Three days is right for Kuala Lumpur, and the itinerary has to be built around two constraints that most city breaks do not have.
The first is the weather. It is 32 degrees, it is humid, and there is usually a heavy thunderstorm between two and six in the afternoon. Outdoor things go in the morning, indoor things in the afternoon, food in the evening. That structure runs through everything below.
The second is that this city is hard to walk. Pavements are poor and distances are longer than they look. Plan by neighbourhood and take Grab between them; it costs very little.
Day one: the colonial quarter and Chinatown
Early morning. Merdeka Square — the field where the flag came down in 1957 — and the striped Sultan Abdul Samad Building opposite. Be there by eight; there is no shade at all.
Then the National Textile Museum on the corner, which costs almost nothing and is air-conditioned.
Mid-morning. Walk east to Masjid Jamek and the confluence — the muddy meeting of the Klang and Gombak that the city is named after, with the 1909 mosque on the spit between them. Robes are provided.
Late morning. South into Chinatown: Sri Mahamariamman Temple, the Guan Di temple opposite, and Kwai Chai Hong.
Lunch. Hawker stalls off Jalan Hang Lekir, or the food court upstairs at Central Market.
Afternoon — indoors, because it will rain. Central Market itself, then REXKL, the converted cinema.
Evening. Petaling Street from about seven, or Grab to Jalan Alor.
Day two: the Lake Gardens and the towers
Early morning. Grab to the Lake Gardens. KL Bird Park at opening if birds appeal, or straight to the gardens themselves.
Late morning. Masjid Negara, and then the Islamic Arts Museum — which is the best museum in the city by a distance, is air-conditioned, and has a good restaurant.
Give it at least two hours. Start in the architecture gallery.
Lunch. In the museum, or at the National Museum nearby if you are adding it.
Afternoon. Grab to Bukit Nanas — nine hectares of primary rainforest that has never been cleared, in the middle of the city, free — and walk up through it to KL Tower.
Sunset. Up the tower. This is the view to choose if you are choosing one, because the Petronas Towers are in it.
Evening. Down to KLCC for the fountain show and the towers lit, then eat around Bukit Bintang.
Day three: Batu Caves and Kampung Baru
Very early. KTM Komuter from KL Sentral to Batu Caves — thirty minutes, very cheap, and the train runs from before seven.
Be on the 272 steps by eight. By ten the steps are in full sun, the monkeys are bolder and it is crowded. Knees and shoulders covered; sarongs for hire at the bottom.
Late morning. Back into town. Ilham Gallery if there is a show on — free, air-conditioned, and the most interesting contemporary art in Malaysia.
Afternoon. Brickfields, five minutes from KL Sentral, for banana leaf rice at lunchtime and the temples afterwards.
Late afternoon. Kampung Baru — the Malay village of wooden stilt houses that has held out for 125 years, with the Twin Towers directly behind it. The best photograph in the city is taken from these streets.
Evening. If it is Saturday, the Kampung Baru night market. Otherwise Jalan Alor or a rooftop bar.
If you have a fourth day
Melaka — two hours by bus, a UNESCO site, five centuries of Portuguese, Dutch and British rule in one small town, and the best food in Malaysia. Go on a weekday.
Putrajaya — twenty minutes by train, a capital built from scratch in the 1990s, and genuinely strange.
The Batu Caves and Melaka combination is the strongest, if you have to choose.
If you have two days
Do day one, then compress day two: Islamic Arts Museum in the morning, KL Tower at sunset. Skip the caves, which is a real loss.
Things to skip
Doing two of the three high viewpoints. They cost a lot and show you the same city.
Buying counterfeits on Petaling Street.
Walking anywhere between about eleven and four that you could reasonably take a Grab to.
What to check before you go
The API — the Air Pollutant Index. In the haze season the observation decks are pointless and they do not refund.
Whether Ramadan or a major festival falls in your dates. It changes what is open and what is worth seeing, mostly for the better.
The Malaysia Digital Arrival Card, which most visitors must complete online before travelling — free, on the government site, and easy to miss.
Get a Touch ’n Go card on arrival at KL Sentral. It works on everything.