I go to Kuala Lumpur (or KL as it is also called) in Malaysia on business from time to time and I have had the great pleasure of actually working in Petronas Twin Towers and I have been to the skybridge when I went on vacation to Malaysia a few years back (see my KL trip report on my homepage ). As I have worked in the towers I have had the chance to stop by the skylobby on 41st and 42nd floor all the time – but a few months back I came across some information saying that it was also possible to get to the 86th floor – which means that you practically get to the very top as there are 88th floors. So one day when going to work in the towers, I stopped by to check out the ticket situation. The tickets can be bought in the lower level and you reach it by using the escalator leading down near the lobby of either tower 1 or tower 2. When I did the skybridge a few years back when I was in KL on vacation the tickets were free and it was a “first come, first serve” basis and the tickets were only given out day by day. It seems like they have changed that now – these days you can buy tickets in advance for a given time and the tickets are 50 Ringgit (17 USD). The ticket gives you access to the Skybridge and the 86th floor.

So on a Sunday afternoon at 4 pm I had a ticket and I got there 15 minutes ahead of time as instructed. After an introduction where the animation was displayed on water vapor(!) I was allowed to enter the elevator. The whole thing was organized in a great way as people got different color badges and hence it was easy to instruct people around. The elevator that took me up to the skybridge on 41st floor is really a service elevator I guess but they have pimped it a bit as there were screens on the wall displaying the view of the KLCC area as if the elevator was a glass elevator.  The view from the skybridge is pretty good but not amazing in any way – but as it is located about 170 meters above the ground (about 560 feet) you get a good view of the KLCC park and area but a lot of the view is also blocked by the towers. Due to this I have always recommended people to rather check out the view from KL tower instead. After about 10 minutes on the skybridge I was summoned by one of the guards and we were pushed into the elevator once again and this time I was transported to 83rd floor. From here there was a passage where they had posted info about some of the tallest buildings in the world (like Burj Khalifa in Dubai which I had the pleasure of visiting a while back …see http://gardkarlsen.com/blog/?p=696 ). Once again we had to get into an elevator – this time much smaller and much slower as it only took us 3 floors up to 86th floor.

The 86th floor was actually a lot bigger than I thought it would be – when I have enjoyed the view from the lounge at Traders hotel (see my review of this great hotel on http://gardkarlsen.com/blog/?p=72 ) the top of the towers looks so small – but in reality there was quite a lot of room and the best thing was of course that there was a view in more or less all directions!  It was unreal to see how tiny buildings like Citybank and Traders were compared to the height of the Petronas tower! The 86th floor is located about 360 meters above the ground so the view is just spectacular! Apart from the view there were also various models of the city, of the towers and also a model of how the future of KLCC might be. They also had a couple of screens with some augmented reality (so hang on to your ticket after you go in). After 10-15 minutes at the top we were called again by the guards and after a quick stop on 83rd floor, we took the lift all the way down from 83rd to the ground level (or sub level actually) where we had to go through the gift shop on the way out. If you are into skyscrapers and buildings with a view you should definitely stop by Petronas Twin Towers to enjoy the view from the 86th floor

Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures