If you leave Petaling Jaya at 7 am on a weekday, you'll be parked at Batu Caves and on the 272 steps while it's still cool and before the crowds build. Leave at 11 and you'll do the same climb in the midday heat with everyone else. Batu Caves parking is easy: there's a large car park right by the temple, with a small charge per entry. The timing is the part to get right.
Getting there by car
Batu Caves is in Gombak, Selangor, about 13 km north of the KL city centre, right beside the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2). From PJ you can cross the north of the city on the DUKE or go round on the MRR2; your navigation app will pick the quicker one on the day. Search for "Batu Caves Temple" rather than typing an address. If the highway names are new to you, our guide to the highways around Kuala Lumpur explains which is which.
A return trip from PJ is well inside the 120 km a day that every Grandpride rental includes, so you won't need a mileage add-on, and Grandpride delivers the car to your door anywhere in the Klang Valley. Any car in the fleet will do; a compact SUV such as the Proton X50 at RM 600 a day is plenty, and easy to park.
Batu Caves car park
The parking compound is at the foot of the hill, a short walk from the golden statue and the steps. You pay per entry rather than by the hour; check how payment is taken when you drive in, as it can change. On an ordinary weekday morning it's simple. Weekends and public holidays are busier all round, so the early start matters more then.
When to go
- Early morning is best. The Temple Cave at the top of the steps opens at 6 am and closes at 9 pm. Before 8 am is the quietest time, and the coolest.
- Mid-afternoon is the second choice. Like many Hindu temples, the shrines here close roughly between 1 pm and 4 pm, but you can still visit the caves in that window.
- The smaller attractions at the base of the hill, the Ramayana Cave and Cave Villa, keep their own hours, so check them before you plan around them.
Thaipusam: leave the car at home
Thaipusam falls on the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai, which lands in January or February, and Batu Caves is the centre of the festival in Malaysia. Up to 1.5 million people come. It's a public holiday in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, and the roads around the caves fill with pilgrims and spectators.
Don't try to drive in. Take the KTM Komuter instead: Batu Caves is the last station on the line, about 25 minutes from KL Sentral, and a short walk from the temple. If you're coming from PJ with a driver, have them drop you at a Komuter station rather than at the caves. And if you're there to watch, remember it's a religious occasion for the people around you, so keep out of the way of the devotees.
At the caves
- The 272 steps lead up to the Temple Cave, past the 42.7 m golden statue of Lord Murugan at the bottom. They're steep. Take water and go at your own pace.
- The monkeys are long-tailed macaques, and they know what a plastic bag means. Keep food out of sight and hold on to sunglasses and phones near the top.
- It's a working Hindu temple. Shoulders and knees covered is the safe choice, and take your shoes off where others do.
- The Dark Cave entrance is at step 204. Tours are run separately and access is restricted, so check whether they're operating before you count on it.
Making a day of it
If nobody fancies driving, a Grandpride chauffeur can be booked by the hour, from three hours up, and a short booking covers the caves and the drive back. Our KL city tour with a private driver shows how to string several stops into one day.
Batu Caves takes a morning, which leaves the afternoon free. It sits on the north side of KL, close to where the Karak road leaves for Genting and Bukit Tinggi, so it pairs well with one of the day trips from KL by car heading that way.
