One city that should definitely be on your ‘to-do list’ when traveling Malaysia, is Penang. Located in the north of the country, this city is also known as “The Pearl of the Orient”. And for a good reason! As Penang has so many must do activities. We’ve compiled a list of all of our favorite things to do here and with this top 10 list you can kick start your Penang adventure!
1. Hawker food stalls
Penang is best known for its amazing food and it’s literally impossible to go hungry in Penang. And the number one thing to do is to visit the hawker food stalls everywhere! These are three of our favorites that we go back to every time we’re here.
1. Chulia Street
When the sun goes down the Chulia Hawker food street opens up. Try many of the local dishes and sit down next to the road. You can get your favourites like Char Koay Teow or Laksa for example.
2. Red Garden Food Paradise
Among the stalls you’ll find a great variety of foods such as: Noodles, Dumplings and Satay skewers. At night this place turns into a place full of music with live singing throughout the evening. So if you really feel like it, you can have a dance with the locals.
3. Gurney Drive Hawker Centre
The Gurney Drive Hawker Centre one of the biggest variety of street food in Penang. You can literally eat your heart out here and this one also has separate part for halal food and non halal food. You can walk to any hawker stall, order food and sit down in the seats in the middle.
Entrance Fee: Hawker Centres and markets are all free to visit.
Bonus Tip: Malaysians usually eat between 6.00 pm and 9.00 pm so the Hawker stalls will be very busy then!
2. Must eat restaurants:
If you think Penang is all about that streetfood then you are wrong, oh so very wrong! Penang has a blend of Malaysia, Indian and Chinese restaurants spread around the island. Here are a few tips we can give you.
A must eat is Nasi Kandar at Hameediyah, the oldest Nasi Kandar of Malaysia. It’s steamed rice combined with an array of distinct curries, sides dishes, and gravies. They mix it all together and believe us it tastes very good!
Have you ever tried Noyna cuisine? We went to Bibiks Kitchen and tried this amazing blend of Chinese Malay influenced food. This restaurant is Michelin level food for an affordable price
Our last recommendation is Tek Sen, most famous Chinese restaurant of Penang. Guaranteed to be waiting in line but a must visit if you love Chinese food!
Bonus Tip: Feeling a little tired after walking all day? Just use the Grab app to order from all your favorite restaurants!
3. Walking through history at Fort Cornwallis and many more sites
Penang oozes history everywhere you go, so it’s no wonder that the peninsula is on the UNESCO heritage list. Visiting the Fort Cornwallis for example really feels like stepping into a another time, as you walk in the ruins of a former colonial fort.
Also walking through the streets of Georgetown transports you back into older times. The whole city is a a blend of different cultures, religions and architecture.
Entrance Fee For Cornwallis: RM 20
Bonus Tip: A guided tour is available on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday at 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm
4. Streets filled with Street art
When you are walking through the streets of Georgetown you are met with some of the most beautiful artwork. With Murals about the history of the city, daily life of the people and sometimes just really fun things. When the sun is shining everything is vibrant, colourful and alive! Some of the artwork really comes alive with the addition of physical objects. You can follow the many tours they have or just wander around and let yourself be surprised.
Bonus Tip: Admiring the street art is free and can be found all throughout Georgetown. Be sure to start at Armenian Street though, because that whole area is filled with street art.
5. Cheong Fatt Tze, The Blue Mansion
One of the most beautiful Mansions of Penang is the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion that serves as a museum but also as a UNESCO Conservation & Heritage awarded Boutique Hotel. Its beauty combined with historical significance makes it a must visit for anyone coming to Penang.
6. Kek Si Lok Temple
You might have seen temples in your life, but we bet never as big as the Kek Si Lok Temple. It’s Malaysia’s biggest temple and is an important pilgrimage centre for the whole of south east Asia. The statue of Buddha is whopping 36 meters high and looks out over the whole Georgetown.
Entrance Fee: The temple is free, Elevator lift is between RM 2 & RM 3 And Entrance to the Pagoda costs: RM 2.
Bonus Tip: The best time to visit is during Chinese New year where they put lights everywhere and turn them on every night at 7.30PM. Only once a year for 16 days you can enjoy this amazing lightshow and extended opening times.
7 Penang Hill & Habitat
A Jungle Amusement park in the sky, we like to call it. Set at around 800 meters above Georgetown it offers amazing views of the city and it’s a little cooler. The fun starts when you take the Funicular train up the hill and have views of the jungle around you. Once you reach the top it’s a short walk to one of the many viewpoints to enjoy Georgetown from the sky.
We recommend if you are there to visit The Habitat, a walk that will connect you with the nature and animals that live on the hill. With the 230m Langur way Canopy walk and if you are not afraid of heights, the Crest tree top walk. Lastly don’t forget to visit the many historical buildings and sights that are on the hill.
Entrance Fee Penang Hill: Adult Ticket Two-way ticket access Normal RM 30 & Fast RM 80
Entrance Fee Habitat: Standard Entrance Pass RM 60
Bonus tip: Buy the fast pass as it can get very busy at times to go down or up the hill. You will thank us later!
8 Batu Ferrenghi Beach town
Did you know it’s only a 30-40 minute drive by taxi or bus to go to Batu Ferrenghi. A beach paradise with amazing sunsets and resorts. Here you can wind down from the busy city life, put your feet in the sand and take a dip in the pool. You can also visit the night market, visit the nature park or sit on the beach with local food listing to live music. Our favourite thing must be the sunsets here!
Entrance Fee: The beach is free!
Bonus Tip: When you go in the off-season all the luxury resorts become very affordable!
Check-out the Hard Rock Hotel for a resort right on Batu Ferringhi beach.
9. Visiting the Gurney Plaza & Gurney Paragon Mall
Want to do what locals do? Visit a mall.. yes a MALL! Gurney Plaza and the Gurney Paragon mall are real hot spots for local people as it offers lots of big brand stores, many places to eat and most important air-conditioning.
And when you are here you can visit Gurney Food Hall in the Gurney Plaza. It’s basically similar Hawker food but then inside in a beautiful setting with lots of local favorites to try or if you want.. the not so local food! Talking about not so local.. we LOVE going to Nando’s in Malaysia… because you can never go wrong with chicken and it’s something we don’t have back home.
Bonus Tip: We chose these malls as they are just the best of Penang, with the most stores and brands!
10. SUPER BONUS TIP: Visit Penang during Chinese New Year
The absolute best time to visit Penang is during Chinese New year. For 16 days there are many events happening, fireworks everywhere and the streets are decorated red. Every hotel you stay at will organize their own end of the year ceremony where they scare away the bad luck and bring in good luck and fortune for the upcoming new year. I guess us being there will also bring us a lot of luck and prosperity for the future.
Entrance Fee: All outside activities are free to visit!
Bonus Tip: All big hotels have celebrations every day, they are fun and free to visit!
Conclusion
This was our top 10 things we recommend doing when visiting Penang. And yes I hear you say dear reader… but what about this…and this.. and that? Do not worry there are many more fun things to do in Penang and we are certainly not done with this amazing city.
But for this post, this is it! We want to thank you so much for reading and we hope we inspired you for your next trip. If you don’t know where to stay in Penang, check-out our article about Our 4 Favorite Hotels in Penang!
P.S. We also have a Youtube channel @Yesandexplore, with lots of travel videos!
