VacationSelector
The Adelaide skyline and the footbridge over the River Torrens, Adelaide
AdelaideThe Adelaide skyline and the footbridge over the River Torrens
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Adelaide by Ardash Muradian, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Adelaide or Penang?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Adelaide for

  • live music and the arts
  • beaches
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Adelaide’s own page.

Choose Penang for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Penang’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Adelaide 68, Penang 44: Adelaide leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Adelaide 72, Penang 86: Penang leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Adelaide 48, Penang 70: Penang leads by 22 points.
Nightlife. Adelaide 42, Penang 40: Adelaide leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Adelaide 66, Penang 55: Adelaide leads by 11 points.
Day trips. Adelaide 60, Penang 42: Adelaide leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Adelaide 70, Penang 52: Adelaide leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Adelaide 57, Penang 40: Adelaide leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Adelaide 44, Penang 42: Adelaide leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Adelaide 40, Penang 78: Penang leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Adelaide 63, Penang 30: Adelaide leads by 33 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Adelaide and Penang are level on 42.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Adelaide and Penang.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Adelaide
Best match
56match

Wins on live music and the arts and beaches with your weighting.

Penang
52match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Adelaide in July

16 °Cdaytime high
8 °Cnight-time low
72 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Penang in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
189 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
30 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
AdelaidePenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Adelaide: 1991-2020 normals, Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) (3.1 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAdelaidePenang
Official languageEnglishMalay
CurrencyAustralian Dollar (AUD)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+9:30, UTC+10:30 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number000999
Elevation1 m4 m
Main airportAdelaide International Airport (ADL)6 km from centre35 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAdelaidePenang
City population1,387,290794,313
People per km²1,071-
Museums within 10 km139
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Adelaide or Penang somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.