Six years ago while returning from Australia I had a night stop over in Kuala Lumpur. It was only a flying visit. I arrived late in the afternoon, and had a morning departure the following day. I could have chosen to stay close to the airport, but instead I decided to travel into the city on the KLIA express and stay in a central hotel. I booked the Hilton as it was conveniently located right next to KL central station. All I really had time for on this trip was a taxi ride to the Bukit Bintang area of the city for a quick look around and a drink. I then headed back to the hotel for some dinner and some sleep. Ever since this stop over I have wanted to return. The easiest thing to do was to incorporate a Kuala Lumpur city break into one of my trips to Australia. So my plan was to visit for a decent amount of time on my way back from my most recent trip to Australia.

My Kuala Lumpur City Break

Getting to Kuala Lumpur

I travelled to Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia’s premium flatbed service, which they operate on various long haul routes including 4 from Australia; Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. There are two daily services from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia, so I took the mid-morning flight. As I was based in Adelaide I had a to take a Qantas flight from Adelaide to Melbourne the previous evening so I was in Melbourne in time for my flight. Departing Kuala Lumpur I flew directly to London Heathrow with British Airways. If visiting from the UK you can fly directly with British Airways and Malaysia Airlines, which both operate daily services. Many other airlines such as Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Qatar run indirect daily services as well. Direct return flights with British Airways start at £532.

Somewhere to Stay on a Kuala Lumpur City Break

Even though I absolutely adored the Hilton Kuala Lumpur where I previously stayed, there were four of us on this trip, so I decided to book a 2 bedroom serviced apartment at the Faces Suites, instead of two hotel rooms. The Faces Suites hadn’t been open long before I had booked, and they were in absolutely pristine condition.

The reception was a double height room the length of the building, with many check-in desks, concierge desks, plenty of comfortable seating areas, a small coffee bar and cafe, and two banks of lifts. The building was 51 stories high, with apartments on the majority of floors, and an infinity pool and gym on the roof. They were also in the process of constructing a rooftop restaurant which will be a nice touch as the view from the pool was amazing.

For my stay I booked a premium 2 bedroom apartment which consisted of a large open plan living room, dining area and kitchen.

Post from RICOH THETA. – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

Post from RICOH THETA. – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

The master bedroom with dressing room and en-suite bathroom was on one side, and the second bedroom and bathroom as well as an office/study was on the other side.

Post from RICOH THETA. – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

Post from RICOH THETA. – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

The apartment was tastefully decorated in neutral colours with modern furniture and colourful accessories. The kitchen was equipped with a fridge-freezer, cooker, microwave and a washer-drier. The master bedroom and lounge had large flatscreen TVs, with a range of local and international channels. The master bathroom had a large walk-in shower as well as a roll top bath, and the second bathroom had a shower. Housekeeping cleaned the room daily, changing the beds, bath towels and also did all our washing up! I paid just over £100 a night for my apartment on hotels.com which I think was a fantastic deal.

Things to do on a Kuala Lumpur City Break

Petronas Towers

Completed in 1996 the Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world, and still today they are the tallest twin towers in the world. The Petronas Towers have a public viewing platform on the 86th floor in one of the towers, which is open daily at a cost of approximately £15pp.

Your visit to the twin towers is timed due to capacity on the viewing platform, and your ticket also includes a stop at the air bridge on the 41st floor. It goes without saying that this is one of the top attractions on any Kuala Lumpur city break.

I planned my trip so that I would be at the viewing platform at the right time to see the sun set, which was truly amazing, and visiting at that time I also had the added bonus of seeing the view during the day and the night.

Batu Caves

Located on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, the Batu Caves are located in the Gombak district of the city, and is home to Hindu temples and shrines in the main cave system, as well as many other smaller cave systems. When you arrive at the caves you have a climb of 272 steps to get to the entrance of the cave system, which is close to the top of the mountain. There is no entry fee to the Caves or temple, but if you want to explore the smaller caves you can pay for a guided tour. When I visited they were doing some renovation works and we were asked to carry up a bucket of sand/cement mix for the workers at the top. It was hard work, but good exercise! The caves and the temple in the caves are worth the visit, but watch out for the monkeys as they like to go through your bags and pockets. The easiest way to get to the caves is by taxi or Uber, which costs less than £5 from the city centre.

Aquaria KLCC

The Aquaria KLCC is located on the edge of the park, close to the base of the Petronas Towers. The entry fee to the aquarium is approx £15 which is good value for money. For a non-coastal city there is a huge amount of sea life to see the Aquaria KLCC, and it is an all-round family-friendly place to visit while in Kuala Lumpur. I would allow a couple of hours for your visit, and make sure you don’t miss the hands on experience at the end of the Aquaria where you can handle and touch some of the sea life. The tunnel through the main tank in the aquarium is quite spectacular and I spent a great deal of time there, fixated on all the fascinating marine life around me.

Eating and Drinking on a Kuala Lumpur City Break

There are many places to eat in Kuala Lumpur, but if you’re looking for an authentic dining experience, I found some local restaurants by the entrance to the Batu Caves. There were about four to choose from, but the one I chose was a vegetarian restaurant. I enjoyed a local vegetable curry, authentic noodle dishes as well as a roti with lentil dhal. All of this food and a soft drink came to the grand total of £3pp. Even though the authentic restaurant by the Batu Caves was amazing, I also had some great meals in other places during my time in Kuala Lumpur. I obviously had to visit the Hard Rock Cafe, which was about two minutes walk from my accommodation. I also visited a bar/restaurant close by called Gravy Baby quite a few times during my stay. Not only were their cocktails amazing, but the food was good too, and very reasonably priced.

If you’re looking for a drink with a view in Kuala Lumpur then head over to the Sky Bar in the Traders Hotel. With a direct view of the Petronas towers from their pool side bar on the 33st floor, it’s the perfect place to unwind and take in the view with a drink. During my stay I visited just as a thunder storm started, it definitely made the view even more spectacular!

Day trips outside Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the main hub for many major Asian airlines such as Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia and Malindo Air, so day trips from Kuala Lumpur are particularly easy. Most flights depart from KLIA which is about an hour from the city and can be reached in a taxi from £20. Other flights depart from Subang which is half the distance and about £10 in a taxi. During my Kuala Lumpur city break I had two trips planned, a day in Singapore to visit Universal Studios, and a trip to the beach island of Langkawi.

Unfortunately after arriving at KLIA to go to Langkawi I had a 4 hour delay on my outbound flight, so I decided to abort the trip and stay in Kuala Lumpur for the day. The good news is that we did make it to Singapore for our day trip to Universal Studios, we did however have some issues getting there, but I’ll go into that another time. The main thing is that we made it there in the end. The flights were around £40pp return, and the flight time is less than an hour. Universal Studios was amazing! I am a big kid when it comes to theme parks, and outside the US they can sometimes be quite mediocre, however Universal Studios Singapore definitely is not! The queues though were quite long, so I would recommend upgrading to a queue jump ticket which reduces queue times to 5-10 minutes, and costs around £30. You can do this only once per ride but it is definitely worth it for the time it saves.

I really enjoyed my Kuala Lumpur city break, and my time in the surrounding areas. I saw lots of the major sights in the city and experienced some great meals. Would I go back? Yes – In a heartbeat! I travel to Australia frequently and do like to stop over either on the way there or on the way back, and Kuala Lumpur is definitely one of my favourite destinations for a stop over.