VacationSelector
The Guggenheim Museum on the river, Bilbao
BilbaoThe Guggenheim Museum on the river
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Bilbao by José Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Bilbao 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 Bilbao for

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

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

Choose Penang for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • culture and sights

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. Bilbao 45, Penang 44: Bilbao leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Bilbao 81, Penang 86: Penang leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Bilbao 62, Penang 70: Penang leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Bilbao 54, Penang 40: Bilbao leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bilbao 75, Penang 55: Bilbao leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Bilbao 78, Penang 42: Bilbao leads by 36 points.
Good for families. Bilbao 55, Penang 52: Bilbao leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Bilbao 79, Penang 40: Bilbao leads by 39 points.
Shopping & style. Bilbao 47, Penang 42: Bilbao leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Bilbao 44, Penang 78: Penang leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bilbao 53, Penang 30: Bilbao leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bilbao 33, Penang 42: Penang leads by 9 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bilbao and Penang.

Your match

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

Bilbao
Best match
59match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

Penang
52match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Bilbao in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
54 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
21 °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
BilbaoPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bilbao: 1991-2020 normals, Bilbao / Sondica (4.1 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBilbaoPenang
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
Elevation19 m4 m
Main airportBilbao Airport (BIO)5 km from centre73 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBilbaoPenang
City population351,124794,313
People per km²8,440-
Museums within 10 km179
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month12 months

Where else could you go?

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