Kuala Lumpur is one of the best travel hubs in south east Asia, and is a city that infinitely rewards travellers who take the time to explore and get to know it, But this amazing city, with its food, culture, architecture, history and nightlife also has a ton of irresistible attractions that can easily be seen on short day trips. Here are 10 of the best day trips from Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur, is one of my favourite cities in south east Asia, partly because of how amazing it is but mostly because it is a bit of an underdog. It is vastly underappreciated and overlooked by a lot of travellers.
Check out my Kuala Lumpur travel guide here.
But that being said, it is really easy to see why so many backpackers want to head out exploring away from Kuala Lumpur as well, Malaysia is one of the jewels of south east Asia, and with so many amazing attractions and sites within an easy enough distance from KL for a day trip it is not hard to understand the need to explore them all.
Here is the best of the independent and guided tours and day trips from Kuala Lumpur.
Batu Caves.
Just a short half hour or so away from the city centre by train, this popular attraction is one part impressive geological feature, one part impressive Hindu temple and shrine, and is an absolutely unique must see attraction if you are in KL. The steps up to the temple itself will test the unfit, so make sure you take it slow and easy if you can’t handle it, especially in the heat!
How to get there.
From the KL Central train station, buy a ticket to Batu Caves Railway Station from the KTM Komuter line. The line thankfully now goes right up to the caves themselves, where it used to stop a short distance away that would force you to get a taxi the rest of the way.
Putrajaya.
This may be a little surprising to most, as Putrajaya is known for being the administrative and government residency of Kuala Lumpur and little else, but there are a ton of great spas and iconic landmarks including the Putra Mosque and bridge, as well as a botanical gardens. Given its short distance from KL it is worth a day trip if you have the time.
How to get there.
There is a direct KLIA train service to Putrajaya from KL Sentral. You can also get the E1 bus from outside the Pasar Seni LRT station which will drop you just outside Putrajaya Sentral train station. To be honest though the train is much faster and so cheap that it is just easier.
Alternatively you can also get a taxi. Putrajaya is in between Kuala Lumpur and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, so won’t break the bank if you want the ultimate convenience. Just watch out for taxi scams.
National Elephant Conservation Centre, Kuala Gandah.
This elephant conservation centre was set up by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in 1989. It is home to the relocation team who are responsible for resolving human elephant conflicts and relocating wild elephants from habitats that are being encroached on or destroyed to safer locations such as Taman Negara, or rehabilitating semi wild or orphaned elephants.
It isn’t perfect of course, and like most places in south east Asia did use to offer elephant rides, but has embraced new conservation guidelines wholeheartedly and have not offered these since around 2011.
The tourist activities here centre around conservation, with a huge focus on education with various talks and video presentations, as well as viewing from a distance, with interaction kept to a daily minimum.
How to get there.
The easiest way is to get one of the many organised tours that leave daily from various points around Kuala Lumpur, you can book a spot on one of these the day before in many guesthouses, hostels and tour operators. Alternatively there are a large number of public buses that leave from all over Kuala Lumpur such as Puduraya, to Lanchang, the small town where the sanctuary is located. The journey should last anywhere between 40 minutes and an hour and a half depending on the route. Just make sure you don’t miss the last bus home to Kuala Lumpur at around 6.
Mid Valley Megamall.
Although technically still in Kuala Lumpur, at the outskirts of the city but still, the Mid Valley Megamall is one of the biggest Malls in south east Asia and is worth a day trip when you need a little you time away from the stresses of extended travel to indulge in some shopping, pampering and even take in a film or two at one of the cinema screens.
How to get there.
There are daily shuttle buses to and from Bangsar LRT station, or you can get the KTM train to the Mid Valley Megamall stop.
Port Dickson.
Just a short distance south west of Kuala Lumpur is Port Dickson, a gentrified fishing village with a wildlife reserve and various forts, lighthouses and ancient Islamic tombs to explore and discover. The biggest attraction here however is the beach, and any of the other dozen or so stretches of white sand that dot the coast line between here and KL. Bring your beach towel, sun protection lotion and a good book and escape the hustle of the city with a bit of beach time!
How to get there.
From the KL Central train station, buy a ticket to Seramban from the KTM Komuter line, or alternatively catch a bus to Seramban (most bus stations in KL will have local buses running frequently, or you can get the luxury express bus which services travellers from a lot of locations too). From Seramban, you can get a local bus to Port Dickson from the same station you get dropped at.
Malacca.
Malacca is a small town south east of Kuala Lumpur, and is a place that is easy to get swept away with the laid back, relaxing atmosphere and spend a few days in, but can be done on a good day trip too. Home to Perankan culture the food here is second to none, and you could spend the whole day trying the famous chicken rice, Nyonya laksa or cendol, but you really should spend some time exploring the unique colonial dutch architecture and the cultural heritage of this UNESCO listed small town, through the numerous museums, churches and forts.
How to get there.
From the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) station, you can get one of the buses that leave every half hour to Malacca and beyond. The journey should take around two hours.
Frasers Hill.
Although best visited from Pahang where you can spend some quality time exploring the rest of the tea plantations and run down colonial charm of the Cameron Highlands, Frasers Hill is still a doable half day trip from Kuala Lumpur and is well worth a visit. It is nice to escape the tropical heat for the cooler air of the highlands, and this still quaint hill village has plenty of colonial architecture to enjoy with a cup of coffee, short hiking routes and tea plantations to visit.
How to get there.
There are no direct bus or train routes from Kuala Lumpur, but there are countless optiions for day or half day tours in any guesthouse, hostel or tour agency at realtively reasonable costs if this is your only option to get to the highlands and you aren’t visiting Pahang after KL.
Most of the places on this list can of course be explored much more in depth by spending a lot more time there and in general I do always recommend this. But if you are in KL for a while and don’t have much time or your itinerary won’t take you close to these places, then they are easy to get to and well worth taking a quick peek at.
Who knows, you may fall in love with the place and want to head back there to explore more in depth!
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Related Articles.
Hotel Review: Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
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Top 10 FAQs On Travelling South East Asia.
Michael Huxley is a published author, professional adventurer and founder of the travel website, Bemused Backpacker. He has spent the last twenty years travelling to over 100 countries on almost every continent, slowly building Bemused Backpacker into a successful business after leaving a former career in emergency nursing and travel medicine, and continues to travel the world on numerous adventures every year.
Bemused Backpacker 
Great article & very timely as I am currently in KL for 5 nights! Am going to sneak a couple of your ideas onto the itenerary! Cheers 😊
Thanks very much, I’m really glad you found it useful! Feel free to ask if you have any questions and enjoy your time in KL!
I’m heading to south east Asia in afew months and honestly had dismissed KL, I had no idea how much there was to do. I’m definitely adding it to my itin after this.
That’s great to hear Sam, hope you have a great time!
thansk for sharing Actually I am planing to go on KL.
You should! Have an amazing time, it’s a great city.
Great read, thank you! We are off to KL in two weeks and can’t wait! X
Thank you, have an awesome time and let me know if you manage to hit up any of these day trips, let me know what you think! ;D
Nice post this covers all major attractions around KL
Thanks, it was hard to limit it to just these to be honest!
I understand but I am sure you got the good picks
Thank you for sharing the post. I love Malaysia and visiting there. Especially Kuala Lumpur. Now there are lots of other options for me too.
Glad you found it useful Jugna, Malaysia is an awesome place!
This is one of my absolute bucket list destinations, I would love to see KL one day!
It is amazing here! What’s stopping you?
I read your blog, very interesting trip ideas from KL thank you. Will schedule them into trip.
That’s great to hear. Have an awesome time!
Oh my god, Kuala Lumpur is one of my planned stops on my gap year! This has given me so many extra ideas, Mallacca looks so pretty! How long would you say to stay in KL overall?
It’s hard to say Louise, you can obviously hop around and sightsee the major sites in a day tour or something but I’d say just to see KL itself properly an absolute minimum is 3 – 4 days, not including rest and acclimatization days obviously. But then you could easily extend that to include entire days (or more) to see each of these places, and you can easily lose a week in Mallacca itself in my opinion. 🙂 Put it this way, I have been to KL countless times now (I have literally lost count) spending on average a week there each time (unless I am using it as a transit base for a few days) and I never grow tired of it.
Thank you for these tips they are very useful.
That’s great to hear and you are more than welcome!