How to get to Kuala Lumpur
If you're travelling from Europe, you'll land at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Airfares have long been a few hundred to a thousand higher than, say, nearby Bangkok, so expect to pay between 13-15,000 for a return ticket.
Often, it is convenient to buy open-jaw tickets, where you fly to Bangkok and return from Kuala Lumpur. This option is unbeatable in terms of price and time if you plan to visit parts of Malaysia as well.
The flight time is typical for this location, i.e. from Prague for example 13-18 hours depending on the length of the connection.
Much more often you will simply visit Kuala Lumpur by chance, when you will be connecting here on cheap flights through Asia thanks to Air Asia tickets. Spend at least two days here and get to know this completely different metropolis from the rest of its counterparts in Southeast Asia.
Air Asia also operates from KLIA, with only some airlines taking you to Subang Airport - such as FireFly.
How to get around Kuala Lumpur
While getting around Kuala Lumpur, you'll mostly use the metro, walking and occasionally a taxi. There are also buses around the city, but these are more for locals as they don't serve the touristy areas.
Metro
The metro in Kuala Lumpur is not so much a subway as a system of automated overground trains without a driver. What you may know from moving between terminals at larger airports, this runs daily here.
In KL you'll find 10 mostly elevated lines that connect at certain stations, but are not completely interchangeable. Each line usually has a different operator. Therefore, you leave the station transport area and buy a new ticket at the second entrance.
Fares here operate in sections. At the station, you select your destination at the ticket machine and pay the required amount of money depending on the distance - usually between 1 and 3 ringgit ( 0 eur - 1 eur ). You receive a token, insert it at the entrance and put it back in the turnstile at the exit.
The main transfer station is KL Sentral, which you can also reach from the airport using the train and buses.
In practice, you should only be interested in line 5 of the light red Kelena Jaya LRT, which connects KL Sentral to the main tourist sites:
- Pesar Sani Station - Central Market, Kasturi Walk, Sin Sze Si Ya, Seri Maha Mariamman and Chinatown,
- Masjid Jamek Station - Masjid Jamek and Merdeka Square,
- KLCC Station - Petronas Towers and KLCC Park.
Full metro map here: myrapid.com.my/transit-map
The transport company's website: myrapid.com.my.
Taxi
Asia is riding the smart app wave, so ideally purchase a simcard with data and install the UBER and Grab apps. You'll literally be driving around the city for free - a kilometre will set you back 1 ringgit.
If you're old-school, just make sure you flag down a taxi on the street that uses a meter. Taxis are typically red and yellow, but not all are honest and the prices they offer will often make your head spin. The most treacherous ones tend to be those waiting at tourist sites along Chinatown, avoid those.