Kuala Lumpur: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia, 56 m (184 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport (SZB), 15 km (9 mi) from the centre. Our booking partner lists 5,179+ places to stay.
Key facts
Open Kuala Lumpur in Google Maps
Daylight in Kuala Lumpur runs from about 11 h 59 min a day in late December to 12 h 20 min in late June (computed for 3.14° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Kuala Lumpur is served by 2 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport (SZB), 15 km (9 mi) from the centre, whose 12,401-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft. The alternatives are Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL, 44 km).
Flights to Kuala Lumpur: every airport, routes and times
Buses to Kuala Lumpur · Driving and car hire
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 5,179+ places to stay in Kuala Lumpur (statistics below are from the first 1,000). Of the 777 with a star rating, the largest group is 4-star (414), and 81 are five-star. Across 683 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.3 out of 10. Guests have left 784,083 reviews in total.
Hotels in Kuala Lumpur: the full picture, and book
Our booking partner lists 83 hostels in Kuala Lumpur, out of 5,179 places to stay of every kind — 1.6% of everywhere it lists in the city, around the middle of the range for the cities we hold figures for. Across 36 hostels with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 7.8 out of 10, 0.5 below the 8.3 its hotels average. Guests have left 20,441 reviews across them.
Hostels in Kuala Lumpur: the full picture, and book
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Singapore, 316 km (Singapore) — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Medan, 339 km (Indonesia) — flights
- Batam, 341 km (Indonesia) — flights
- Pekanbaru, 293 km (Indonesia) — flights
- Johor Bahru, 296 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Kampung Baru Subang, 17 km — tours
- Petaling Jaya, 10 km
- Ipoh, 174 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Shah Alam, 18 km — tours
- Bukit Rahman Putra, 16 km — tours
Common questions
Which airport serves Kuala Lumpur?
Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport (SZB), 15 km (9 mi) from the centre, plus 1 other airport with scheduled flights within 100 km.
How big is Kuala Lumpur?
About 1.5 million people live in Kuala Lumpur (GeoNames).
What time zone is Kuala Lumpur in?
Asia/Kuala_Lumpur, currently UTC+8.
What currency is used in Kuala Lumpur?
The Ringgit (MYR). Traffic drives on the left.
Are there hostels in Kuala Lumpur?
83 of them, bookable on this site. Hostels in Kuala Lumpur.
How many hotels are there in Kuala Lumpur?
Our booking partner lists 5,179 or more places to stay in Kuala Lumpur, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Kuala Lumpur?
Singapore (316 km), Medan (339 km), Batam (341 km), Pekanbaru (293 km), Johor Bahru (296 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 14 September 2026. Hotel and hostel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.