VacationSelector
The Atomium, Brussels
BrusselsThe Atomium
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Brussels by Ettanghe, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Brussels 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 Brussels for

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

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

Choose Penang for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • 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. Brussels 18, Penang 44: Penang leads by 26 points.
Food & drink. Brussels 72, Penang 86: Penang leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Brussels 74, Penang 70: Brussels leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Brussels 60, Penang 40: Brussels leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Brussels 45, Penang 55: Penang leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Brussels 89, Penang 42: Brussels leads by 47 points.
Good for families. Brussels 60, Penang 52: Brussels leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Brussels 72, Penang 40: Brussels leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Brussels 62, Penang 42: Brussels leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Brussels 40, Penang 78: Penang leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Brussels 68, Penang 30: Brussels leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Brussels 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: Brussels and Penang.

Your match

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

Brussels
Best match
58match

Wins on day trips and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Penang
52match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Brussels in July

23 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
80 mmrain in the month
7 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
BrusselsPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Brussels: 1991-2020 normals, Uccle (5.2 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBrusselsPenang
Official languageFrench, German, DutchMalay
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112999
Elevation70 m4 m
Main airportBrussels Airport (BRU)11 km from centre191 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBrusselsPenang
City population195,546794,313
People per km²5,908-
Museums within 10 km1069
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km101
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 Brussels 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.