We arrived in Kuala Lumpur, and it’s a big city. We explored our area a bit on foot, but there’s no better way to get a good feel for the city than by using the Hop-On Hop-Off city bus. Being able to get on and off the bus for 24 or 48 hours is very convenient. Yes, many locations are easy access by taxi or car, but the bus provides you with commentary as well, so you learn as you go. As you know we like to explore on these, as we did in Penang, Porto and London.
Flashback to 2015:
Lucky for us, there was a bus stop fairly close to our apartment. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t really understand where that bus stop was. There’s a bit of road construction going on, and that complicated matters a bit, so we walked around a bit before we found a bus stop, and then it was only a 10 minute wait. What we should have done is used their Online Bus Tracking capability, and we would have found the bus stop sooner.
The Kuala Lumpur Hop On Hop Off city tour includes 23 stops, and this covers 40 attractions, so it’s super convenient. This covered both the old and the new, so there were many wonderful buildings and parks to view.
Our tour started near the BB Plaza at stop number 6. There’s plenty of shopping and restaurants in the area, if you’re inclined to get some good eats. Another nice thing about the Hop-On Hop-Off buses is that they have an audio guide, which provides information about the areas/attractions as the tour progresses.
There was so much that we saw, that it would be difficult to list everything, but here are some of the highlights:
- China Town
- Central Market
- Little India
- KL Sentral (train station to get to the airport)
- National Palace (Istana Negara)
- Bird Park
- Butterfly Park
- National Mosque
- Petronas Twin Towers
These are just a few of the attractions that the buses cover. The route map shows exactly where they stop:
The Kuala Lumpur Hop On Hop Off bus also included WiFi, which is a nice touch for those who may not have a phone/SIM card that works in Malaysia. In just a few hours we were able to see a major chunk of the city, and get a good “lay of the land” as they say.
We didn’t have to worry about driving through KL or parking, which can be a bit stressful. If we saw something that we wanted to explore, we were on our own timetable, so we hopped off. We didn’t wait more than 15 minutes when we were on the tour, so that was fantastic.
The only downside we found was it seemed that there was a single loop that went in one direction, so the route doesn’t really lend itself to backtracking. The tour takes you within the city and out of the city a bit as well. Many cities offer multiple loops to cover the inner city and then the option of going out to the other areas of the city. For us, it was fine as we wanted to cover the full loop.
Remember that if you’re going to visit Kuala Lumpur, and want to see what you want to see, and follow your timetable, then check out the KL Hop-On Hop-Off city tour. It’s a super easy way to get acquainted with the great city that is KL. If you plan to spend a great deal of time in the museums or parks, it is best to plan your day well. This way you can take full advantage of the bus as your transportation. Otherwise, take the tour to become familiar with what is available and where things are located. Then return to spend a full day a the parks.
Fair warning, depending on time of year, it may rain. Luckily the bus has an outdoor seating area as well as indoor options. It seemed to rain each afternoon during our time in the city and it was handy having the indoor section of the bus.
Kuala Lumpur Hop On Hop Off Contact Info
Website: Kuala Lumpur Hop On Hop Off
Buy Tickets: Online Ticketing
Address: ELANG WAH SDN BHD [640812-T] No. 17-1, Jalan 1/76, Desa Pandan, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Tel : +6 03-9282 2713
Fax : +6 03-9282 2716
Hot-Line : 1800-88-5546
Disclosure: Our tour was provided by Kuala Lumpur Hop On Hop Off, all opinions are our own.