Depending on your age, physical fitness and urban inclination (or not), Kuala Lumpur is a fine city for walking and has clear, well-placed signage. Street signs are jumbo sized, blue with white lettering at eye level. Most corners have multi-directional pointers. There are city maps in places. Tiled pavements are 5 m in width, on average (a warning: treacherously slippery at sloped curb sides). Main arteries are boulevard broad and tree-lined. Most intersections have bright, yellow striped pedestrian crossings. While traffic can be daunting at times, it rarely moves fast enough to be seriously hazardous. Beware of speeding and criss-crossing motorcyclists, though!
Kuala Lumpur can be very hot and humid. To keep your walks comfortable, avoid walking between 11 am- 3pm, when the sun is at its hottest. Wear comfortable clothing and carry water with you. There are generally many shopping malls in the Golden Triangle area so if your walk is planned around that area, the occasional stop in an air-conditioned mall to cool down will feel very good.
Be careful when jaywalking on major streets, especially near downtown. The police occasionally crack down on jaywalkers in a public awareness campaign. Luckily, the on-the-spot fine is light (RM 20/30 for tourists/locals), and the whole process is over in a few minutes, but they will check your passport for travel documents. If you see large groups of traffic officers on both sides of a road, it's probably a smart idea to use the designated crossing areas.
Here is a walking tour (circle) that encompasses the main centre attractions (2-3 hr): starting at Chinatown (Petaling Street), identify on a map the following landmarks: the Maybank building, the Times Square towers, the Petronas Twin Towers and KL Tower. Once on the street do a visual scan of these buildings. You'll likely not need the map henceforth. Proceed from the Maybank building (vertically striped wedge) up Jalan Pudu, which turns into Jalan Bukit Bintang (Royale Bintang Hotel) at about 1 km. Stop for coffee at Bintang Walk, or check out the electronics mega-mall, Plaza Low Yat. Continue on Jalan Sultan Ismail towards Petronas. Be amazed! Wind your way from Petronas along Jalan P. Ramlee past the KL Tower and down Jalan Raja Chulan back to the Maybank building and Chinatown.
If you're fortunate enough to do this walk on a typical Sunday afternoon you will find a calm and attractive city.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Kuala Lumpur
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Kuala Lumpur - updated Apr 2024
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Kuala Lumpur Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
