Visiting the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur

Even though I’ve visited Kuala Lumpur over 20 times in the last ten years, I had never been up the Petronas Twin Towers. My frequent visits fell into a familiar pattern of visit favourites restaurants and finding cafes to work from.

When my dad was visiting KL I took this as a good excuse to do some of the things that I haven’t done in KL. And on top of the list was a visit to the Petronas Twin Towers.

Here is how to buy tickets and what to expect.

Buying tickets for the Petronas Twin Towers

I read that tickets sell out fast so we arrived 30 minutes before tickets went on sale at 8:30am. There was a small queue which I wasn’t worried about, but they turned out to be travel agents buying dozens of tickets at a time.

There are times you can choose throughout the day, with the sunset hour being the most popular.

Tickets can be bought online. There are a limited amount of tickets available online, so if the day is sold out there may be tickets available at the ticket office. My ticket was 85 MYR ($19 USD). The viewing deck is closed on Mondays, and check the website for any holiday closures.

Luckily we got tickets with an hour, so we didn’t have to wait long. The mall at the base of the towers isn’t open until 10am, so we walked around the towers to kill time.

Allocated groups

Unlike other towers I’ve visited, you don’t get to stay as long as you want. You are allocated in a group of 40 and taken up in that group. Initially I didn’t like this idea, but the timed group system worked well and you get enough time to see everything.

Twin Towers Sky Bridge

The first stop is to the sky bridge that connects the towers on the 41st and 42nd floors, 170 metres above ground. From here you already get a great view of the surrounding area of KL. The bridge appears to be only used by tourists for viewing, and not for tenants crossing into the other tower, so it is technically an architectural folly.

You get about 15 minutes here, which is more than enough time.

Observation Deck

The next stop is to the main viewing deck, where the group is allocated time of about 30 minutes.

It was a bit cloudy when we visited but visibility was great.

One thing I never thought about is that being a twin tower you not only getting a commanding view of the city, but also the mirror image of the tower you are in. Usually you don’t get the benefit of admiring the building.

A window cleaning box on the other tower was being deployed when we visited. For some people that would be a dream job. I am not that person.

The area surrounding the towers is going through a new construction boom, with some new skyscrapers soon to be filling the skyline. The Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world from its completion in 1996 to 2004, and still remain as the tallest buildings in Southeast Asia. After over twenty years of regional heightitude, the towers will soon no longer be the tallest. Landmark 81 in Saigon will soon overtake the record, and in a few years KL will have a new tallest building with the KL118 at 644 metres.

It’s not all high rise in KL though. On the other side you can clearly see Kampung Baru, which has somehow retained its Malay village feel despite being so close to the most expensive property in KL.

The observation deck also has information on the construction of the towers, and an interactive display which comes alive when you flash your ticket at the screen.