Cranachin

I am considering at a routing that has a 7-hour layover at KLIA (2 pm - 9 pm) - is that enough time to see anything in KL? If so, what do you recommend?

The alternative (for that particular routing) would be a 3-hour layover, which is longer than I want to just sit and wait.

MichaelBKK

For the short layover, there is the Plaza Premium lounge, where you can get a shower, food and internet access for about US$30. See: http://www.plaza-ppl.com/kl_en/lounge.php

With 7 hours, you could take the express train into the city (takes 30 minutes) and from the Sentral terminal, you can take the subway or monorail to various areas of the city, like the Central Market/Chinatown or the Bukit Bintang shopping area. By the time you account for immigration and travel, you could probably have around 3 hours to look around.

Cicerone

I actually would just take the connection with the 3-hour layover. Between Immigration on both ends, security, and transportation time back and forth to downtown KL, I would agree that the most time you would have in KL is about 3 hours. The bigger issue to me is that there is actually not that much to do or see in KL. It has lovely people and good food, but there isn’t really a lot of sightseeing interest to be honest. It's kind of amorphous. There is no harbour like Hong Kong or a major palace or temple like Bangkok. (I don’t count the Petronas towers, you don’t need a 7-hour layover to see a skyscraper and it’s not the tallest in Asia in any event). Their china town and little India are tiny compared to other places. I think it’s a perfectly nice town, but would not go out of my way on a layover to get out there from the airport. You also would be hitting the return at rush hour, so the subway to get to the airport link could be jammed.

The airport has lots of places to eat, and has free wi-fi (if you have a laptop); otherwise you may be able to find an internet café there as well. There is a very good bookstore too, on the main level by the transfer desk. By the time you deplane and possibly have to switch gate areas for you next flight (which may involve a short train trip) and then go through security (that airport seems to require more screenings than anywhere else I have seen in SE Asia, I often go through 2 screenings for one flight) you may find that the 3 hours has actually gone by fairly quickly, esp if you have to get a boarding pass for your onward flight. Also consider getting a foot massage or neck/shoulder massage to prepare you for the next flight.

See the airport website at http://www.klia.com.my/

Cranachin

Thanks, MichaelBKK and Cicerone.

This particular trip is inter-Asia travel, so I would not have been flying for hours or needing a place to rest, shower, etc. But it's good to know about the airport facilities.

If I do not take the longer layover, I probably will choose a different routing altogether. The routing through KL is the cheapest, although not the fastest. But as I have never been to KL (or Malaysia, for that matter), I wondered if there is enough to see/do in a few hours to tip the time/money balance in favor of that route.

This would be on a Saturday, by the way - don't know how that affects the rush hour traffic or the things to see.

Cicerone

OK, well Saturday makes it better in terms of traffic. But I really don't think its worth routing yourself through KL to "see" it for 3 hours. If you want to overnight there or spend a few days, that might make a little more sense (although most other parts of Malaysia are far more interesting; you are landing in Oakland as opposed to say San Francisco). But staying longer would probably means it is no longer the cheapest routing.

As an example, if you had 7 hours in Hong Kong, you could get to a major sight like the view along the harbour or the Peak which are concise sights and can give you a feeling for the city. Walking a shopping mall in KL realy won't IMO.

Cranachin

Thanks for the help. I found another routing that is better for my schedule, so I won't be going through KLIA this trip.