a perfect stop off.

The only mistake we made was not allocating enough time to spend here!

We loved Malaysia! The people, the culture, the general feel of the place, and we only scratched the surface.

So, our first tip to anyone considering Kuala Lumpur as a destination would be to allocate more time!

Three nights is just not quite enough in our opinion, so it goes without saying, we cannot wait to return!

We squeezed a lot into our three days in Kuala Lumpur and the pace of our trip, combined with the heat and the jet lag made it a slight struggle, but we still fell head over heels in love with the place! There is just so much to see and do.

How to get around

Kuala Lumpur has a brilliant ‘Grab’ service which is basically Uber! First things first, before you go, download the app and get it set up.

It’s so easy to operate, you can pay on your phone rather than barter taxi prices and it’s really affordable. We used Grab our entire trip as it worked out so cheap, and the one time we couldn’t get any signal to use it and used a taxi we got completely ripped off! Lesson learnt.

KL is also a really walkable city so a lot of things you can get to within 10-20 minutes’ walk and Google Maps works well.

That said, it is very very hot if you are from cooler climates like we are, so we opted for grab most of the time to preserve our energy and avoid heat stroke!

If you are familiar with Thailand’s easy and convenient railway and metro system, you will be pleased to know that there is also a very efficient metro system with six lines running across the city, which is very cheap to use.

We didn’t use it as Grab was so cheap but if we had been there longer, we may have ventured on!

Where to stay

We stayed in Hotel Stripes in Kuala Lumpur and whilst it wasn’t a budget option it was still very cheap compared to UK prices.

Hotel Stripes has a beautiful infinity pool overlooking the whole of KL with a banging view of the KL tower and we have to be honest, this was our main swaying point when picking a hotel. It’s also worth noting we usually use Air B and B but as we were there just for three nights we wanted everything to be as easy as possible hence choosing a hotel.

The hotel has 4.5 stars out of 5 on Trip Advisor, is part of the Marriott group, has stunning rooms to suit varying budgets, and has a restaurant, room service, rooftop bar and the friendliest staff you could wish for! 10 out of 10 from us!

The location was also perfect, a short ten-minute walk to the Eco forest, 20 minutes to KL tower and 30 minutes to the Petronas towers if you take a slow ramble. There are also restaurants on the same street that are highly recommended on TA and by locals.

Check them out here 

Day 1

Jetlag recovery

If there was one thing we did perfectly on this trip it was to make time for being tired and to adjust to the jet lag / make up for the lack of sleep after travelling for 15 hours!

We didn’t plan much for day 1 despite landing at 9 am and if you are travelling across time zones and you are not an absolute machine, we suggest you do the same!

If you are stronger beings than us, then you could always head to Lot 10 Hutong food court for a tasty lunch in this iconic dining spot. Hutong Food Courthouses has more than 20 neon-lit stalls of street food vendors that have been handpicked to set up shop here!

The best of the best. For us, we would have quite easily died a death so we opted for a few hours of sleep before heading out.

We had pre-booked tickets for the KL tower at sunset to get a decent birds-eye view over the city and so we headed off in what we thought was plenty of time. It wasn’t. We were queuing for well over an hour in boiling temperatures (no air conditioning units here), missed the sunset and reached the top of the night-time cityscape that was Kuala Lumpur with minor heat stroke and slightly irritable attitudes. Our plan had not gone to plan at all.

It’s free, it’s beautiful and the photography opportunities are pretty cool too. Just bear in mind the park closes at 10 pm and you will have the park wardens marching around blowing their whistles whilst shouting for people to leave, immediately ruining all and any ambience.

The Sky Bar

Our final stop of the day was the popular Sky Bar. Famed to be one of the best ‘rooftop’ bars with amazing views across the city coupled with colourful cocktails, we just had to go and find out if the hype was true! For us, it wasn’t. It is located at the Traders Hotel, if you make your way there, the door staff will direct you on up.

The bar felt much more like a nightclub. It was all indoors which was a disappointing surprise for us. There were views on one side, but you had to reserve those tables in advance to be able to catch any glimpse of the cityscape below. The centrepiece was a huge swimming pool which by 11 pm, no one had yet ventured in, not sure if this was actually used or even allowed to be used in the evening. It seemed kind of odd.

Overall the sky bar left us feeling somewhat underwhelmed. The DJ was cool playing decent music, and the pizza was good but the views were nonexistent for us, the drinks were weak and overpriced and the whole place was LOUD! If you want a club scene then yes. If you want rooftop drinks to wind down your day with beautiful views, then give this place a miss.

If you would like to check it out on your trip you can read more Here 

Day 2

KL forest eco-park

We managed to crawl out of bed early and headed to the KL Forest Eco Park found in the centre of Kuala Lumpur.

We had read about this before visiting and were super curious about a rainforest that has nature trails and a forest canopy situated slap bang in the middle of this modern city. It was worth the early start.

The forest was buzzing with birds and wildlife and at 7 am, extremely peaceful with only a few other people around.

Most walk through on their way to work.

There are canopy walks, nature trails, old buildings and benches and plenty of viewpoints and this is a great spot to add to your list if you love being out in nature or you are travelling to Kuala Lumpur with kids as there is so much to see and do!

Tips for the KL Forest Eco Park

· It is free of charge

· It is super-hot and humid in there so take plenty of water with you

· Cover yourself in insect repellent, it’s a rainforest so you know….

· Wear decent walking shoes. Some of the bridges are not all that easy to navigate.

· Get there early. You want to be leaving by 8.30 am as this is when the hoards of tour groups start making their way through the park

Graffiti street

The next stop was Graffiti Street. And yes, that is its actual name! And the clue is in the name, it’s a street full of graffiti. The brightest, most eye-catching graffiti we have ever seen. And not just murals or pieces of work but the entire street and all the buildings are covered in perfect colourful unison!

If you love street art then this place is not to be missed and it seemed to us that it wasn’t all too well known as there were only two other people there in the middle of the day, so double winner for photo opportunities!

Graffiti Street is right near the popular Chinatown where there are plenty of restaurants and the streets are lined with local stalls and shops selling anything and everything.

The area is also home to a few colourful Hindu temples that we did not get time to see but if you are visiting the area they are worth looking up.

Heli Lounge at sunset

We finished the day with a reservation at the Heli Lounge. The Heli Lounge boasts some of the best 360 views of  Kuala Lumpur city which excel as the sunsets.

We had decided to book a table as we wanted to sit down and enjoy the views and get some dinner as we watched the sunset.

To reserve a table there is a minimum spend of equivalent to £20gbp each.

And there is no guarantee that you will get that reserved table to yourself as many other people who have not paid for a table just pull up a chair and sit at random tables and it didn’t seem to be controlled at all when we visited.

The moral of the story is to not bother paying more and reserving a table.

Now, on to the good points! That view!!!!! Absolutely incredible! Watching the sunset behind the KL tower, as the sky changed colours every few minutes was just amazing!

Even if you visit on a cloudy day you will be sure to get some incredible photographs of the views from the top!

All of the frustration, table hogging, view-blocking and lack of dinner was made worth it 100% when we watched the sun go down.

To book we had to call but you can also contact them through their Facebook page Here 

Day 3

Batu Caves

The jet lag was not getting any easier. So we both woke up fairly tired on day three but we were determined to explore the famous Batu Caves!

The pouring rain was a slight comfort that perhaps it was best all around that we hadn’t gone to Batu Caves all too early anyway.

After drinking three coffees each whilst staring at the torrential rain through the breakfast room windows and clutching one to take away, we decided to bite the bullet and just get a grab there and make the most of it.

Upon arriving we were both in awe of its sheer size and beauty as well as the green mountainous backdrop which we hadn’t noticed in the countless Instagram photos we had seen before visiting.

We have been to some stunning and truly unique temples during our travels but Batu Caves is in a league of its own.

It was beautiful.

The Batu caves and main complex are free to enter but what you do not pay in monetary value you will pay in sweat and dehydration.

There are 272 colourful steps into the cave, and they are not easy to navigate in 99% humidity whilst dodging monkeys and the odd struggling tourist. But climbing them is so worth it.

Tips for the Batu Caves

· It is free to enter

· Take a lot of water, there are no words strong enough to explain how much you will need it

· Take a hand-held fan, we saw many people using them and were so jealous!

· Watch your food, the monkeys are super cheeky and will make a beeline for you if they think you have something tasty

· If you want photos with not too many people get there as early as possible unlike us

Firefly Tour

This is something we had pre-planned to do and we can’t even quite remember how we heard of it, but it all came to light when Steffan called across our messy hotel room,

‘Did you know you can visit somewhere super close to here where you are surrounded by fire fly’s?’

Obviously, I was in.

We booked through Viator and it wasn’t cheap as we chose to do a private tour given, that we were so short on time and this was our last evening.

It cost around £135 for the two of us but there were cheaper options available as well.

Our guide was knowledgeable and friendly and much to our excited surprise, the trip included a stop off to a shop to buy nuts and then a visit to a nature park where there was a group of wild (but very friendly) silver leaf monkeys living looking for any snacks you may have bought with you.

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Full transparency here, we did not know any better when we visited Malaysia back in 2019. We genuinely thought it was completely fine to feed wild animals.

Now?

We know better. We discourage you from joining any tours that include feeding wild animals as this has huge impacts on their health and well-being and potential future human and animal conflict. We highly recommend you check out Connies page to learn more about why feeding wild animals is almost always a no go.

There are lots of firefly tours available online that do not include feeding monkeys.

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We then headed to a nearby riverside restaurant where we enjoyed a traditional Chinese and seafood dinner whilst watching the sunset behind the trees.

Kuala Selangor has the largest firefly colony in the world. That’s huge. So, if you want to see fireflies in all of their flashing glory, this is the place to see them.

Fireflies, also known as Lightning Bugs, shine brightly at night to attract a suitable partner. They come out at dusk for feeding, resting and mating. Often their flashing becomes synchronised, the overall effect is just like the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree!

We were so excited we could barely breathe. Although the humidity and life jacket certainly didn’t help.

We queued patiently waiting to get on our very own rowing boat until it was finally our turn to jump on. Our guide rowed our boat slowly and calmly meandering through and past the trees, home to the millions of fireflies.

It was honestly the most magical experience we have ever had, it was beautiful! The trees lit up every second as they all flew around and in and out of the trees and it was so quiet and peaceful with no other noise except for the odd splash of water as the paddle broke the surface gently to keep us moving along. It was amazing and worth every penny and something we would definitely recommend doing if you are in KL. Totally magical. 

We booked through Viator and they were amazing, service was great and a 10 out of 10 experience.

Our Favourites in Kuala Lumpur

• Graffiti street – probably the coolest street we have seen to date

• Firefly tour – Seeing fireflies light up the river in their millions was such an incredible experience and sitting with silver leaf monkeys, was just unmissable!

We would give it a miss

• Sky bar – Overpriced, loud and has no view unless you reserve a table by the window

• Skybox KL tower – waiting over 2 hours for a photo in a glass box just wasn’t worth it for us but it all depends on how much you want that Instagram shot

Survival Guide

• Use grab, download the app, top it up and you can order them whenever you want. So reliable and so cheap

• Take insect repellent, it’s a city but it’s wet, humid and there are a lot of bugs!

• Drink plenty of water, dehydration is no fun

• Take a raincoat, the weather is changeable and it’s not unusual for the sky to open and it to pour for hours on end

• Google Maps works really well in the city and if you don’t have data you can download the maps when you have WIFI and they still work when you are not connected

• If you have time, get out of the city. There is so much to see, and the firefly tour was such an amazing experience. We booked this on Viator who we would highly recommend.