Sepang - district of Malaysia

Sepang is a district in the Malaysia state of Selangor. It is located 50 km south of Kuala Lumpur. Most visitors head to Sepang to get to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Sepang International Circuit are located within the district.

The district centre is Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi.

Sepang is also the name of a small town on Federal Route 5 or the main West Coast road where there are local bus connections to Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan, KLIA, and Banting further north on the Selangor coast.

Cities

• Bagan Lalang
• Sungai Pelek

Understand

Until 2000, Sepang district was just a flat stretch of palm oil plantations. Now it has tens of millions of visitors a year for two reasons: The Sepang International Circuit, and KLIA.

However, outside these two attractions and the areas bordering Petaling Jaya, you will still be greeted with tranquil villages and miles of palm oil plantations.

Get in

By plane

As Kuala Lumpur International Airport is in Sepang, visitors can fly from many overseas destinations directly into the district. For information on how to get to or away from the airport, see the "Get in - KLIA" section of the KL article.

By train

In a hurry?

Train about to leave the airport station? Just jump on board - you can buy your ticket on arrival at KL Sentral at the same price.

Visitors to Sepang, including the race circuit, can make use of the good rail links between Kuala Lumpur and KLIA - see the "Get in - KLIA" section of the KL article for details on the KLIA Ekspres and KLIA Transit high-speed train services which run between KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur's transportation hub, and the airport where connections to other parts of Sepang can be made.

The KTM Komuter can also be used to reach Sepang. Catch a train to Nilai station in Negeri Sembilan. From there, Sepang Omnibus goes to locations within Sepang district, including KLIA, Salak Tinggi, Sepang (for connections to Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan) and Sungai Pelek.

By bus

You can also use the various bus connections between Kuala Lumpur and KLIA to reach Sepang - see the "Get in - KLIA" section of the KL article for details.

Transnasional has a bus service from Kuala Lumpur's Puduraya bus terminal to Salak Tinggi, Sepang and Sungai Pelek. Transnasional also operates local buses from Sepang and Sungai Pelek to Tanjung Sepat and Banting in neighbouring Kuala Langat district. This journey passes through miles of palm oil plantations and several pretty Malay coastal villages.

Sepang Omnibus has direct local buses from Seremban in Negeri Sembilan to Sungai Pelek via Nilai, KLIA, Salak Tinggi and Sepang; and Seremban to Banting via Nilai, KLIA, Salak Tinggi and Bukit Changgang. It also runs a bus from Sungai Pelek to Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan via Sepang. Towards the north, Sepang Omnibus operates buses from Sungai Pelek to Tanjung Sepat in neighbouring Kuala Langat district.

By taxi

Except from KLIA, local taxis operate from the main towns of the district. From KLIA, a coupon airport taxi system operates. See the "Get in - KLIA" section of the KL article for details.

To Sepang International Circuit

During race season, the simplest way is to catch the train from KL Sentral to KLIA and then transfer onto shuttle buses which will bring you to the circuit. The operator of KLA Ekspres and KLIA Transit has transport packages which cover the train ride and shuttle bus.

On non-race days, it may be difficult to get to the circuit by public transport. Your best bet is by taxi.

Get around

Public transport within Sepang is limited to the Sepang Omnibus, which connects KTM Komuter's Nilai station to the airport via the Sepang International Circuit race-track (RM 2, every 30 minutes).

Hotels and, when races are on, the F1 circuit run shuttle buses to ferry visitors to and from the airport.

See and do

• Sepang International Circuit, until 2017 venue for the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix. Now the biggest event is the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix. Tickets are quite affordable (at least by international standards) and start from RM 100 for a one-day C3 hill stand ticket - and go up to RM 1,750 for a 3-day "Diamond" upper mall ticket.
• Sepang Elim Sanctuary, Sunday Services in English are from 10.30AM (local time) to about noon, 50 Jalan Airport City 2, Airport City Business Centre, Kota Warisan. Walking distance from Salak Tinggi ERL station but you have to take the KLIA Transit Rail (not the Express one) to be able to exit at this station.

Buy

Eat

The best eating options are at the airport. Levels 2 and 4 (landside) offer food courts serving Malaysian fare at only slightly inflated prices.

• Eden Restaurant, KLIA Level 5 (Departures). A piece of Hong Kong dropped into the terminal, offers dim sum from carts (breakfast/lunch only) and Chinese seafood. Expensive with most mains over RM20, but worth a visit just for the humongous and tasty ais kacang (a cone with ice shavings with weird and wonderful toppings) at RM8.60.

Options outside the airport at limited.

• Downtown KLIA Seafood, Jalan KLIA 1 (opposite Concorde Hotel). Fine Chinese/Muslim seafood, offers a range of over 200 choices of eateries.

Drink

Sleep

There are only a few places to stay in Sepang itself. See Kuala Lumpur International Airport for hotels on airport grounds. If you have a bit of time to spare, you may want to consider zipping to the city on the KLIA Ekspres (28 min) and staying at the hotels in KL Sentral instead i.e Hilton and Le Meridien.

Budget

• Transit Service Centre, 8 Jalan Airport City 2, Airport City Business Centre, Kota Warisan, +60 3-87064288. Very affordable, excellent for transfers as it is very near the airport, friendly environment, transport to and from KLIA/LCCT provided.

• Nilai Seri Hotel Less than 30 miniutes from LCCT with taxi (40-50RM.) A clean, safe & quiet budget hotel located opposite MPR (Majlis Perbandaran Nilai.) Air-Con rooms from 55RM-160RM, free wifi, friendly locals (it's a student town.) good food near by.(5-20RM.) full address & Tel/fax:- PT 12990, Putra Indah 3B Bandar Baru Nilai, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan. Tel/Fax:- +60 6-850-3370

Mid-range

Splurge

Connect

There is wireless internet available for free.

Go next

• Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's capital city, is just half an hour away.
• Putrajaya - Malaysia's new capital-to-be, is 15 minutes away by train.
• Sungai Pelek - a small town in Sepang district which offered some pleasant surprises. The dragon fruit farm and plenty of traditional Foochew delights make this place worth a visit.
• Bagan Lalang - the beach here was first promoted as a tourism destination by the Selangor Government in the early 1990s. It had little more that its fine sand lined by tall pine trees extending a long way before reaching the sea waters, some ikan bakar spots and chalets to offer.