VacationSelector
The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
BerlinThe Brandenburg Gate
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Berlin by Claudia Solano, Pexels License; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Berlin 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 Berlin for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Berlin’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. Berlin 38, Penang 44: Penang leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Berlin 66, Penang 86: Penang leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Berlin 86, Penang 70: Berlin leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Berlin 98, Penang 40: Berlin leads by 58 points.
Nature & outdoors. Berlin 50, Penang 55: Penang leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Berlin 66, Penang 42: Berlin leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Berlin 76, Penang 52: Berlin leads by 24 points.
Getting around. Berlin 82, Penang 40: Berlin leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Berlin 68, Penang 42: Berlin leads by 26 points.
Affordability. Berlin 48, Penang 78: Penang leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Berlin 90, Penang 30: Berlin leads by 60 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Berlin 55, Penang 42: Berlin leads by 13 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Berlin and Penang.

Your match

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

Berlin
Best match
69match

Wins on live music and the arts and nightlife 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.

Berlin in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
76 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
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
BerlinPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Berlin: 1991-2020 normals, Berlin / Alexanderplatz (0.9 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBerlinPenang
Official languageGermanMalay
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112999
Elevation34 m4 m
Main airportBerlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)19 km from centre161 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBerlinPenang
City population3,700,577794,313
People per km²4,153-
Museums within 10 km1579
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km41
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Berlin 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. 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.