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If you're looking for a specific style of holiday, we've got you covered. Our range of travel types includes honeymoons, family breaks and solo travel, as well as specialist trips focused on wellness, wildlife-watching and lots more.
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Penang Holidays
Culture and visual drama meet beautiful beaches and rainforest spilling into the Andaman Sea. Penang is an island you’ll fall in love with.
Holidays to Penang take you from historic sites and heritage houses to golden sands and luxury hotels. Capital city George Town bowls visitors over with its ‘step back in time’ charms: you’ll see pre-war buildings, Chinese clan jetties, Buddhist temples, British Palladian architecture and Indo-Islamic mosques. The street food scene is one of South East Asia’s best, with 24-hour hawker stalls dishing out everything from stir-fried rice cakes to the island’s famous asam laksa. Ride the Penang Hill funicular, explore rainforest with The Habitat’s in-house naturalists and get stellar sunset views from Komtar Observatory’s Rainbow Sky Walk.
For a heavenly dose of sand and sea, Batu Ferringhi beach is the place to be. Throw down a towel, pick up a kayak and end the night at a slow-mo beach bar. Penang National Park is also easily accessible from here, for jungle treks, panga boat rides and secluded beaches.
If you’re seeking an indulgent and culturally rich island escape, we’re ready to craft you a tailormade holiday to Penang.
Penang Hotels
Our recommendations for the best places to stay in Penang
Shangri-La Golden Sands, Penang
A gorgeous resort with a family-friendly vibe, situated on popular Battu Ferringhi Beach.
Shangri-La Rasa Sayang, Penang
Beautiful grounds are scattered with century-old trees and tropical flowers at this classic Penan...
Eastern & Oriental Hotel
One of Malaysia’s most famous hotels, the ‘E&O’ radiates style in a fantastic setting.
Holidays in Penang
- Penang
- 4.5 Star
A gorgeous resort with a family-friendly vibe, situated on popular Battu Ferringhi Beach.
From £1,253 p/p
- Penang
- 5 Star
Beautiful grounds are scattered with century-old trees and tropical flowers at this classic Penang resort.
From £1,435 p/p
- Penang
- 5 Star
One of Malaysia’s most famous hotels, the ‘E&O’ radiates style in a fantastic setting.
From £1,439 p/pYou may also like
Penang Street Food
Put on your walking shoes and leisurely taste your way through Penang’s rich history and heritage. You’ll meet a local historian, who will be your guide during this informative evening tour, and take in the island’s kaleidoscope of cultures. As you sample tasty street food, your guide will help you understand the influences behind each flavour, tracing its culinary origins through links to the East, West and the rest of South-East Asia. You’ll also have the chance to see Penang’s many heritage sites and colonial-era architecture.
• Duration: evening
• Time: 5pm to 8pm
• Departing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from Penang
• Operates year round
• Private experience
Discover George Town’s Heritage
Spend a few hours exploring the beautifully preserved UNESCO World Heritage Site of George Town and its indigenous and colonial architecture. You’ll begin at Pinang Peranakan Mansion, which displays over a thousand pieces of Peranakan antiques and collectable items. Next, you’ll take a short walk to the colourful enclave of Little India, which sells colourful sarees and aromatic Indian spices. You’ll pass Penang’s oldest Hindu temple, then continue to Teochew Temple, with its ornate rooftops and intricately carved dragon pillars, before learning the history of Dr Sun Yat-sen at the Sun Yat-Sen Museum. You’ll hunt for Penang’s famous street art before continuing to one of Penang’s ancient traditional clan houses. The tour concludes with shopping for some local goodies at Cocoa Boutique.
• Duration: half day
• Time: 9am to 2pm
• Daily departures
• Operates year-round
• Private experience
Penang, Your Way
Tailor your perfect tour of Penang, deciding how long you want your time to last and where you want to go. A private driver will show you the city and provide expert commentary. Visit the temples in Little India and the mosques in Chinatown, both hives of activity in the shadows of looming skyscrapers. Take snaps of the vibrantly-hued Blue Mansion and observe the colonial architecture — pausing to taste the famous street food.
• Duration: half day or full day
• Daily departures
• Operates year-round
• Private experience
Get to know Langkawi and those important practicalities when planning your perfect holiday.
Capital
TIME DIFFERENCE
GMT +8 hours
CURRENCY
Malaysian Ringgit
FLYING TIME TO DESTINATION
14 hours (not including stopover time)
RELIGION
Majority Muslim; Buddhism, Hindu and Christianity
LANGUAGE
Malay (Bahasa Melayu)
Where is Penang?
Located in the Strait of Malacca, Penang is a small tropical island that lies on the northwestern coast of Malaysia, separated from the mainland by about 16 kilometres.
George Town
In the late 18th Century George Town was founded as the first of the Straits Settlements, a group of Southeast Asian British. As you wander through along the city streets, witnessing a number of architectural styles dating from the 18th to the 20th Centuries, you’ll feel as if you’re peeling back the layers of time. As well as an array of British architectural varieties, George Town plays host to mosques and Chinese and Indian-style temples. The resplendent temple of Kek Lok Si, or the ‘Temple of Supreme Bliss’ is the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia and is dominated by a magnificent seven-storey pagoda built in a blend of Chinese, Thai and Burmese designs.
Batu Ferringhi
All of our featured resorts are located alongside the island’s most popular stretch of beach in the former fishing village of Batu Ferringhi. Each night the Jalan Batu Ferringhi road comes alive with people dining and drinking at the many restaurants or browsing the clothing, art and crafts and souvenir stalls at the nightly market. Sharpen up your bargaining skills, sample the mouth-watering dishes from the numerous hawker stalls or just soak up the atmosphere and relish in this unique Penang experience.
Food and drink
As one of South East Asia’s hottest food destinations, it's easy to eat like a local in Penang. Flavours are carved out of a fascinating mix of cultures including Indian Tamils, Hokkien, Malays, Hakka, Chinese and British. Follow the scent of lemongrass, ginger and tamarind to George Town’s hawker centres and stalls where you’ll find hot wok cooking producing aromatic noodles, spicy sauces and crispy cracklings. Everything is hot, sour, salty or sweet and stand out dishes include Hokkien prawn mee, asam laksa, claypot apom and char koay teow.
Penang Weather
Dec - Mar
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Talk to an expert today
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Call us on 0800 294 9702
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Tuesday: 9am - 8pm
Wednesday: 9am - 8pm
Thursday: 9am - 8pm
Friday: 9am - 8pm
Saturday: 9am - 6pm
Sunday: 11am - 4pm