Why You Should Go to the Popular and Family Friendly KLCC Park

A trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, is probably not complete without visiting the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. But the towers are actually Petronas’ offices, so aside from the visitor’s tour, you’re really going to visit the Suria Mall at its base. Suria Mall opens out to a very popular park, called the KLCC Park, which is where you can get some of the best photo angles for the Twin Towers.

Where is KLCC Park?

KLCC Park is located between the Suria Mall at the base of the Petronas Twin Towers, and the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) opposite to it. This area of Kuala Lumpur is called KLCC, and is just north of Bukit Bintang, an area popular for shopping, bars and nightlife. KLCC is not to be confused with Kuala Lumpur’s original City Centre, which is the Downtown area further west.

What’s in KLCC Park?

KLCC Park’s main attraction is the fountain esplanade opposite one of the main entrances of Suria Mall. In the daytime, they provide welcome cooling to the Malaysian heat. Every night, they become choreographed musical fountains called the Lake Symphony. A lot of people come to the park just to sit by the fountain.

The park also hosts groves of palms and shady trees. A jogging track winds around it with distance markers, as well as walking pavements. Throughout the park, there are drinking fountains supplying cooled filtered water, gazebos, and benches.

Another popular attraction of the park is the recreational pool. Located near the playground, both areas draw many young families, locals and expats alike.

In addition, there is an adjacent mosque to the park, the Asy-Syakirin Mosque.

How to get to KLCC Park

It is very easy to get to KLCC Park by public transport, due to its location at the foot of the Petronas Twin Towers. You can get there by both LRT and MRT train lines, stopping at KLCC and Persiaran KLCC respectively. It is also a stop on both the free city bus routes as well as the double-decker Hop On Hop Off tourist bus.

Getting there by car is less preferable, as roads in the area usually have heavy traffic. That said, it is easy to get ride shares or taxis to this area.

When to go to KLCC

It’s convenient to go to KLCC in the daytime if you want to take the tour of the Petronas Twin Towers. However, you could also go in the evening, perhaps to see a show at the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, which is also at the base of the Twin Towers.

An advantage of going in the evening is that you get to see the fountain show at KLCC Park. The musical shows are on at 8pm, 9pm, and 10pm.

Additionally, Petronas has recently updated the Towers’ lighting system and they now can display coloured lights. These tend to be used for displaying representative colours whenever there is a festivity, or occasionally to recognise a diplomatic event such as the visit of a foreign dignitary to the capital. If your visit happens to coincide with these events, you’ll get to see the Twin Towers lit in different colours than its usual steel and bluish-green.

Before Covid19, KLCC Park is also where the fireworks show would take place at New Year’s Eve, and important festivals of Malaysia. However, these days the fireworks shows have been discontinued. There are talks of replacing it with more sustainable choreographed drone light shows, but so far that’s not happened yet.

Where to stay

The KLCC area is a good base location for exploring Kuala Lumpur due to its excellent rail links, albeit on the swanky side. If you want to stay at the park itself, you have the option of staying at the Mandarin Oriental or Traders Hotel. Barack Obama once stayed at the former during his visit to Malaysia as President of the United States.

There are more hotel and short term rental options along the roads immediately surrounding the park as well. They may be preferable if you prefer easy access to both the Twin Towers as well as Bukit Bintang, or are looking for more budget options.

The best views of the Petronas Twin Towers in KLCC Park

There are photo spots marked around the park specifically for great angles of the Petronas Twin Towers. The Towers can be difficult to photograph because of their height. It usually requires angling from the bottom up.

However, if you’re looking for a fantastic direct angle of the Twin Towers, my personal recommendation is to stay in the Traders Hotel, which is at the Convention Centre and almost directly opposite to the Towers. The Club Lounge has a perfect head-on view of the Twin Towers.

Things to do in the area

Aside from KLCC Park itself, here are a few ideas for other things to do in the area:

1. Shopping

Suria Mall is the main shopping attraction in the KLCC area, with excellent luxury stores. A short walk away via an overhead pedestrian bridge link is another excellent mall, Pavilion Bukit Bintang. The connecting Bukit Bintang area is itself a vibrant shopping area for all budgets.

2. Dining out

Some of Kuala Lumpur’s best rated fine dining restaurants can be found around KLCC, or its surrounding areas. Some are within Suria Mall, while others are located within hotels and condominium residential blocks in the area. Check out Skillet KL, located two streets away in the Cormar Suites building, and their showstopper dry ice dessert.

There is also a unique dessert you can try in the Mandarin Oriental restaurant. Their durian pancake is really good.

3. Catch a show at the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra

The Malaysian Philharmonic is located at the base of one of the Twin Towers. Enter the Towers (not the mall) on the Jalan P. Ramlee side to find the Philharmonic box office more easily.

4. Visit the Petrosains Discovery Centre

There is also a Petronas-sponsored science discovery centre inside Suria Mall itself. This can be a great option to take the kids to after they’re done with the recreational pool in KLCC Park.

5. Go to Aquaria KLCC

KL Convention Centre hosts a surprisingly large aquarium underground. Aquaria KLCC is well worth the visit, with generally large tanks for the fishes that are there, and an impressive viewing tunnel.

Guest post courtesy of: Teja on the Horizon