VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Amsterdam 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 Amsterdam for

  • live music and the arts
  • getting around
  • day trips

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

Choose Penang for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • beaches

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. Amsterdam 25, Penang 44: Penang leads by 19 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Penang 86: Penang leads by 28 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Penang 70: Amsterdam leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Penang 40: Amsterdam leads by 37 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Penang 55: Penang leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Penang 42: Amsterdam leads by 45 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Penang 52: Amsterdam leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Penang 40: Amsterdam leads by 46 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Penang 42: Amsterdam leads by 26 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Penang 78: Penang leads by 56 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Penang 30: Amsterdam leads by 48 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam and Penang are level on 42.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Penang.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on live music and the arts and getting around with your weighting.

Penang
52match

Wins on prices 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.

Amsterdam in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
84 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
16 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
AmsterdamPenang

Where the figures come from

Amsterdam has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Amsterdam's sunshine is measured 35 km from the centre, at De Bilt.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamPenang
Official languageDutchMalay
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112999
Elevation-2 m4 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamPenang
City population921,468794,313
People per km²4,208-
Museums within 10 km1019
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Amsterdam 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.