While getting around Kuala Lumpur, you will mostly use the metro, walking and occasionally taxi/Grab. There are also buses around the city, but these are more for locals as they don't serve the touristy areas.

Expect protracted traffic jams when travelling by taxi!

The 10 best hotels in Kuala Lumpur

Public transport

We got around Kuala Lumpur by all modes of transport. What are our experiences, tips and tricks?

Fares - Touch 'n Go card

You can use the Touch 'n Go rechargeable card to travel on all metro, train and bus lines.

You can also use the card to pay for public transport fares in other Malaysian cities (but not all - for example, in Malacca, buses can only be paid for with cash).

On buses, you can only pay with the Touch 'n Go card, while on the subway, you can also buy tokens (cash) from the machine. Metro fares are slightly cheaper when paying with a Touch 'n Go card.

How much does Touch 'n Go cost and where to buy?

The basic price of the card is 10 myr. For this price, you can buy the card at any metro or monorail station, always only at a manned ticket office and not at a machine.

You tell them how much you want to charge the card. This will then be charged according to how much you use public transport.

You can top up your card again at ticket offices in metro stations or via the Touch 'n Go mobile app.

You can also buy the card at many other retailers such as 7-Eleven minimarket or Watsons drugstore. These retailers will usually sell you Touch 'n Go at prices around 25 myr, but you'll also get discounts on purchases from their stores.

Is it worth buying Touch 'n Go?

If you plan to travel by bus as well, then the Touch 'n Go card is your only payment option. The only exception to this is on GO KL buses running only in the city centre, where the fare is free.

However, the most tourists will encounter with the bus service is when travelling from Subang Airport or perhaps for transport between Putrajaya Sentral Station and Putrajaya city centre. However, most tourists do not use buses in KL.

Discounts on metro fares are around 0,30 myr to 0,50 myr, so you would have to take at least 20 metro rides to make the card worthwhile.

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 is what runs daily here.

In KL you'll find 10 mostly elevated lines that connect at certain stations but aren't completely interchangeable. Each line usually has a different operator. Therefore, you leave the station transport area and buy a new ticket at the other entrance.

Detailed information, line maps and the fare system are described in the Kuala Lumpur Metro chapter.

Buses

Kuala Lumpur's public buses are operated by several companies, but there are two main ones:

• RapidKL - provides the largest number of routes around the city
  • the fares are flat and are 3 myr per 1 ride
  • payment can only be made with Touch 'n Go cards
  • bus stops tend to be very poorly signposted and timetables are very difficult to find and check - buses usually run at intervals of 20-70 minutes
  • Find maps of individual routes: myrapidbus.prasarana.com.my

• Go KL - several bus routes connecting mainly Pasar Seni, Chinatown, KLCC and Bukit Bintang areas
  • fares are free
  • routes are usually short and due to traffic jams it is often quicker to walk

Taxi / Grab

Asia is riding a wave of smart apps, so ideally purchase an e-sim with data (such as from airalo.com) and install the Grab app.

Uber also operates in Kuala Lumpur, but availability tends to be lower than Grab and prices are usually a little higher.

You can literally call Grab at all hours of the night and day in absolutely all locations in the city centre and suburbs. Wait times at the most exposed locations like Batu Caves can be around 15 minutes.

Grab is generally a very cheap form of transport around KL.

How much we paid for Grab on our travels:

• From Federal Territory Mosque to Thean Hou Temple - 13 myr
• from TBS bus station to KLCC Park - 18 myr

If you're old school, just make sure you flag down a taxi on a street that uses a meter.

The taxis are typically red in colour, 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 in a roundabout way.

Frequent traffic jams

Please note that when travelling by car around Kuala Lumpur, it is essential to leave a large time allowance.

With the exception of the night hours and early mornings, traffic jams are ubiquitous on the streets of Kuala Lumpur and can be both in the city centre and on the outskirts.