Hi All,
We arrive very early in KL, by the time we reach our hotel and check in etc, i%26#39;m guessing will be there no later than 9am.
I need help planning our itinerary on things to do.
We are staying at Melia Hotel.
Day 1 - we are with our friends, so we would like to visit the top things to do in KL?
I%26#39;m thinking straight to the petronas to look, but will also want to see this at night. I%26#39;m not sure where else to go from here? i%26#39;ve heard good and bad things about the hop on hop off bus.
We will go to chinatown that night.
Day 2 - Our friends leave around midday so we will have the rest of the day to kill.
Day 3 - depart KL for a 5.30pm flight
Should we go to Batu caves on our last day?
So basically we have 2.5 days to venture out in the town. Please help me plan!
Thanks in advance,
Izzy
Pls help us plan!Hi Izzy
How is the trip planning going?
I have read many of travellingmitch%26#39;s recommendations for what to do and will probably put something together from this. I%26#39;m sure you have searched and read heaps and ended up as confused as we were (well I was anyway). We have changed plans now, we were spending a night in KL on the way over to Thailand (Melb to KL AA) and then I%26#39;d been planing a quick 3N dash to Langkawi on the return journey as a surprise b%26#39;day pres. This would have given us a bit over 24 hours to spend in KL (planned to do the hop-on/hop-off bus). After more research, checking exchange rates etc for the last 3 months, I%26#39;ve now very sadly canned Langkawi for this trip and have approx 2.5 days at the end of our trip to spend in KL. I%26#39;m not sure what time you would get back from Batu caves, but remember check in closes 45 mins before departure, so you would want to be at the airport by 4-4.30pm at the latest. I doubt I%26#39;d risk it on the last day (part of the reason I reconsidered our Langkawi dash was ensuring I%26#39;d be back to Kl in time to catch our flight home). We get to KL early arvo now (might head to Chinatown then) dinner possibly somewhere around Pavillion or Bukit Bintang, next day hop on hop off bus, back to hotel for a rest, then Menara Tower for sunset, head to park near KLCC for night view of twin towers etc. Next day undecided at this stage (probably trying not to think about what I%26#39;d have been doing in Langkawi instead). He he, only joking, I think we might have to plan a trip to Malysia next as I%26#39;ve found so many places I want to see during my research.
Lee xx
Pls help us plan!Day 1: Not sure when you can check-in, but if you can%26#39;t by 9, just leave your bags at the luggage room and tell them to bring it up for you once you have a room. Since there are 4 of you, it might make sense to hire a cab for a few hours rather than to buy the tickets for the HOHO bus. A usual city cab driver should cost you RM 20 an hour MAXIMUM including waiting time and all costs (tolls and petrol). Flag one down and ask for hourly rates; don%26#39;t fall prey to those who ask for ';per day'; rates of a few hundred ringgits. If they don%26#39;t agree with under RM 20; close the door and flag the next one down.
With a cab, you have more flexibility and you save more time.
Take a trip around KL stopping along these points:
1. Lake gardens, bird park/butterfly park/deer park.
2. Royal Palace short stop since you only can take pictures from outide.
3. Thean Hou Temple (quite colorful and newly renovated chinese temple).
4. Brickfields. If you want to stock up on your jars of curry powders, spices and Indian snacks, this is the place to get cheap and good quality stuff. Visit the Sri Kandaswamy Temple at Jalan Scott or the many other smaller temples and shrines along Jalan Berhala. Here is a nice article I found:
abwm.com.my/PDFs/brickfieldswalkingtour.pdf
5. Old Railway station, National Mosque, Dataran Merdeka, Masjid Jamek, KLCC (ask the taxi driver to stop you on the opposite side of the park at Lorong Kuda for pictures (unless you have a wide-angle lens!). You can hang around KLCC or Bukit Bintang till evening before heading down to Petaling Street, or you could stop by Central Market for more cheap shopping before walking down to Petaling Street.
Go up to the KL towers early the next morning (its been raining quite a lot these days so the mornings are pretty clear). Hope it helps!
Hey Global, I can almost smell those curry spices, are we allowed to import them into our countries?
Sorry if I sound a bit dense, but I have no idea how/or if this is possible in Oz, (having never thought about it). However, if I was planning to bring some back I certainly wouldn%26#39;t want to lose it at customs through ignorance either. Is this a common practice and I%26#39;m behind the times, or is it more involved than this??
Thanks for any ideas.
Lee
Hi Lee, I am not sure how the customs at NZ are; but I don%26#39;t have problems in Europe. I buy mega lots of Garam Masala and cinnamon from Malaysia cause its so expensive here in Europe. I guess its OK if you purchase small amounts and have the spices grinded into powder and vacumm pack them nicely (the shops can do this for you). I think the customs (the Australians as far as I know) don%26#39;t allow whole seeds and fruit peel (cinnamon sticks and Pepper seeds) into their country, but they%26#39;ve always allowed powder dried spices in. Maybe someone from NZ with experience in this matter can help.
Hi Izzy (and Sunsets4us)
As you are arriving at the Melia around 9am, you never know if you will get to check in or not until you get there. If you can%26#39;t, then as GT2K says leave your bags at the hotel and head out. Ask when the room will be avaiable so you can head back to check in and freshen up. All I%26#39;ve listed are either a 10-20min walk from your hotel, except the Lake Garden area.
So yes head for Petronas Towers/ Suria KLCC mall / Petrosains Discovery Centre / Kuala Lumpur City Centre park. You will be able to queue up for tickets to the sky bridge on the 41st/42nd floor, but might have to go back later as its a first come first served basis. Its closed on Monday. The view are not the brill%26#39;, KL Menara has the best views as you are at 94m. The towers are worth seeing at night, and you can see them from most parts of the city, and have the WOW factor!! Why not go for an evening drink at the Sky Bar at Traders hotel on the edge of KLCC park for the best views of the towers.
I would then be tempted get a taxis for a very quick ride (10-15myr) over to KL Menara, it is only a few metres shorter than the Petronas as it is built on a hill [Bukit Nanas aka Pineapple Hill] it give fabulous view of KL and the towers day and night. You can also walk around the forest reserve at the base of the tower. You can go when you want and stay as long as you like on the observation deck. There is a revolving restaurant but good is only very average compared to the views. Snack bar at the base of the tower. Added to this is access to some of KL鈥檚 original rainforest, an has been left in-situ whilst KL grew up around it. Surrounding the tower is Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve and it is claimed it is undisturbed rainforest.
Don%26#39;t let the taxi drivers rip you off, average fares in town should be about 10-20myr, and they should really use their meter!
From there head down to Central Market / Independence or Merdeka Square / Sultan Abdul building / Royal Selangor Club / St. Mary%26#39;s Cathedral / Kuala Lumpur Railway Station - Colonial heritage. Walk round to Chinatown.
Chinatown / Petaling Street / night market / street food / Sri Mahamariamman Temple plus other temples / UDA Ocean traditional Chinese shopping mall junction between Jalan Sultan and Jalan Dato H S Lee. (walking distance to Central Market)
Don%26#39;t forget about Shopping!!
Bukit Bintang 鈥?A great place for shopping and eating. Sungai Wang/BB Plaza [500 shops and a real Malaysian treat of all sorts of bargains hidden away], KL Plaza, Times Square [which also has a theme park], Pavillion [Mid to top end shops and also the best food court which is reasonably priced, very good mix of restaurants plus a supermarket], Lot 10 [also has a supermarket], Starhill Gallery [very top end but some very nice reasonably priced restaurants], Plaza Low Yat [IT mall], YTL Plaza, BB Park, Imbi Plaza for shopping, plus there are many open fronted shops which offer some great bargains and are identical to those in Chinatown and then there is Jalan Alor is a great place for street food and many restaurants along Bukit Bintang. Ain Arabia or Arab Street is just around the corner in Jalan Berangan, the shopping haven and food and culture of the Arabs in Malaysia. No end to the variety at Bukit Bintang.
Lake Gardens / Orchid %26amp; Hibiscus Gardens / Bird-Butterfly / Deer parks / Carcosa Seri Negara 鈥?colonial hotel 鈥?high tea / Museum of Islamic Arts / National Museum / Masjid Negara [National Mosque] are all worth a visit - Get the monrail to KL Sentral then by taxi.
You could also visit Craft Complex, Jalan Conlay - Malaysian handicrafts and artefacts, exhibition gallery, craft museum, stage, souvenir and crafts shops, craft demonstrations and practical interactive sessions, as well as a restaurant.
Maju Junction, Sogo, Pertama Complex, Campbell Complex, Lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman street market [Every Saturday between 5.00 pm -10.00 pm] are worth a visit.
Little India - Masjid Jamek Bandaraya / hawkers / fabulous Silk and fabric stores / jewellery / India Street (Jalan Masjid Jamek), oldest parts of the city, Jalan Masjid India is the original shopping haven that has dated back over a century ago (don%26#39;t confuse with Brickfields which is often called Little India)
The Hop-on-hop-off bus is a great way as a familiarisation of Kuala Lumpur for a first time visitor or as a reminder of the city. It follows a long and interesting route that covers most of the tourist sights [with pre-recorded info in English and several other languages]. You need to do the whole circuit to get back to your starting point but can get on and off at any time as its name suggests. The buses run at 15-30 minute intervals and takes 45-60 minutes to complete a full circuit. Stop 1 is at the Malaysian Tourism Complex on Jalan Ampang and stop 22 is at KLCC / Petronas Towers, which is not far from stop 1. The signs are very clearly marked and highly colourful. It is not cheap compared to using pubic transport, the train / monorail / bus, but does give a great introduction to Kuala Lumpur and a good way to spend a day to get to know KLs sights along the 22 stops enroute. The HOHO bus will NOT pick up directly at your hotel, only the designated stops. The down side will be that at times of heavy traffic the bus can not do the route as quickly. You buy tickets on the bus on the day or from large hotel concierge and approved travel agents. You can buy adult or child tickets to cover 24 (38/17myr) or 48 (65/29myr) hours. The buses run from 8:30am to 8:30pm. Check out their website http://www.myhoponhopoff.com/. The KL traffic can make the HOHO seem not good value for money. Another option would be the RapidKL ALL-DAY ticket which visits all the same places as the HOHO via various bus routes, although not in a circular route. Expect to pay 1myr for the All-Day Local Bus, about 2myr on the All-Day Trunk Bus or All-Day City Bus and 5myr for a All-Day Express Bus . The ALL-DAY ticket will give unlimited rides on the routes in the same service (Local, Trunk, City or Express) for the whole day. Buy the tickets on the bus.
The Royal Palace is not that great, and you can%26#39;t see much, its a popular stop with bus tours.
I%26#39;m not a great Batu Caves fan, but most love it. The Caves are a limestone outcropping 15km north of Kuala Lumpur. Reached by 272 steps [watch out for the monkeys] leading up to one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to god Murugan. Made up of three main caves and a few smaller ones. The Temple cave and other caves features Hindu shrines. There is 42.7 meter (140.09 ft) high, and the world%26#39;s tallest statue of Murugan at the bottom of the steps.
Sadly, you may find that you will not be able to bring any dried powdered spices and curry powders into Australia (and probaly NZ) unless the contents are very clearly marked and are in English. Unlike GT2K says, ALL FOOD HAS TO BE DECLARED, it is edible it must be! Not just some seeds and fruits. You will have to declare curry powder etc as food stuff and see what the customs officers say. If there are no contents shown or the contents are in Malaysia or Chinese etc then they are likely to confiscate them. As you know the Australia have just about the strictest customs in the world, and we usually declare everything - ok we usually bring in a load of pre packaged english lollies for my sister, but we declare get the ok and they send us on our way, but we do not risk any find as ALL incoming luggage is xrayed and they can spot anything you have not declared. The fine or penalty is not worth it! Europe is less strict, as we would be able to bring them into the UK, but we do not have the very strict customs and quarantine rules as you. Check with the Quarrantine and Inspection service website, which is really helpful http://www.daffa.gov.au/aqis/travel
Have fun, and enjoy. Always happy to help
PS Give my love to Adelaide my home of a year many years ago, as well as Melbourne for 1 week!
Hi Mitch
The meters are a piece or ornamental display for most Malaysian Taxi.
No effective enforcement against them for not using the meters???????
The hot and Humid climate is not condusive for the relevant authority go go after them(Taxi not using meter)
I know all about the taxi drivers, but they can be a bit scarey for first time visitors, don%26#39;t you think. We have found some really nice ones over the years, and try to use them again and again, when we can.
If only they had taxi enforcement like we have here! Now that would be interesting!
Mum and I stayed at Melia, so just a quick suggestion. As you may not be able to check into a room straight away, they will look after your luggage and ask for a safety deposit box in the lobby and put all your passports, valuables in there. There are safes in your room, so once we got our room we took it out of safety deposit box and put in our room safe.
peace of mind rather than taking that stuff out with you shopping or whatever else you decide to do :)
Have a fab time!
Thanks everyone for your replies and advice! Wow lots to do in such little time!
I%26#39;m going to have to print this info off.
Ok, Traders for a nice drink would be good. So would it be best to go up and see the views from the Menara Tower? Do you have to wait for a long period to get up? What time does it close at night?
If we decide Batu caves, we may do this on the 2nd day.
Hi Lee, starting to stress a little now, we only have 19 days to go! Sounds like you%26#39;ve got yours under control :-) What a great excuse for you to visit Malaysia next time and head to Langkawi. We were considering Penang with cheap Air Asia flights but the nice hotels seemed out of our price range for this trip.
Many thanks
Izzy
Hi
Izzy
Views from KL Menara are 100% the best. No waiting, just turn up, buy ticket and go up in the lift [once waited 2 mins for a lift], stay as long as you like until closing time which is about 11pm [I think].
Have a great one
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