Kuala Lumpur

Tickets run by timed slot, so what the counter still has is late afternoon. The order is fixed: up to the bridge between floors 41 and 42 first, then a second lift to the deck on 86. Both towers, 452 metres, went up together in 1998.

It is 272 steps to the cave mouth. Since the stairs were painted in colours in 2018 the crowd has grown sharply. The Murugan statue at the foot stands 42.7 metres. Macaques go for plastic bags, so climb with nothing edible in your hand.

The tower opened in 2023 at 678.9 metres, second tallest in the world as things stand. Two viewing levels are sold apart and the glass floor belongs to the upper ticket, but this is the one vantage that puts the Twin Towers squarely in front of you.

Come by day and you get shutters. Plastic stools and smoke fill the street from five in the afternoon. Touts work hard here and one will take your arm with a menu, though prices are usually printed on the board, which settles it before you sit.

The British flag came down here at midnight on 31 August 1957, and the pole raised to mark it stands 95 metres. The lawn was a cricket ground for the colonial club, whose building still sits along one side. There is no shade: walk it early.

At 421 metres the tower is shorter than the Twin Towers, but it stands on a hill, so the deck sits higher. The glass box that juts outside runs on booked slots, and you queue for it with your shoes off.

A red roof runs the length of it, so rain costs you nothing, and stalls of copied bags and watches fill the middle of the road. The old part is on either side: barbers and herbalists still trading in the shophouses.

Instead of a dome it carries a folded roof of sixteen points, with a minaret of 73 metres. Built in 1965 to mark independence, it charges nothing, and a purple robe is lent for short clothes. Non-Muslims cannot enter at prayer times: check the board.

Some people come only for the tilework inside the ceiling domes. It opened in 1998 and holds the deepest Islamic art collection in Southeast Asia. A room of mosque models draws children, and the basement restaurant lets you in without a museum ticket.

The pale blue hall went up in 1888 as a wholesale fruit and vegetable market. It turned over to crafts in the 1980s, filling with batik and pewter, and prices are marked, but two or three together brings them down. The lane behind runs under murals, in shade.

A six-tiered temple raised on Robson Heights in 1989 by Hainanese settlers in honour of Mazu, who guards those at sea. Twelve zodiac statues line the garden, and everyone hunts for their own sign. At Lunar New Year thousands of red lanterns cover the eaves.

The Bukit Nanas forest below KL Tower became a reserve in 1906, so rainforest survives downtown. A canopy walkway at treetop height threads between office-tower windows. From its far end a forest path climbs on foot to KL Tower.

A lake park laid out on swampy ground by a British official in 1888; locals still say Lake Gardens. The bird park, orchid garden and National Mosque are all a walk away. Weekend mornings bring runners round the lake and families on picnic mats.

A whole hillside roofed in netting, so the birds fly loose with no cages. Peacocks and hornbills stroll the paths, and each zone has set feeding times posted at the gate. By afternoon the birds hide in the shade, so mornings are better.

Finished in 1909 on the spit where the Klang and Gombak rivers meet, the confluence that named Kuala Lumpur. Red brick banded in white under onion domes marks it as Mughal style. After dark, blue-lit mist rises from the riverbed and transforms the bank.

Founded in 1873, the oldest Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur sits in the heart of Chinatown. Hundreds of deities climb the tower over its gate. On the eve of Thaipusam a silver chariot sets out from here and rolls all night to Batu Caves. Shoes go to the counter.

A back lane behind old shophouses off Petaling Street, restored and opened in 2019. Murals of 1960s Chinatown life cover the walls, with real windows and doors painted into the scenes. Lanterns overhead light up after dark, drawing bigger evening crowds.

The busiest shopping strip in Kuala Lumpur, its main road walled by big malls. The pavement between the Pavilion fountain and the monorail station stays jammed until late. Jalan Alor's food street is a block behind, an easy walk to dinner.

An aquarium below the convention centre beside the Twin Towers. A travelator runs the length of its 90m underwater tunnel, so shark bellies and ray wings brush past the glass while you stand still. It pairs well with KLCC Park on a rainy afternoon.

The Indian quarter right beside KL Sentral station. Pillars and arches are painted in bright Indian colours, and Tamil songs drift out between garland and sari shops. In the weeks before Deepavali, stalls selling lamps and sweets fill the pavement.

The national museum opened in 1963 under a tall roof modelled on traditional Malay houses. Large mosaic murals of the country's history flank the facade. Four galleries run from prehistory to the years after independence, and two hours covers them.

A clan temple and academy of the Chan family, completed in 1906. Ceramic figures fired in Guangdong parade along the roof ridges, acting out old tales. Petaling Street's southern tip is a 5-minute walk away, yet the courtyard rarely sees a crowd.

The administrative capital 25km south, a planned city built in the 1990s over cleared oil palm estates. Visitors come for the rose-pink granite Putra Mosque mirrored in the man-made lake. Buildings sit far apart, so hire a car rather than walk.

From Kampung Kuantan, ninety minutes' drive northwest, rowed sampans glide along the mangrove banks. Fireflies crowd each tree and blink in unison like Christmas lights. The boatmen row in silence, and no flash is allowed aboard.

A plateau about 1,800m up, an hour's drive northeast, its summit packed with casinos and a theme park. The cable car from the foot climbs straight through cloud. Chin Swee Caves Temple, on a cliff halfway up, is the usual extra stop. Bring long sleeves.

A Malay village left one river away from the Twin Towers, wooden stilt houses backed by skyscrapers. The Saloma Bridge, opened in 2020, makes it a walk from KLCC. In Ramadan a market sets up before sunset, selling food to break the fast.

The king's palace since 2011, closed to visitors, so photos are taken at the main gate. Mounted guards and foot guards stand on either side and change over at fixed hours. It lies on high ground in the city's northwest, reached by taxi.