Green lungs are an important part of any city, and in Kuala Lumpur, the Perdana Botanical Gardens form one of the largest, covering about 220 acres in the heart of the metropolis. Touted as one of the best parks in the city, it is also fondly called the Lake Gardens, since there is a large man-made lake at its centre.

Despite having been in the general area numerous times (there are a couple of attractions nearby such as the National Monument, the Planetarium, and the Islamic Arts Museum) , I’ve never been inside the gardens – so N and I decided to come here for an evening walk over the weekend.

Built in the late 1880s, the Perdana Botanical Gardens was originally conceptualised as a refuge for city dwellers during colonial times. In fact, the British Governor General had a residence here, the Carcosa Seri Negara, comprising two mansions. Some of the scenes from 2018’s Crazy Rich Asian film was shot here – the place has, unfortunately, been closed for six years now pending restoration works by the government, and what it’s going to be turned into remains unknown.

The gardens are massive, so snapping a pic of the map at the entrance will be helpful. In spite of this, we still got lost and missed out on certain sections of the park. If you’re really looking to explore everything, set aside a couple of hours – you’ll get a good workout in too.

We came in from the East Entrance, where there’s a pretty courtyard, a souvenir shop, and a visitor information centre, although they weren’t open as it was past 5pm. Past this is an Amphitheatre, although nothing was going on at the moment except for a couple of people doing Tiktok videos.

The route isn’t linear and the signages that indicate which section you’re in isn’t clear, so we kind of just wandered around snapping photos of whatever took our fancy, like water features and this Mediterranean-looking structure.

Juxtaposition between the old and the new – the oldest park in the city with the latest skyscraper (the Merdeka 118) in the distance.

If you like blooms, don’t forget to stop by the Orchid Garden, which has beautiful blooms such as these dancing lady orchids, and the more conventional Phalaenopsis in various shades. There are shaded walkways too, with mists sprayed periodically to keep the flowers fresh in KL’s muggy weather.

We had to leave early to avoid traffic, so we couldn’t explore parts of the park thoroughly (couldn’t find the park’s famous Canopy area), but it was a nice escape into nature admist the hustle and bustle of KL, even if just for a short while. There are many other areas within here including a Butterfly Park, a Deer Park, and even a waterfall which I hope I’ll get to see on my next visit.

Entrance to the Perdana Botanical Gardens is free.

Getting Here

The closest MRT train to the Gardens is the Muzium Negara station. Exit from Entrance B and walk around the National Museum building, where there will be a pedestrian path leading to the gardens. If driving here, there is a dedicated building for parking (paid).

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