Planning a Trip

Visitor Information

In Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysia Tourism Board has several offices. The largest is at the MTC, the Malaysia Tourist Centre, located on 109 Jalan Ampang (tel. 03/2164-3929) and open daily from 8am to 10:30pm. In addition to a tourist information desk, MTC also has a money changer; ATM; tourist police post; travel agent booking for Taman Negara trips, city tours, and limited hotel bookings; souvenir shops; an amphitheater; and Transnasional bus ticket bookings.

Vision KL Magazine is offered for free in many hotel rooms and has listings for events in KL and around the country, plus ads for restaurants and shops. At newsstands it costs RM6.80 ($1.90/95p).

Getting There

By Plane -- The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) (tel. 03/8776-4386), located in Sepang, 53km (32 miles) outside the city, opened in 1998. KLIA is a huge complex with business centers, dining facilities, a fitness center, medical services, shopping, post offices, and an airport hotel operated by Pan Pacific (tel. 03/8787-3333). Although there are money changers, they are few and far between, so hop on the first queue you see and don't assume there's another one just around the corner.

Getting into Town from the Airport
By Taxi -- City taxis are not permitted to pick up fares from the airport (although you will find illegal gypsy cabs -- avoid them!), but special airport taxis (tel. 03/8787-3678) operate round-the-clock, charging RM92 ($26/£13) for a premier car (Mercedes) and RM67 ($19/£9.45) for a standard vehicle (the locally built Proton). Vans with seating capacity up to eight can also be hired for RM180 ($51/£25). Coupons must be purchased at the arrival concourse.

An express coach (tel. 03/2730-2000) connects KLIA to KL Sentral train station, where you can catch a cab to the city's major hotels. It costs RM35 ($9.80/£4.90) for a ticket, so you may as well take the Express Rail Link, listed below. It's faster.

The Express Rail Link (tel. 03/2267-8000) runs between KLIA and KL Sentral train station from 5am to 1am daily. Trains depart every 15 minutes and take 28 minutes to complete the journey. Tickets cost RM35 ($9.80/£4.90) for adults and RM15 ($4.20/£2.10) for children. From KL Sentral, taxis are always on hand and use a coupon system (about RM7/$2/£1 or RM8/$2.20/£1.10 to central parts of the city), or you can catch one of the city's commuter trains to a station near your hotel.

By Train -- I love KL's shiny new train station, KL Sentral. Not only does it serve as a clean, safe, and orderly base from which to take the train, it's also a hub for local commuter train services around the city; it's got tons of facilities, money changers, ATMs, fast food, and shops; and it's got an easy taxi coupon system (about RM7/$2/£1 or RM8/$2.20/£1.10 to central parts of the city) -- cabs are really easy to find here. For KL Sentral information, call tel. 03/2267-1200.

By Bus -- If you're arriving in KL by bus, be warned, different bus companies drop off at different locations around the city. I recommended Grassland Express buses from Singapore (tel. 65/6292-1166). These buses will drop you off either at the Puduraya Bus Terminal in the center of town or on Jalan Imbi just opposite the Times Square shopping mall -- a much preferable location. KL has three official bus terminals that handle inter-city bus departures and arrivals to all parts of the country: the aforementioned Puduraya Terminal on Jalan Pudu, Putra Terminal on Jalan Tun Ismail, and Pekililing Terminal on Jalan Ipoh. If you arrive at Puduraya, the biggest of the three, good luck! It's congested -- both with toxic fumes and traffic jams: one of the reasons I avoid standard bus travel in Malaysia. Taxis -- another less-than-pleasant mode of transportation can usually be found at any of these terminals.

Getting Around

Kuala Lumpur is a prime example of a city that was not planned, per se, from a master graph of streets. Rather, because of its beginnings as an outpost, it grew as it needed to, expanding outward and swallowing up rural surroundings. The result is a tangled web of streets too narrow to support the traffic of a capital city. Cars and buses weave through one-way lanes, with countless motorbikes sneaking in and out, sometimes in the opposite direction of traffic or up on the sidewalks. Expect traffic jams in the morning rush between 6 and 9am, and again between 4 and 7pm. At other times, taxis are a convenient way of getting around, but the commuter train system, if they're going where you need to, is perhaps the best value and easiest route. City buses are hot and crowded with some very confusing routes. Walking can also be frustrating. Many sidewalks are in poor condition, with buckled tiles and gaping gutters. The heat can be prohibitive as well. However, areas within the colonial heart of the city, Chinatown, Little India, and some areas in the Golden Triangle are within walking distance of each other.

By Taxi -- If you ask me, KL cabbies should have their tires slashed. If you can get one to stop, the driver will almost always refuse to use the meter (which is against the law), quoting what seems to be the standard -- RM10 ($2.80/£1.15), usually for a trip that normally costs RM4 ($1.10/55p). If it's raining, expect that quote to double. I usually don't dicker over the price because it's only a buck and a half. It's just frustrating when cab after cab passes you by. In some places within the city, taxi stands try to solve this problem. Be prepared for taxis to pull over, roll down the window, and hear the pleas from the queue before deciding upon which passenger to take, regardless of the order of the queue. Somewhere there are numbers to call for taxi booking -- what a joke! Maybe they'll show, and maybe they won't. Don't even waste your time. Technically, the metered fare is RM2 (60¢/30p) for the first 2km and an additional RM0.10 (3¢/1p) for each 200m after that. Between midnight and 6am you'll be charged an extra 50% of the total fare.

By Bus -- I don't recommend travel on city buses. They're cheap but not dependable, with city routes that will get newcomers lost for sure. It's not the most relaxing way to get around.

By Rail -- KL has a network of mass transit trains that snake through the city and out to the suburbs, and it'll be worth your time to become familiar with them, because taxis are sometimes unreliable and traffic jams can be unbearable. Trouble is, there are five train routes and each one is operated by a different company. How confusing! The lines don't seem to connect in any logical way.

The four lines that are most useful to visitors are the Putra LRT, the Star LRT, the KL Monorail, and the ERL Express Rail Link to the airport.

The Kelana Jaya Line, formerly called Putra LRT, has stops at Bangsar, KL Sentral (train station), Pasar Seni (Chinatown), Masjid Jamek, Dang Wangi, and KLCC shopping center. The Ampang & Sri Petaling Line, formerly called the Star LRT, is only convenient if you need to get to the Putra World Trade Centre. It also stops at Masjid Jamek and Plaza Rayat. Average trips on both lines will cost around RM2 (60¢/30p).

The KL Monorail provides good access through the main hotel and shopping areas of the city, including stops at KL Sentral, Imbi, Bukit Bintang (the main shopping strip), and Raja Chulan (along Jalan Sultan Ismail, where many hotels are). Fares run between RM1.20 (30¢/15p) and RM 2.50 (70¢/35p).

As a rough guide all lines operate between 5 or 6am until around midnight, with trains coming every 10 minutes or so. Tickets can be purchased at any station either from the stationmaster or from single-fare electronic ticket booths.

On Foot -- The heat and humidity can make walking between attractions pretty uncomfortable. However, sometimes the traffic is so unbearable that you'll get where you're going much faster by strapping on your tennis shoes and hiking it.

Fast Facts

The area code for Kuala Lumpur is 03, and the city's phone numbers have an eight-digit format. Numbers in the rest of the country have seven digits.

The main office for American Express is located in KL at Menara Maybank, Ground Level banking hall, Jalan Perak (tel. 1300/886-688). You'll also find headquarters for all Malaysian and many international banks, most of which have outlets along Jalan Sultan Ismail, plus ATMs at countless locations thought the city. Look for money changers in just about every shopping mall; they're a better bargain than banks or hotel cashiers.

KL's General Post Office, on Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin in the enormous Pos Malaysia Komplex Dayabumi (tel. 03/2274-1122), can be pretty overwhelming. If you can, try to use your hotel's mail service for a much easier time. Internet service in KL will run about RM3 to RM6 (80¢-$1.70/40p-85p) per hour for usage. Internet cafes come and go, popping up in backpacker areas like Chinatown and the streets around BB Plaza off Jalan Bukit Bintang.

If you have a medical emergency, the number to dial is tel. 999. This is the same number for police and fire emergencies as well.