VacationSelector
The Explanada de España, Alicante
AlicanteThe Explanada de España
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Alicante by Emilio Sánchez Hernández, Pexels License; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Alicante 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 Alicante for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • getting around

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

Choose Penang for

  • culture and sights
  • food and drink
  • prices

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. Alicante 82, Penang 44: Alicante leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Alicante 67, Penang 86: Penang leads by 19 points.
Culture & sights. Alicante 46, Penang 70: Penang leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Alicante 60, Penang 40: Alicante leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Alicante 63, Penang 55: Alicante leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Alicante 72, Penang 42: Alicante leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Alicante 68, Penang 52: Alicante leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Alicante 66, Penang 40: Alicante leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Alicante 44, Penang 42: Alicante leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Alicante 60, Penang 78: Penang leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Alicante 37, Penang 30: Alicante leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Alicante 40, Penang 42: Penang leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Alicante and Penang.

Your match

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

Alicante
Best match
59match

Wins on beaches and day trips with your weighting.

Penang
52match

Wins on culture and sights and food and drink with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Alicante in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
3 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 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
AlicantePenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Alicante: 1991-2020 normals, Alicante (2.8 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlicantePenang
Official languageSpanishMalay
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112999
Elevation3 m4 m
Main airportAlicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC)10 km from centre126 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAlicantePenang
City population366,221794,313
People per km²1,819-
Museums within 10 km89
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Alicante 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.