How to get from Kuala Lumpur airport to city center: train, bus & transfers
In this article we’ll tell you how to get from Kuala Lumpur airport to city center, so that you know the transportation available in 2023, which one is the best way, the most economical or most convenient one (both from KLIA and KLIA2).
If you’re travelling through Southeast Asia, it’s likely that you get to one of Kuala Lumpur airports, as it’s one of the main transport centers within the whole area, especially low cost transport.
Here is all the information you need to go from Kuala Lumpur airport to city center or vice versa.
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Kuala Lumpur airport: KLIA and KLIA2 terminals
The capital city of Malaysia has one of the most important airports in Southeast Asia (as well as Bangkok), so most surely your first image of KL will be KLIA: Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL).
It’s located rather far from the center, 50 km to the south. However, it’s well communicated and there’re options to suit all budgets.
Although it’s one airport, it counts with two terminals separated by a few kilometers:
- KLIA, for “traditional” international flights;
- KLIA2, for Airasia flights and other low cost companies (formerly LCCT).
That is, if you enter the country with Turkish, Emirates or Malaysia Airlines, among others, you’ll surely get to KLIA. However, if you fly with AirAsia, Cebu Pacific, Scoot, Jetstar, Tiger, etc., you’ll get to KLIA2.
Let’s start with transfer from KLIA and KLIA2, and then we’ll see how to get to KLIA or KLIA2 terminals (if they mention KLIA1, they mean KLIA).
💯 If you’d rather not overcomplicate things, you can always book here an economical trip to your hotel.
How to transfer from KLIA to KLIA2 or vice versa
I’m at the wrong terminal in the airport, what should I do now?
My flight arrives at one terminal and my connecting flight departs from the other terminal, how do I transfer from KLIA to KLIA2?
These are common mistakes, but try not to make them often because you won’t find it easy or economical to get around in every city as in Kuala Lumpur. Hence, you should always leave for the airport with spare time, just in case.
There’re three options.
If your connecting flight departs from the other terminal, free shuttle bus service is available for transit passengers.
A faster option would be the train; it costs RM 2 and takes 5 minutes. You can also take the bus, but it’s slower and more expensive, so I don’t recommend it.
How to go from Kuala Lumpur airport to city center (from KLIA)
There’re basically two public transport options: train and bus.
Train from KL airport to city center (KL Sentral station)
Two types of train cover this route: ERL KLIA Transit and ERL KLIA Ekspres.
KLIA Ekspres runs non-stop and takes 28 minutes, while KLIA Transit makes three stops (though it just takes 7 more minutes). Both stop operating after midnight. Children up to 5 years old travel for free and there’s onboard Wi-Fi.
This is not the most economical option, but it is the fastest and most comfortable one.
Both trains will take you to KL Sentral station, which is the transport link, and you can get almost anywhere from there.
It’s the best alternative if you’re going to the airport during peak hours, in order to avoid traffic jams and arrive on time.
It’s also a great alternative if it’s your first time visiting the city.
🚆 Train fares can be purchased online here and you access the train by showing the QR code on your phone. Super practical.
Bus from Kuala Lumpur airport to city center
There’re different companies. Some communicate the airport with KL Sentral. Other companies (like Star Shuttle) communicate the airport with Pudu Raya terminal, near Chinatown.
It’s the most economical alternative, though it takes twice as much time as the train (during heavy traffic hours, it may take even more time).
The cheapest fare costs RM12 (around 3 usd) and travel time is about one hour approximately, depending on the time and traffic. Buses depart every 30 minutes.
Taxi or private transfer to city center
It’s not necessarily the most expensive option, as you can share expenses if you’re travelling in group. You can book a private car trip for some 30 dollars for up to three people. A van trip for up to seven people would cost 40 dollars, which is really convenient if that’s the number of people travelling.
It’s slower than the train, because of traffic, but faster and more comfortable than the bus.
🚖 Book your private transfer from KL airport to city center.
Transportation from KLIA2 airport to Kuala Lumpur
Like we mentioned, KLIA2 is the low cost terminal of Kuala Lumpur Airport, and is only 2 km away from KLIA (watch out for outdated information on many websites mentioning LCCT airport, which has been out of service for over 7 years now and was
farther than the current airport).
Train from KLIA2 airport to city center
KLIA2 can be accessed with KLIA Ekspres like we mentioned before, as it has three stops:
- KLIA2,
- KLIA and,
- KL Sentral.
Travel time from/to KL Sentral is 5 minutes longer than the one to KLIA (total of 33 minutes), but the fare costs the same and you access by showing the QR code on your phone, really practical.
🚆 Book train KLIA Ekspres from airport to the city here.
Bus from KLIA 2
Buses from KLIA2 to KL Sentral or vice versa cost RM 12 to 20 and travel time is about 75 minutes, depending on traffic. It’s always advisable to leave for the airport with spare time in case of any inconvenience, or better take the train.
During our last trip, we took the bus from Chinatown to KLIA2 and it took 90 minutes because of such a traffic jam, but we had spare time so it wasn’t a problem.
Transportation: Kuala Lumpur Airport to Bukit Bintang or Chinatown
You might want to go to Bukit Bintang from the airport, as it’s one of the best areas where to stay in Kuala Lumpur.
Once you’ve made it to KL Sentral following our indications above, I don’t think you’ll be willing to walk all 4 kilometers up to Bukit Bintang carrying the luggage. You should take the monorail from KL Sentral to Bukit Bintang, which is the fifth stop, and it’ll only take 10 minutes.
If you want to go from Kuala Lumpur airport to Chinatown, it’d be the same way; you only need to get off at the second stop, Maharajalela station. Instead of the monorail, you could also take the LRT and get off at the first stop, Pasar Seni.
What to do during layovers at Kuala Lumpur airport
Is it convenient to get out of the airport during a long layover at KL airport?
It depends on the amount of time available, but if your layover at Kuala Lumpur airport is several hours long, it would be interesting to visit the city. You could either do it on your own or hire some tour. Let’s see both.
If you’d rather not overcomplicate things, you can take this tour designed for travelers with a layover in Kuala Lumpur. They’ll pick you up at the airport and then take you back at the end of the tour. Generally, you get to visit the city for a few hours. There’re several starting times during the morning (no tickets to attractions included).
If you’re doing it on your own, it’s very simple. You could get out of the airport, take the KLIA Ekspres (buying a round-trip fare) get off at KL Sentral, and then take the transport to Petronas Towers (having previously bought the ticket for the towers, as it has fixed schedules) and then walk around the area.
Depending on how much time you have, I recommend that you analyze those places in Kuala Lumpur you’re the most interested in, and then go back to the airport with spare time.
If you’re free for several hours (several!), you could at least visit Petronas; they’re worth it. Let’s see how to get there.
How to get from Kuala Lumpur airport to Petronas Towers?
In order to go from Kuala Lumpur airport to Petronas Towers, the fastest way, once you are at KL Sentral, would be looking for LRT station. The fifth stop is KLCC, where the Petronas are, and it only takes 10 minutes.
Accommodation at KLIA or KLIA2 Kuala Lumpur Airport
If you arrive at night or your flight leaves early in the morning, it may be convenient to stay at Kuala Lumpur airport. There’re some alternatives that may be useful.
In order to stay at KLIA, Sama-Sama Express KLIA is an average price option that can be accessed by transit passengers (you’ll need the boarding pass, as it’s within the same transit area in the terminal) and they charge for 6-hour blocks. KLIA2 counts with a Sama-Sama hotel as well, under the same system.
If you’re not staying within the transit area, Tune Klia2 hotel is located next to the airport (KLIA2 terminal) and can be reached through a sky bridge.
If you’re looking for a more comfortable alternative, I’d recommend for you to head to KLIA terminal. There’s another hotel, Sama-Sama Hotel KLIA, which is communicated with KLIA airport through a sky bridge (transfer service included, in addition to the fixed schedules of free transfer to KLIA2). This luxurious hotel counts with a swimming pool,tennis court, spa, and more. Its relation quality/price is one of the best (hotels of this kind are so much more expensive in any other airport in the world).
Subang International Airport, the other Kuala Lumpur airport
Subang International Airport (SZB) is also known as Subang Skyparks (and even its official name is a different one: Sultan Abdul Azziz Shah).
It’s unlikely that you use its services, unless you fly with Firefly, Batik Air, Malindo Air or Raya Airways (which are mostly domestic flights, or flights to Singapore, Hong Kong or Indonesia).
How to go from Subang airport to city center?
In order to go from Subang airport to Kuala Lumpur, you can take a RapidKL bus, whose route reaches Pasar Seni area, in Chinatown, after making a stop in KL Sentral.
Another option would be taking the train from Skypark Komuter terminal to KL Sentral, which depart every one hour approximately and travel time is about 30 minutes.
That’s how you go from Kuala Lumpur airport to city center (or vice versa). We hope you find this information useful for organizing your trip to Malaysia.
