Kuala Lumpur or Singapore?

Hi All,

Me and my partner are going over to Vietnam in May this year and would like to spend 5 nights on the way home for a bit of r & r before going back to work, we are looking at taking it easy at a nice hotel with a few days rest, a bit of shopping and maybe a tour or 2 would be fine.

The biggest decision is where to stop over in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur?

We dont mind the city not being totaly clean, nice upmarket hotel, not overly expensive in general but enough activities to do so we're not bored and a nice area to stopover for a well deserved break.

Any help would be great.

Thanks Reply to this

NateDoggs,

My wife and I are currently in KL and heading south. We stopped over for a few days to recharge our batteries. After sleeping in cheaper accomodations we decided to splurge and stay at a nice hotel for 3 days. After searching kayak.com we wound up at the Swiss Garden Hotel. Nice enough with free breakfast buffet and just on the edge of the Golden Triangle so everything is accessible. We're right across the street from the hawker street stalls and walked to both the Pertronas Towers and the KL Tower after our meal last night.

KL has been suprisingly cool. I didn't have any expectations coming in to it and have really liked it although all we have done is trek around the Triangle and the hotel.

Hope this helps. Reply to this

NateDoggs,

I'm in Singapore right now on an exchange program and I will agree with everyone above it depends on what you're looking to do. I took a trip to KL for the weekend and had a great time. We saw the towers, did a little shopping, and went out to party one night. It was a lot of fun. You could go see the Buddhist caves too I regret missing that. KL is definitely cheaper than Singapore and I thought the city had more of a cultural experience than Singapore's highly westernized ways.

In Singapore you could visit Sentosa (super fake tourist beach), check out the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, do some shopping (I hope you're wealthy), and check out the fun parts of town like Clarke Quay. Its definitely going to cost you more. If you're just looking to lounge around for a few days I might recommend saving a few bucks and staying in Malaysia. Singapore is very clean and easy to get around in but if you don't mind a little dirt and bargaining with cab drivers then KL would be fine.

The busses from KL to Singapore were really really cheap and easy. It would be really easy and relatively stress free to do both. They have roomy coaches that will go from KL to Singapore for about S$20 (cheaper to go KL to Sing than Sing to KL). Rides are 5 hours long and have AC.

Good luck with the trip. Reply to this

I'm trying to make the exact same decision for the first stop on my trip to Europe. From the research I've done there is heaps to do in Singapore that looks fantastic, and to be honest I'm a little more interested in going there. However, Kuala Lumpur is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper from what I can see and it's the first 5 days of my very budget holiday so I've decided to go there. Apparently the food is fantastic and there's a big tourist center with heaps of ideas on things to do.

I think the main thing you need to do is look into what's worth seeing in each destination and which one appeals more based on your budget. For me, budget is the main thing and I figure Singapore is still going to be there for my next stopover in a few years. Either way it's going to be an enjoyable trip I'm sure. Let us know what you decide! Reply to this

Thanks Peter. I was thinking of taking a bus a bit further out to explore more yeah. Haven't looked into the specifics yet but i've booked my flight for September 2nd. Thanks! Reply to this

More choice and cheaper in Singapore...that's for sure. Singapore and HK are the 2 best places for that in Asia. And for watches, HK may be seriously ahead of the crowd. If you know where and how to bargain, it's easily 35% down of the official international price, up to 50%. Reply to this