Best attractions and things to do in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia

KL Bird Park

The Kuala Lumpur Bird Park is the largest covered bird park in the world where you can just walk in and see the birds live freely in their habitat. The park is almost 21 acres big and home to over 3000 birds of hundreds of species which gives an impression of the diversity the park has to offer. This is why the park often draws the attention of many bird spotters. The park aims to reproduce the natural environment of the birds to make it as comfortable as possible for the animals.

It’s lots of fun to stroll to the park and meet the animals up close. The park offers feeding moments and bird shows at set times. Especially the eagle feeding show is a nice display for every animal fan. Waterbirds like Flamingos and dozens of colourful oriental birds like Toucans and are also quite popular in the park.

The Kuala Lumpur Bird Park has a small entrance fee. At Meet The Cities we believe the bird park is certainly a recommended visit for families with children, as this is a great opportunity for children to see the many colourful birds up close. And the park offers many family photo moments for the visitors.

The bird park is located inside of the freely accessible Tun Abdul Razak Heritage Park, so a good way to reach it is by using the hop-on hop-off bus that goes from Merdeka Square through the park. Another way to reach this park is by taxi.

Aquaria KLCC

Aquaria KLCC is an extensive oceanium that houses thousands of aquatic animals. From colourful fish like lionfish, piranhas and seahorses to dangerous tiger sharks, stingrays and large turtles.

The Aquaria creates a nice atmosphere where you’ll feel immersed into the ocean, as you walk past and through huge aquariums of various shapes and sizes, sorted by themes that recreate their natural habitat. One of it’s most impressive attractions is the 300 feet or 90 meters long glass tunnel through a huge aquarium where you can see sea creatures swimming on all sides around you.

The feeding schedule of the animals is spread out over most of the day, so there are plenty of opportunities to see the feeding frenzy. Aquaria contributes to several animal conservation programs and you can see the animals here are well taken care of.

For the more adventurous travelers among us the oceanium also offers a diving experience where you can swim between several types of sharks. For the less experienced swimmer you can also get into an underwater cage to experience the sharks up close.

Aquaria KLCC can be found inside the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, which is located next to the Petronas Towers. So it’s easy to combine with a visit to the Petronas Towers. You can also combine it with a shopping trip to the neighbouring shopping mall Suria KLCC, where you can find signs pointing towards the oceanium. Aquaria KLCC can also be reached by taking the pedestrian bridge above the street from the shopping mall Pavilion KL to the KL Convention Center.

Sunway Lagoon attraction park

Sunway Lagoon is an award winning attraction park in Malaysia. Sunway Lagoon is one of the most exciting destinations on this list. It consists of an extensive water park, an amusement park, a Nickelodeon themed park, a wildlife park, an extreme activities park and more. Together these themed sub-parks form a diverse, wild and complete experience where there are always things to do and you can always find a fun attraction to get lost in.

It’s a good idea to bring your swimming gear because the water park has some great attractions, from the world’s largest water attraction and huge waterslides to the Waterplexx 5D cinema, which is a 3D movie experience where you can also expect to get wet, and watery playgrounds for children. It also has an unmatched artificial beach with a wave simulator which allows you to hone your surfing skills.

There is also a Nickelodeon themed area, which also has pretty cool water attractions. From water fountains for children and slides that you can experience on a rubber boat to scary water slides, with a trapdoor below your feet, which opens up and sends you into a vertical free-fall over a slide and into the water.

In the wildlife park you can find a large number of exotic animals like the elusive white tigers, black panthers and other animals like bears and porcupines. It’s a complete zoo that comes with animal shows and wildlife encounters. It’s the perfect place to have a stroll through after a long day of swimming.

The extreme park focusses on somewhat more extravagant sports such archery, paintball shooting, kayaking, but it also has a few paid activities such as bungee jumping. This park is meant for the people who seek more excitement and love physical and thrilling activities.

The amusement park contains the ever so familiar family friendly attractions that you have come to expect from theme parks, such as a roller coaster, a rubber boat that goes over the river rapids and a swinging pirate ship. For younger kids there are also carousels and slides and other activities where they can enjoy harmless amusement.

At the moment of writing the park also has a scream park, which offers a house of horrors experience to visitors. The four interactive walk-through shows are well thought out and truly give a distinct flavour to this amusement park. Of course you do have to take the shows with a grain of salt and just enjoy it for what it is.

The park is located on a 15 minute drive from Kuala Lumpur in the neighbouring village of Petaling Jaya, and right behind the distinctive Sunway Pyramid shopping mall. As the park is quite nearby the best way to reach it is by taking the taxi directly to the park. But it’s also possible to go to Kuala Lumpur Sentral railway station and then take the RapidKL bus to the park.

The tickets to this park offer admission to all the sub-parks, so you can enjoy the whole experience from the waterpark, to the zoo and the roller coasters. Visiting the Sunway Lagoon attraction park is a great way to get maximum enjoyment out of your vacation.

Kuala Lumpur Guided City Tour

The best way to immerse yourself in the local culture of a city and discover all landmark locations and hidden gems is with the help of a native tour guide who knows the ins and outs of the city. Getting a knowledgeable tour guide to show you around through the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will ensure you get the most enjoyment out of your cultural journey.

Kuala Lumpur is known for it’s Petronas Towers, historical sites such as the National Monument, The National Mosque and colonial architecture around Independence Square but it’s also riddled with religious temples of all world religions. When you are familiarized with the history and culture of the city you truly start understanding how the city came to be and admire its grandeur in the right perspective.

Petronas Towers skybridge

The Petronas Twin Towers are the most recognizable buildings of Kuala Lumpur. The skyline of the city is defined by these architectural highlights. The towers have a mind boggling height of 452 metres (1,483 ft) which makes it one of the largest buildings in the world. The twin towers are semi-detached, as 170 meters (558 ft) above the ground on the 41th floor you can find a huge skybridge connecting the two buildings. From this bridge you can oversee the entire city with a beautiful panoramic view that extends into the horizon. After visiting the skybridge you can take the experience another step further as you can go up to the dazzling 86th floor where an observation deck awaits the visitors.

Only a thousand visitors a day can get an entrance ticket to the towers, which is relatively few for such a huge tourist attraction. So if you get your ticket onsite it is advised to get them early in the morning. Visiting the most iconic building of the city is truly worth it.

Camp 5 Climbing Gym

If you’re feeling in a sportive mood then you’ll be happy to know that Malaysia has the largest indoor climbing gym in Asia. This gym called Camp 5 can be found on the fifth floor of the the beautiful shopping mall 1 Utama. Indoor climbing is a great way to release your energy and have fun doing it. It’s also fun for children to learn they can overcome obstacles like these. The 24 meters high facility has various walls with colourful handles suitable for all expertise levels. It’s also possible to follow a training course from professional instructors to get more familiar with climbing and to hone your climbing skills in a safe environment. One cool aspect of the Camp 5 facility is that the outer walls are huge glass windows, providing you with a beautiful 360 view of the city Petaling Jaya as you climb upwards.

Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary

When you think of South East Asia then you think of elephants. You can meet these kind and majestic animals at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary, also known as the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre, which is the main elephant sanctuary in Malaysia. As the habitat of elephants is shrinking the sanctuary offers a safe home to displaced elephants, until they have found a suitable home in the wild for them again. Tourists are allowed into the sanctuary to fund elephant conservation programs and help raise awareness of the issues surrounding these endangered species.

The sanctuary offers an unique opportunity for a close encounter with these lovely creatures, feed baby elephants and watch (and sometimes even help) showering them in their habitat. Especially children love the close encounter with the animals. The elephant sanctuary is not located in the city center of Kuala Lumpur. To reach it you need to drive about 110 kilometers, which will take about 1,5 to 2 hours depending on the traffic. But it’s certainly worth the taking this small trip for.

Berjaya Times Square Theme Park (Cosmo’s World)

One of the largest indoor theme park in Asia can be found in the shopping mall Berjaya Times Square. Most of the attractions in this park are rides aimed at kids of different ages. The theme park is divided into two interconnected sections.

On the fifth floor of the mall you will find the section of the theme park for which you have to be older than 13 years. This basically means you have to be taller than 140cm (4 feet and 7 inches) for some of the rides here. Here you can find a roller coaster that speeds through the sky and past the stores at 80 km/h. Other attractions you can find here are funfare-like attractions such as bumper cars and various spinning attractions.

On the seventh floor the attractions are intended for smaller children. On-rail trains, jeeps, a swinging boat and slower bumper cars and four other attractions. A total of 14 rides can be found in the theme park, which is enough to keep the kids occupied for half a day. If you are looking to spend some quality time with young children this is an excellent place to spend the day at.

The park is fairly easy to reach as it’s located in the most popular shopping area of Kuala Lumpur called Bukit Bintang. So regardless of your location in the city taking a taxi is a quick and cheap solution. On both sides of the theme park you can find bus stations, one is called Berjaya Times Square Jalan Imbi and the other Berjaya Times Square Jalan Pudu. The Imbi monorail station is also located right in front of the door. So there are plenty of ways to easily reach the shopping mall Berjaya Times Square, where the theme park is located in. And as Berjaya Times Square Theme Park is located indoors this family friendly attraction can even be enjoyed on a rainy day.

Zoo Negara Malaysia

The National Zoo of Malaysia, called Zoo Negara in Malay, is an outstanding zoo with almost 500 different kinds of animal species strolling around. As children love animals a zoo is an excellent choice when you’re looking for a family friendly attraction. The zoo prides itself in the fact that the animals are kept in spacious and open grounds.

The most eye catching attraction is the great panda bear conservation center, where you have the rare opportunity to see these cute animals up close. Other animals that can be found here vary from giraffes, to apes, Malaysian elephants, pelicans, tapirs, penguins, kangaroos, several types of bears, zebras, porcupines, tigers, crocodiles and the list goes on.

The zoo also offers an animal show with sea lions and Macaws, which is given at 11.00 am and 15.00 pm. In the distant past the zoo also offered elephant shows and rides, but they have stopped doing so to minimize the stress levels of these animals. Because the animal comes first.

When looking for things to do in Kuala Lumpur or Malaysia then this zoo offers a great opportunity to spend the day with your family. Technically it’s not located within Kuala Lumpur, but it’s not far from it either. It lies about 5 kilometers from the city. So you can easily take a taxi to Zoo Negara.

Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park

The Butterfly Park can be found in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, within the huge Tun Abdul Razak Heritage Park which also contains the Lake Gardens and the Bird Park. When you enter this vibrant butterfly park it feels like you entered a colorful exposition of the warm tropic rainforest. But instead of finding dangerous animals you will only find beautiful butterflies fluttering around, which is quite a soothing experience.

According to discovery channel there is no other butterfly park that can compare, which is an understandable statement knowing that the Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park is the largest of it’s kind. It’s home to over 6000 exotic butterflies from over 120 species. You can meet the butterflies up close as they land next to you in a colourful display and flutter to plants around the visitors path.

Besides the butterflies this 80,000 square feet park also exhibits turtles, fountains, exotic plants and insects, which only adds to the enchanting atmosphere of the park. This is an excellent attraction when you wish to take some lovely pictures of yourself with butterflies. And it’s fun to see the kids awe at them. To facilitate the wildlife it can be quite warm in the park, so it’s a good idea to bring a nice bottle of water for yourself.

As the park lies right next to the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park it’s often recommended to combine the two attractions. The quickest and easiest way to reach the park is by taxi. As taxi’s in Kuala Lumpur are quite cheap and available at all times we at Meet The Cities recommend taking the taxi. But you can also walk to the park from the Old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, as the park is located behind the Masjid Negara. Alternatively there is a tourist tram service that leaves from Merdeka Square which takes the scenic route through the Heritage Park. This tram service also eventually passes by the butterfly park.