Kuala Lumpur is a sprawling city and is the cultural and political heart of the nation and its residential suburbs seem to go on forever. The many intriguing sights to visit and terrific shopping are just a couple of the popular things to do during travel in Kuala Lumpur.
The City Centre is the traditional core of Kuala Lumpur where you’ll find the former colonial administrative centre, with the Merdeka Square, Sultan Abdul Samad Building and Selangor Club. This district also includes Kuala Lumpur’s old Chinese commercial centre which everyone refers to now as Chinatown, and plenty of budget hotels to choose from with Travel Clearance.
The area of Kuala Lumpur located to the north-east of the city centre, the Golden Triangle is where you will find the city’s shopping malls, five-star hotels, and the world famous Petronas Twin Towers.
The main attractions are spread throughout the city, although the greatest concentration of places of interest are in the City Centre, where you’ll find Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square), where Malaysia would usually celebrate the Malaysian independence day, the Sultan Abdul Samad building and other Colonial-era buildings surrounding the square; the modern National Mosque; the Moorish-style Kuala Lumpur Railway Station with it’s mini-museum on Malaysian railway history; many of Kuala Lumpur's other museums including the recently refurbished National Museum tracing the history of the region through prehistory and the Malaccan empire to Independence, and the Islamic Arts Museum, the nearby Police Museum and the pretty Lake Gardens to the west.
Temples and mosques are interesting places to visit during travel in Kuala Lumpur and offer a glimpse into local culture. At the mouth of the Gombak and Klang Rivers Sri Mahamariaman Temple, Thean Hou Temple, and the National Mosque can all be visited. Arulmigu Sri Ramalinga Eeswarar Temple is another temple of interest built in 1903.
Despite having many attractions, Kuala Lumpur is one of those cities which is short on must-see attractions: the real joy lies in wandering randomly, seeing, shopping and eating your way through it. It's hot, humid and sometimes crowded though, so schedule some air-conditioned downtime in shopping malls or restaurants into your plan.
Other areas to keep in mind on a visit to Kuala Lumpur include the Tuanku Abdul Rahman / Chow Kit area for traditional colourful shopping, Putra World Trade Centre and Kampung Baru food haven, the Brickfields area which is Kuala Lumpur’s Little India filled with saree shops and banana leaf rice restaurants, and Bangsar a popular restaurant and clubbing district and Midvalley, with its Megamall, is one of the city’s most popular shopping destinations.
There are also several attractions just outside Kuala Lumpur which are worth visiting are the Batu Caves, Malaysia’s National Zoo (Zoo Negara) both located in the north of the city and the KL Bird Park, a great semi-wild habitat for many different species of mostly Asian birds. The Bird Park allows you to approach quite close to the birds which are skittish but not fearful for some very nice photos.