Arriving in Kuala Lumpur for the first time can be pretty daunting. It’s a big sprawling city and quite spread out. Some of the below I stumbled upon by accident and some were recommendations, and all will help make a stay in KL much easier.

Where to stay
The Bukit Bintang area is an ideal location. Central, with a variety of transportation options on hand, it is home to a large number of well known hotels as well as budget digs. I stayed at the Sunshine Bedz Bed and Breakfast, right across the road from the Monorail station.

There are plenty of places to shop here, and lots of choice for food. If you are looking for cheap street food, the Jalan Alor night street market is a 5 minute walk from the Bukit Bintang junction. If you’re after western food, the Pavilion shopping complex has a choice of places such as Johnny Rockets (with dancing staff) and of course the obligatory Irish bar.

Getting there
There are a variety of options to get from the airport to Bukit Bintang. I took the KLIA Express train to KL Sentral for 35RM, which takes 28 minutes and has free wifi. There is a cheaper bus option, however it takes 3 times as long in the traffic. From KL Sentral, follow the signs to the Monorail, which is on the other side of a shopping mall (I did feel a tad silly walking through the shops with a backpack). The Monorail costs 2.10RM and Bukit Bintang is the 5th stop.

Getting Around
There are so many options from Bukit Bintang, which is what makes it such an ideal location.

Walking
On my first day in KL I decided to walk to the Petronas Towers. Following Google maps, I spent 30 minutes walking in the sun and 35 degree heat, sweltering and slowly turning a bright shade of red. It wasn’t until I picked up a brochure at the Towers that I saw a map detailing underground and undercover (and air conditioned) walkways, all the way from Bukit Bintang to the Towers complex. Doh! I used these several times over the next few days and boy did they make a difference. The walkway commences at Bukit Bintang behind the Pavilion shopping complex. It leads to the entry to the KL Convention Centre, where you’ll find escalators going down to the underground walkways, which finish inside the Suria KLCC shopping complex, directly beneath the towers.

Monorail/Train
The Bukit Bintang Monorail station is just a 10 minute ride from KL Sentral and a whole host of trains to other destinations in the city. The Monorail comes along about every 5 minutes so there’s never a long wait.

The trains themselves have ladies only carriages, which I thought was quite novel at first. After an unnerving experience with some unwanted attention on a bus though I was quite in favour of them.

Bus
The free GOKL bus has 2 routes, both of which go through Bukit Bintang. The greenline takes you to the Petronas Towers, the KL Convention Centre, the Traders Hotel and many more. The purple line passes KL Tower, the Pudu Sentral bus terminal, Chinatown and Central Market, where if you can’t afford the real Prada at Pavilion, you can find plenty of fakes here.

Day trip to Batu Caves
One of the most popular trips out of the city centre is to Batu Caves. The caves themselves are free and getting there is very easy. From Bukit Bintang take the Monorail to KL Sentral. Walk through the shopping centre to the main train station and buy your ticket from the KL Kommuter counter for 4RM. The train leaves every 30 minutes. Batu Caves is the last stop and takes about 30-40 minutes, and the cave entrance is a short 100 metres from the station.

Try to get there early, so that you’re not climbing with the sun on you. Women have to wear trousers or a skirt that covers the knees, otherwise you’ll need to rent a sarong for 5RM. Across the road from the entrance to the caves are some great places to eat too. 5RM will get you 2 Roti bread with 3 different curries and a coke. Bargain!