Located over 300 metres up in Kuala Lumpur’s Menara Tower (KL Tower) is one of the city’s must-see attractions. The Sky Deck is open to the public, with eye-catching views of the Petronas Twin towers half a kilometre away and is a perfect place to take in one of Southeast Asia’s great skylines (the Petronas towers themselves are worth visiting but I wanted them in my panoramas). The tower is the tallest in Southeast Asia and its megacity vibe is a bit of a change of pace for me as I was heading south from Vietnam and Cambodia, as is Kuala Lumpur in general.
After a short taxi ride from my hostel i found it easy enough to get access to the viewing points, and there generally isn’t much.of a wait. Included in the price of my ticket for the observation deck at KL Tower (RM99, around £20) was access to the Skybox, a small extended space with a see through floor where a small number of people at a time can look down at the city directly below, an ideal view for someone who doesn’t mind heights. I spent sometime wandering round the ring-shaped deck and would have got some even better pictures of Kuala Lumpur had it not been for the overcast skies.
Along with their famous Atmosphere 360 revolving restaurant, serving a buffet containing a wide selection of International food (Pasta, curries, sushi and Malaysian dishes), desserts and cocktails, the KL Tower is one of Kuala Lumpur’s most popular days out. The restaurant has full floor to ceiling windows to maximise your views of Kuala Lumpur as the dining room floor slowly rotates around the stationary kitchen. I found the choice of food to be not too dissimilar to what you’d get in a good quality buffet back home, and although there was obviously a selection of local cuisine as well, it was really more of a world mix involving Chinese and Greek food among others.
The lunch buffet is open between 11.30am and 3pm and access to the hot food counters should cost no more than around £25. I went for lunch, but Atmosphere 360 also does an evening buffet, as well as afternoon tea.
My afternoon at the KL tower felt like a lot more than just another skydeck experience. After getting so used to the beaches of Thailand and the villages of Cambodia, there was almost a novelty involved in being surrounded by a sprawling cityscape. The feeling for me and I imagine plenty of other travellers was that my trip through Southeast Asia definitely had space for a good skyscraper visit.