Jalan Alor and Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur
Part of the Kuala Lumpur travel guide — see every topic in All Kuala Lumpur Guides.
Bukit Bintang is Kuala Lumpur's commercial centre of gravity: a dense grid of malls, hotels, restaurants and bars just south-west of KLCC, connected to it by a covered elevated walkway. It contains the city's best-known food street, its highest concentration of shopping, its main nightlife strip and its most persistent touts. It is not the most interesting part of the city, but it is the most convenient, and almost every first-time visitor stays in or near it for good reason.
Jalan Alor
One block behind the main drag, Jalan Alor closes to traffic in the evening and becomes a continuous outdoor dining room: plastic tables down the middle of the road, a hundred stalls and restaurants either side, seafood tanks, satay grills and red lanterns overhead. Grilled chicken wings, char kway teow, satay, Thai-Chinese seafood and fresh fruit juice are the staples. It runs from about five in the afternoon until the small hours. Prices are higher than a neighbourhood hawker centre and the food is still good; ignore the menu-waving touts and sit where the locals are.
The malls
Pavilion is the polished one, with the international brands and a good food hall. Lot 10 has Hutong in the basement, an air-conditioned collection of long-established hawkers. Sungei Wang and Berjaya Times Square are the older, cheaper, more chaotic end — Times Square has an indoor roller coaster. Fahrenheit88 and Starhill Gallery fill in around them. The whole cluster is linked by covered walkways, which matters more than it sounds in a city where a downpour arrives most afternoons.
Changkat and the nightlife
Jalan Changkat Bukit Bintang, running uphill from Jalan Alor, is the main bar strip — a couple of hundred metres of restaurants, cocktail bars, sports bars and clubs in converted shophouses. It is the most concentrated nightlife in the city and the most visitor-oriented. Beyond it, the rooftop bars around Jalan Sultan Ismail and Heli Lounge Bar's working helipad are the view options, and the more interesting drinking — speakeasies and craft cocktail rooms — has largely moved to Chinatown and Bangsar.
Practicalities
Bukit Bintang has its own monorail and MRT stations and is the best-connected part of the city; the elevated air-conditioned walkway to KLCC takes about fifteen minutes on foot. It is also where the persistent touts are — massage, clubs, and a long-running fake-goods approach — and where pickpocketing is most likely, though the city is generally safe. Accommodation runs the full range from hostel dorms at 40 ringgit to five-star hotels. Alcohol carries heavy excise: expect 20–35 ringgit for a beer on Changkat.
Jalan Alor and Bukit Bintang at a glance
| Jalan Alor | Food street, from ~5pm until late |
|---|---|
| Malls | Pavilion, Lot 10, Sungei Wang, Berjaya Times Square |
| Best food hall | Hutong, basement of Lot 10 |
| Nightlife strip | Jalan Changkat Bukit Bintang |
| Beer on Changkat | RM 20–35 — alcohol is heavily taxed |
| Walk to KLCC | ~15 min on the covered elevated walkway |