Penang is an island of Malaysia , known as a major trading center of Asian countries, some European and Middle Eastern countries in history. It has an extremely diverse culture hidden in every house, along the street as well as dishes in people's lives. Penang has many legacies due to its history, along with a rich marine natural resource - forest. So, Penang tourism to eat, play, should go for a few days is enough?
What is good in Penang?
Penang is the second smallest state in Malaysia, but this is the place with the largest population in the first place. Referring to the interesting things in Penang, you can remind all day also. It is a convergence of the charms of food, shopping, world heritage, entertainment spots, beautiful sea and forest nature.
UNESCO Heritage Space:
The most famous in Penang must first mention George Town - the old town is named after King George III (United Kingdom). This is the cultural center of Penang. George Town is a cross between Eastern and Western culture, so there are many interesting points. Walking around George Town is one of the best ways to visit this UNESCO heritage city ...
Street Art:
One of the unique features in Penang is the unique Street Art neighborhood. There are many murals drawn in 3D graffiti or bent from steel bars but with absolute accuracy. The content is photographs depicting the daily routines of the people, very interesting. The paintings are marked with letters and numbers from 1 to 24. The viewer can step in and become a perfect part of the picture.
The unique art paintings. Photo: Bao Trang
Cuisine:
The cuisine in Penang is a mix of Malay, Chinese and Thai influences, so there are always very strange flavors. You can try dishes like Char Koay Teow, Koay Teow Th'ng, Penang Assam Laksa, Penang Rojak, Nasi Kandar .... In addition, there is also Jawi Peranakan, a product of the Indian Muslim community. India, combining Tamil, Pakistani, Persian and Malay cooking styles at the same time.
Shopping:
Penang has a number of epic shopping malls, including Gurney Paragon Mall and Gurney Plaza located along Persiaran Gurney. Previously this place was a seaside complex with more than 40 fashion stores and 30 restaurants with luxury brands such as Versace, Fossil, Coach.
Nature:
Penang has both sea and hills and lush forests. You can just go swimming, just trekking through the forest through the tall old trees. The sea has Batu Ferringhi, the forest has Penang National Park.
Entertainment:
Penang has a diverse nightlife, too. You can go to the night market in Long Beach or the night market on Friday night near the center. Here you can enjoy street food, shopping for clothes, souvenirs.
Penang's nightlife is also rich with many bustling bars and colorful shimmering lights until 5am at Penang Upper Road in George Town.
Traveling Penang - how many days should you go?
Because Penang is so unattractive, so you will not have much time to see many points on the first day you arrive. So you need to "spend" a lot of time here to visit and explore Penang.
Traveling Penang 2 - 3 days
If you do not have much time, 2-3 days is enough for you to learn, discover and feel the beauty of Penang. For this time, you can explore Penang with the following schedule:
Day 1: Explore the cultural center of Penang
Explore the cultural center of Penang
Fund the first day, you should use to rent a motorbike or bicycle to go around the old town of George Town - the cultural center of Penang.
Next, take a car to visit Street Art, take pictures and explore each picture following the trail of the map. (From Georgetown to Street Art about 2, 2 km).
Note: You can rent a motorbike along Lebuh Chulia street (motorbike in Penang will go on the left hand side).
In the afternoon, you can visit Little India and China Town to visit. At the end of the day, visit the nearby Queen Victoria Memorial Clock.
If the evening is normal, you can visit Penang Upper Road to experience the night market life. If the day you arrive is Friday, you can visit the Night Market on Friday, which is only 5km from Queen Victoria Memorial Clock.
Day 2:
Explore museums and old houses in Penang
In the morning, in Georgetown, you depart to visit Penang Cheong Fatt Tze, the Pinang Peranakan (Pinang Peranakan Mansion), Kuan Yin Temple, Khoo Kongsi Ancient House and Kapitan Keling Mosque.
In total, you only need to travel about 6 km. The points are located only within walking distance.
In the afternoon, if you have fun and want to relax, from Georgetown, you take uber to Batu Ferringhi beach (only 17km from Georgetown). This is a great beach with long sandy beaches, clear blue water, many restaurants and beach bars. There are also many interesting water sports activities. After swimming here, waiting for the sky to get dark, the sun set then you go to the night market in Long Beach is reasonable.
Batu Ferringhi blue beach, long sand beach
Day 3: Going to floating village + to Penang Hill
This morning, you can visit the Jetties Clan - the wonderful floating village - part of the Penang Heritage Trail. Currently, there are still people living here, so you should note when you want to take pictures.
Located just Lebuh Chulia (next to the Kapitan Kling Mosque) in Pengkalan Weld (Weld Quay), these floating villages are over a century old. Each jetty into the village is named after a Chinese clan. Here you will hear interesting stories surrounding the village history.
Jetties Clan floating village
In the afternoon: Visit Kek Lok Si Temple + take the train to Penang Hill.
Kek Lok Si Temple: This is the largest and most important Buddhist temple in Penang. Kek Lok Si is also known as the Temple of Bliss. In the temple there is a giant bronze statue of Avalokiteshvara. In addition, the temple also impressed by 10,000 Buddha statues carved in a giant temple 30 meters high.
Penang Hill: is a high point of the city so you can enjoy the panoramic view of this area from above. To get to Penang Hill, you must take the train. Trains depart from the afternoon (around 4 pm onwards) and end at night. Therefore you can stay until the evening to see the beautiful scenery shimmering electric lights of the city.
Visit Kek Lok Si temple. Photo: @sophieeleung
Traveling Penang 4-5 days
Because of this, this land has a great combination of culture, history and cuisine of the Malay, Indian, Chinese and Western. So you can easily spend 5 days in Penang without getting bored.
There are a billion things to see and do in Penang, both in Georgetown's main city and elsewhere on the island. If the date 1, 2, 3, you have experienced Penang as the above suggested schedule, here are the schedule suggestions for days 4 and 5.
Day 4: Trekking Penang National Park - Penang National Park
Penang is an island with diverse nature, hidden deep in rich tropical forests. Spend a day trekking, you will be able to overcome the lush forests with immense trees and wonderful scenery. You will be going through the monkey forest or to the beach where the turtles lay ...
Trekking Penang national park
Day 5:
On the morning of the 5th day, you will visit Tropical Fruit Farm tropical plant garden. It is home to more than 250 different species in the region as well as Central America, South America, Central Africa, India, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands. It is also an orchard with rare fruits that use organic fertilizer (only use chemicals when absolutely necessary).
You can buy a tour of the farm to have a guide to visit, enjoy fruit ...
The remaining afternoon is the time for you to go shopping. You can go to Gurney Paragon Mall and Gurney Plaza to shop, visit, then head to the dining area at Gurney Drive to satisfy your appetite.
Visit the Tropical Fruit Farm tropical garden
Going to Penang 6-7 days
For those who have a good time, as well as those who love Penang, 7 days is the perfect time for you to enjoy, feel the atmosphere of every corner here. Maybe your trip now is not just a discovery, but a trip to find memories, memories, strange emotions ... Such trips, how many days are enough.
The schedule of the previous 5 days will be similar to the suggestion above, for the remaining 2 days, you can:
Day 6: Visit the town of Balik Pulau
This is a town in the quiet rural countryside of Penang surrounded by lush hills, orchards, rice fields and ancient fishing villages.
There is a jalan Bahru village with a simple lifestyle like a traditional Malay village with interesting outdoor activities. You can come here and rent bicycles to explore around with beautiful green scenery. You can also relax with traditional massage and herbal sauna.
Visit the peaceful town of Balik Pulau
Day 7: Return to George Town - choose one or several museums near Street Art to visit: Upside Down Museum; 3D Trick Art Museum; Penang Wonderfood Museum.
Interesting places of fun in Penang
For the rest of the day, you can use to enjoy the private space at the cafes with beautiful virtual corner here.
Moh Teng Pheow Nyonya Koay & Canteen
Address: Lorong Masjid, Pulau Pinang 10200
So traveling to Penang - should a few days of travel be enough? Actually, the number of suitable days for you to travel to Penang is not binding. You can choose the number of days you stay here depending on the amount of time you have. If you have less time, go 2 or 3 days. If you have a lot of time, take 4-5 days. If there's ample time, 6-7 days is perfect.
Regardless of the time you choose, consider designing an appropriate schedule so as not to miss the most interesting attractions, as suggested above.