KL Tower vs Petronas Twin Tower-Which is better?

Malaysia has two big towers tourists don't want to miss. One is the popular Petronas Twin Tower and the other is Menara KL or KL Tower. Ideally, you would want to visit both of them- but what if you're constrained by time or money and can afford to visit only one of these two? Which one is better?

This post offers a comparison between KL tower and Petronas twin tower on various aspects, to help you decide. This is based on my personal visit experience to both the towers, over multiple visits. I had two visits to KL Tower, once in 2011 and again recently in May 2019, while I went up to twin tower in 2016 and visited again (exterior only) in May 2019.

#	Factor	KL Tower	Twin Tower	Remarks
1	Advance booking	Not needed, buy on spot	Limited slots and tickets sold each day, advance booking highly recommended
2	Entry ticket	49 MYR (International adult, observation deck only)	80 MYR + booking fee, Valid for specific date n time only, no refund, no changing	KL Tower is lot cheaper
3	Time allowed	Unlimited- can stay till closing hours	Very limited- 10 mins on the bridge, 15 mins at level 82
4	View	360 degrees	Near 300 degree at 83rd level, left n right on bridge (41st level)
5	Telescope available?	Yes	No
6	Restaurant	Yes-rotating	Not in tower area, available in the mall, ground level
7	Tower Max height	421 meters	452 meters	Refer #9
8	Max accessible height	276 meters	300 meters (approx)
9	Taller view?	Yes	No	KL tower is located on a hill, hence is overall taller and offers better view
10	Overall Popularity	Less	More
11	Exterior Photo	Difficult-not enough space around	Easy- can view from outside
12	Reason to visit	Better view Cheaper, easy entry process	More popular, iconic and photogenic But needs better planning and advance booking to go up
13	Detailed Review	Read here	Read here
14	Purpose	Telecommunication	Office blocks
15	Alternate options	Several towers around the world	Not as many, even fewer open to tourists

Any other point you'd like me to compare?

If you ask me to chose between the two, I would recommend KL tower, due to following reasons
- Entry is cheaper, less complex (you can walk-in any time without prior reservation)
- You can spend more time, can get better view

But then the twin towers are more photogenic, more popular and unique- so even if you can't go to top, do plan a visit to the KLCC campus and get some photos of the towers from outside.

More towers: Tokyo Skytree * View from Macau tower * Berlin TV Tower * Telstra tower, Canberra *