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 Traveller's Tales: Advise for travellers in Penang, Malaysia
Heed our handy tips on safe travel in Penang, Malaysia. You may read about travel warnings, health, what to wear, travel with kids, travel with pets, local weather, local government, medical information and traffic information in the area.Also, you might want to read our
Kuala Lumpur city guide,
Langkawi city guide,
Melaka city guide,
and Penang city guide.
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| D Miller |
08 March 2003 |
Stayed at Cititel Penang - Penang, Malaysia.
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Did we miss something, or is Georgetown a boring dump with no major attractions where you risk being run over whenever you want to cross the road? There was semi-picturesque squalor without any accompanying buzz. The Komtar tower has good views, but is very tatty, and on no account should you waste good money on a tepid powdered beverage in the 'cafe'.
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| J Chan |
18 December 2002 |
Stayed at Paradise Sandy Bay Resort - Penang, Malaysia.
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Skip all the tourist-y sites, especially the RM$5 tourist info center at KOMTAR. Be careful of parking attendant impersonators. When visiting temples, do not be surprised by the commercial natures of some. There is also "Malaysia's 1st inclined lift" at Kek Lok Si temple. Do not take it. It costs RM$4 for a round trip. Climb the steps. At Penang Hill, make sure you do not have a packed itinerary. It's a half hour wait for the tram up.
For transportation, taking a bus is very affordable at 80 sen. Catching a cab would be much more dear and prone to drivers' overcharging as there are no metered cabs in Penang Island. Car rental is an advisable option against cabs.
In Penang, the focus should be on food. All food regardless taste great. Be it foodcourts, restaurants or roadside stalls. Visiting the stalls at Gurney is a must. They have a huge array of culturally diverse food for all palates.
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| J Howarth |
29 October 2002 |
Stayed at Casuarina Beach Resort - Penang, Malaysia.
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One piece of advice, do not go to Penang hill on a weekend / school holidays due to the massive queue and don't go before 8 am as the view is very hazy.
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| S Parks |
22 August 2002 |
Stayed at Shangri-La Hotel Penang - Penang, Malaysia.
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The taxi drivers are amongst the worst I have come across, and seem to invent the highest fare imaginable, even though the government-set fares are displayed. For travel around Georgetwon, I would recommend the free shuttle bus which goes around the city every 10 minutes. I would recommend "Passage thru India" on Jalan Penang, as one of the best indian restaurants I have eaten at.
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| L Hoong boon |
12 July 2002 |
Stayed at Paradise Sandy Bay Resort - Penang, Malaysia.
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Be careful of the cab drivers, very nasty and dishonest.
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| P Chiang |
23 June 2002 |
Stayed at Shangri-La Hotel Penang - Penang, Malaysia.
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I walked by one restaurant that was washing dishes out of a bucket. The water was very dirty and it didn't look very sanitary. It made me cautious on food.
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| P Leitch-blais |
28 April 2002 |
Stayed at Bayview Beach Resort - Penang, Malaysia.
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The hotel is the last on a strip of many, and it is perhaps a 5-10 minute walk to the night market and quite a few good restaurants. We would highly recommend "Jasmine's Kitchen", and there are many other great spots. We tended to choose the ones that were more reasonably priced less flashy and had terrific meals. The walk to this area from the hotel is along a busy road with narrow "sidewalk" which is fine for adults, but perhaps a bit of a concern with children. In terms of the beach, it is not very wide and there were many jellyfish warnings around--so no one seemed to be swimming at all along the entire northern part of Penang's beaches.
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| C Delvin |
09 April 2002 |
Stayed at Bayview Beach Resort - Penang, Malaysia.
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The beach tends to be overrated and was probably mediocre with coarse sand, and was narrow and steep. Being at the end of Batu Ferringhi, one will have to do a relatively lenghty walk to take in all of the night market. Easily accessible transportation (public and hotel) into Georgetown. Taxi prices tend to be higher in Penang than other Asian destinations, especially between late evening and 7:00 AM when a 50% surcharge is applied to the regular fare.
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| B Turner |
14 February 2002 |
Stayed at Holiday Inn Resort Penang - Penang, Malaysia.
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Penang is nice but the brackish water is no where near the tropical blue we expected. Highly recommend walking up Penang Hill. But this is not for the faint hearted. The 1022 steps (and that is just the beginning!)are steep and are a combination of root footholds and dirt steps. After a time you come to a paved road which makes the going a bit easier. A good 1.5 hour hike will bring you to the halfway point which has a nice glimpse of Georgetown. We didn't get to the top because of the time. Bring flashlights if you get a late start because the stairs can be trecherous in the dark!
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| S Krishnamurthy |
14 February 2002 |
Stayed at Ferringhi Beach Hotel, Penang - Penang, Malaysia.
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2-3 days can be spent leisurely at Penang. Places worth seeing are Golden Sands beach, Kek Lok Si Pagoda, Wat Chayamangkalaram, Penang Hill, Burmese temple. Penang has a lot of beautiful Buddist temples.
One has to be careful when taking a taxi. The drivers charge exhorbitant prices. Bargaining is a must.
For good Indian food, you can visit Restaurant Kaliamman's at Penang Street, Little India. I want to stress on the Manager of the Hotel (Vanita & and an elderly gentleman), who went out of their way to drop us to the Ferry Terminal when we were almost running out of time.
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