I’ve visited Kuala Lumpur (lovingly abbreviated as KL by locals) a few times before, but strangely enough, I’ve never made it to any of the observatories in the city. For someone who cares enough about visiting observatory that I have a dedicated category for it on this blog, that is a problem I need to fix.
And finally, that’s exactly what I did on my latest visit to KL.
Why choose KL Tower?
As far as official observatories go, there are two popular options in KL: The KLCC Observation Deck at Petronas Twin Towers, or Menara Kuala Lumpur – known as KL Tower in english. You can visit both, but if you want to only visit one – here are a few reasons why we chose KL Tower.
Yes, the idea of going up the iconic twin towers is very appealing, but I would argue that it’s exactly the reason why you shouldn’t. Petronas Twin Towers is such an iconic building in KL, you’d want it in your view when you go high up.
That’s mainly why we chose to go up KL Tower instead.
Another reason is one that isn’t obvious when you’re just looking at the stats. The highest point you can visit at KL Tower observation deck is listed at 300 meters, while the Petronas Twin Towers is at 370 meters. However, KL Tower sits on top of a Bukit Nanas (Pineapple Hill), which is about 94 meters. So in the end, you’re not losing out on anything – you’re still going to get about the same altitude as the Twin Towers if you’re visiting KL Tower.
Tips for visiting KL Tower
Go in the morning, or be prepared to queue – We arrived at around 11 AM and there were about 3 minutes of queue to go up the tower to the Sky Terrace. When we left at 3PM, the queue snaked around the lobby! Goes without saying that if you plan to go during peak time (around sunset for example), dedicate some buffer time to ensure you’ll be up there by the desired time.
Buy KL Tower tickets from Klook – Don’t buy at the tower itself! You’d have to queue and it’s more expensive at the door. With Klook, I was able to get a QR code generated within a few seconds after purchasing, and use that QR code to enter. Also when I went, the all-access ticket for foreigners cost RM180 at the door. However, the same all-access ticket was only RM147 through Klook. If you’re traveling with a child (age 3-12), do check the price first – I found it cheaper to buy child ticket at the tower.
Buy your tickets ahead of time – If you’re buying from Klook, you should try to buy the tickets the day before since you can only select the day after today. However, I bought my tickets on the spot on the day of visiting, and was able to get in anyway (I visited on 31 Dec but bought tickets from 1 Jan). But your mileage might vary and I can’t recommend following my footsteps.
Malaysian vs Foreigner tickets – There are different pricing for Malaysian citizen (MyKad holder) vs foreigners, so make sure you buy the right ticket for yourself.
Ticket machine at KL Tower – If you decide to buy the tickets at the tower anyway, don’t queue at the ticketing counter right away. Walk past the ticketing counter and you’ll find two ticket machines that for some reason no one uses. You’ll be able to buy the same tickets here!
Visiting Sky Terrace gets you a bit of priority entry – When I was visiting, I bought the all-access ticket which grants me visit to both Sky Terrace and the Observation Deck. I was directed to visit Sky Terrace first, and to my delight the queue is very short that we’re able to get on the next lift. The queue to visit the Observation Deck was much longer, and I think we would have to wait for 2-3 lifts to be able to get up. You can then visit the Observation Deck on the way down if you want to.
The glass box (Sky Box) at Sky Terrace – First of all, entrance to Sky Box is an extra RM10 per person, which you can pay using credit card once you’re up top. For me, it’s worth it! I’ll explain more below. Second, there are two glass boxes – one faces the Merdeka 118 building, while the other has the Petronas Twin Towers view. You can guess which one is more popular.
Visiting with kids – At the Sky Terrace, you will need to leave any strollers by the elevator. They’re not allowed on the open-air part of the observatory. However, at the observation deck, you can push the strollers freely.
Child and infant tickets – Infants under 3 years old can enter for free. For children aged 3 to 12 years old, discounted tickets are available.
Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve – If you have time after visiting the tower, make some time to visit the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, one of Malaysia’s oldest forest, where you can find hundreds of years old trees and enjoy a canopy walk. The entrance can be found near the KL Tower. Bring mosquito repellent!
KL Tower Sky Terrace vs Observation Deck: Which one is more worth it?
At KL Tower, you can choose to visit just the Observation deck (276m) or Sky Terrace (300m), or both.
I won’t beat around the bush here – for some observatories, visiting just the lower observation deck is good enough. For just that extra 24m, is Sky Terrace worth it? Yes, I find the Sky Terrace is very worth the price and I would highly recommend visiting if you can.
Why Sky Terrace is worth the price
First, the Sky Terrace is open air. This means you will be able to get unobstructed view of the city without any pillars or window frames blocking your view. And, your photos will not have that weird blue or brownish UV-film window tinge that you often get with covered observatories.
Second, the view is truly 360 degrees – although the Sky Terrace is not big, you can see all of KL from up there. And yes, you can see Petronas Twin Towers clearly too.
Third, the glass box! The glass box, called Sky Box, can only be accessed from Sky Terrace. It costs RM10 per person, but I think it’s worth it. the photos you get from this box are amazing. You get only 45 seconds at the box, but this is for each person, and excludes the time for the official photographer to take your photos. I found 45 seconds to be more than enough since in my group, there are 3 of us paying and they let the entire group stay in the glass box the entire time.
So, which one should you visit?
It depends on your situation.
If you’re already sold on visiting Sky Terrace, then with the all-access combo ticket, you only need to top up a few dollars to visit both the Sky Terrace and Observation Deck (as compared to price of Sky Terrace by itself), so it’s a no-brainer to visit both if you are able to.
However, if budget is tight, you can also opt to only visit the Observation Deck, which will still give you a good view of KL. It does have some strong points: While the Sky Terrace is awesome for open-air, there is no AC up there. In the Observation Deck, there are AC to help cool you down.
There are also snack shops, coffee and souvenirs if you need them, and spots with free binoculars – which the Sky Terrace does not have.
Bonus: Official Photos from Sky Box glass box
If you pay the RM10 per person to go to the Sky Box at Sky Terrace, there will be official photographers taking your photos. They will also offer to take photos with your own camera, which I think is very nice of them. Or, you can purchase the official photo at exorbitant prices.
Well, I was one of those tourists who bit the bullet and paid the exorbitant price. They don’t advertise the price much (probably because they want you to see the photos first so that you won’t balk at the price), but here it is: It’s RM150 for the digital copies of all your photos, or you can pay RM185 to get 3 of selected photos printed in a nice storybook-like format and you also get access to the digital copies as well.
I’m a sucker for these memorabilias, and I have to admit the photographer did a great job at capturing my kids actually looking at the camera, so I… splurged and paid the RM185 option 🙊. In case you’re wondering, the photos were taken with Nikon D7500 at 5.2MP according to the metadata of the photos I got.
… And, that’s all I’ve learned on my visit to KL Tower! I truly do think it was the best view you can get in KL. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below. I will read and try to reply to every comment ASAP.
Until next time!
Note: I paid for my own visit to KL Tower out of my own pocket. All thoughts and opinions are honest and remain my own.