KL Tower

KL Tower (Menara Kuala Lumpur) is the city's tallest freestanding structure and, for many visitors, the best place to take in Kuala Lumpur from above. A 421-metre telecommunications tower completed in 1995, it stands on the forested Bukit Nanas hill, which gives its observation deck an extra boost in elevation — so although the tower is shorter than the Petronas Twin Towers, its viewing platform sits at a comparable height and, crucially, offers the city's finest panorama that includes the Petronas Towers themselves. From its decks you look out over the whole of KL, from the glittering skyscrapers of the centre to the surrounding hills. The tower also offers an open-air Sky Deck with a glass Sky Box for vertiginous photos, a revolving restaurant, and a small cluster of attractions at its base within an urban rainforest reserve. For the classic KL skyline shot with the twin towers in frame, this is the place to come.

KL Tower offers a couple of viewing options at different heights and prices. The enclosed Observation Deck, at around 276 metres, has floor-to-ceiling windows and information panels, a comfortable all-weather way to take in the 360-degree view. Above it, the open-air Sky Deck lets you feel the breeze on an exposed platform, and its star feature is the Sky Box — a transparent glass cube that juts out from the edge of the tower, so you can step inside and be photographed apparently floating high above the streets, a popular if nerve-testing photo (expect a queue for it). For a more leisurely experience, the revolving Atmosphere 360 restaurant near the top serves meals while slowly rotating for a changing view. Ticket options reflect these choices, with the Sky Deck and Sky Box costing more than the standard deck. Whichever you pick, the height and the unobstructed sweep over the city — towers, hills and all — are the reason to come up.

There is a simple reason many visitors rate KL Tower's view above the Petronas Towers' own observation deck: you can see the Petronas Towers from it. Because you cannot, of course, view the twin towers while standing inside them, the KL Tower — set on a hill and offering an unobstructed line of sight across the city — gives the iconic skyline shot with the silver twin spires front and centre, something the Petronas deck cannot. This makes the two attractions complementary rather than competing: the Petronas Towers for the experience of ascending the world's tallest twin towers and crossing the skybridge, and KL Tower for the best photograph of the skyline, the Petronas Towers included. For travellers short on time or budget who mainly want the classic KL view and picture, KL Tower is often the smarter single choice, and it is usually less crowded and easier to get tickets for than the ever-popular Petronas ascent.

The tower sits within the KL Forest Eco Park (Bukit Nanas), one of the oldest patches of protected urban rainforest in the country — a small but genuine jungle reserve in the middle of the city, with canopy walkways and shaded trails that make a surprising green escape and a pleasant approach to the tower. Around the tower's base are a cluster of small attractions aimed largely at families: a mini zoo and animal encounters, an upside-down house, a small aquarium, F1 and motion simulators, and a pony ride, each ticketed separately. These are optional add-ons rather than highlights, but they help fill a half-day, especially with children. The base is also where you buy tickets and catch the short shuttle up the access road to the tower entrance, or you can walk up through the forest. The combination of a rainforest reserve and a high viewing tower in the heart of a capital city is an unusual and appealing one.

KL Tower stands on Bukit Nanas hill, centrally located between the KLCC and Bukit Bintang districts. It is a short Grab or taxi ride from anywhere in the city; by rail, the Bukit Nanas monorail and Dang Wangi LRT stations are roughly a ten-minute (uphill) walk away, after which a free shuttle runs up the access road to the tower base. Tickets vary by what you want to see: the observation deck costs around US$11–13 (about 50–60 ringgit), with the open-air Sky Deck and Sky Box more, around US$22 (about 105 ringgit); children pay less. The tower is open from morning until late, around 9am to 10pm. The best time to visit is sunset, when you can watch the city shift from day to night and the skyscrapers, including the Petronas Towers, light up — the most popular and photogenic time, so arrive a little before. Allow around an hour to ninety minutes for the decks and photos.