KL to Ipoh by car is about 205 km and two and a half to three hours on the North–South Expressway, a little longer when traffic out of Kuala Lumpur is heavy. There are no hill roads, just highway, which makes Ipoh one of the easiest food trips from the city. If you're going in a rental and coming back the same day, take unlimited mileage; no daily package covers it otherwise.
Getting out of KL
Head north on the E1, the northern route of the North–South Expressway, and stay on it the whole way. The road is wide and busy, and the hardest part is the first half-hour. Fridays, weekends and public holidays are the slow days for leaving Kuala Lumpur, and an early start saves more time than anything else. Our guide to KL traffic and the best times to drive explains when the city empties and when it jams.
Rawang, then Tapah
The first rest area is Rawang, early on. The next is Tapah, about two-thirds of the way, which is the natural stop for a coffee and a toilet. Before you leave Tapah, put your first Ipoh stop into a live map. You'll want it to choose the exit for you.
The Ipoh exits
Ipoh has several exits close together: Ipoh South (Exits 138 and 139), Ipoh North (Exit 140) and Meru Raya (Exit 141). The right one depends on where you're going first, a cave temple, the old town or a hotel, so let the map decide.
A day in Ipoh, in the order that works
Ipoh is a former tin-mining town with an old centre, limestone hills and a lot of coffee shops. Plan the day around two meals.
Morning: a cave temple, before the heat. The limestone hills around Ipoh hide several. Sam Poh Tong has a hidden garden and a pagoda set against the cliff; Perak Cave Temple has a viewpoint more than 400 steps up. Tasik Cermin, the Mirror Lake, is a flooded quarry turned into a quiet park.
Lunch. Ipoh's best-known dishes are bean sprout chicken and salt-baked chicken. Afterwards, tau foo fah, a soft soy beancurd dessert. Ipoh white coffee is roasted in palm oil and served with sweetened condensed milk.
Afternoon: the old town on foot. The self-guided Ipoh Heritage Trail starts at the Edwardian railway station and runs past colonial buildings and old shophouses to Concubine Lane, the narrow lane of cafés and shops most visitors come for.
Five o'clock: back on the E1 heading south.
Or stay the night
A day trip means five to six hours of driving for about six hours in Ipoh. Stay over and you get dinner and breakfast in town, which are the meals a lot of people come for. Ipoh also works as a stepping stone. Simpang Pulai, just south of the town, is where the gentler road to the highlands starts; see our guide to driving from KL to Cameron Highlands. Penang is about 150 km further north on the same expressway, and KL to Penang by car covers the rest of that road.
Mileage and the car
Every rental day includes 120 km. On top you can add +50 km, +100 km or unlimited mileage.
| Plan | Roughly | Package |
|---|---|---|
| Day trip, there and back | 410 km, plus driving in town | Unlimited |
| Overnight, each driving day | 205 km, plus 15 to 30 km in town | Unlimited (the +100 package's 220 km a day leaves almost no margin) |
| On to Cameron Highlands or Penang | Each leg adds up fast | Unlimited |
Unlimited costs less per kilometre than paying the car's per-km rate for distance over your allowance, so for Ipoh it's the obvious choice. Return the car with the fuel level it had at collection, and remember only the named renter may drive, so one person does the whole 410 km.
For a steady highway cruise and narrow old-town streets, a sedan is right. The BMW 3 Series is RM 1,500 a day and the Honda Civic RS RM 800 a day. Our guides to luxury sedan rental in KL and BMW rental in KL compare the saloons in the fleet.
If you'd rather not drive it
A chauffeur and car, by the hour. Grandpride books 3 to 23 hours. An Ipoh day trip usually runs 11 to 13 hours, and bookings over 12 hours get 10% off the total. Hours that start from 7 pm cost 30% more, so leaving Ipoh in good time keeps the price down. In a Toyota Vellfire, daytime hours are RM 150 each, and Book a chauffeur shows the full price before you reserve.
A driver for your own car. A Grandpride driver costs RM 385 for an 8-hour day, then RM 40 an hour overtime, so a 12-hour Ipoh day is the day rate plus four hours. Whether a driver will take your car out of the Klang Valley for the day is confirmed when you ask CHECK: do Grandpride drivers take a customer's own car on out-of-town day trips such as Ipoh, and are there any extra charges?. See the driver and bodyguard service and our guide to a personal driver for your own car.
Things people ask
Is Ipoh worth a day trip from KL?
Yes, for the food, the old town and a cave temple. If you want dinner and breakfast there as well, stay one night.
Berapa jauh Ipoh dari KL?
Kira-kira 205 km melalui Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan, dua jam setengah hingga tiga jam dalam trafik biasa.
Saloons for the drive are on the sedan list.
