VacationSelector
The Fisherman's Bastion, Budapest
BudapestThe Fisherman's Bastion
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Budapest by Perituss, CC0; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Budapest 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 Budapest for

  • wellness
  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife

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

Choose Penang for

  • food and drink
  • beaches
  • 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. Budapest 25, Penang 44: Penang leads by 19 points.
Food & drink. Budapest 63, Penang 86: Penang leads by 23 points.
Culture & sights. Budapest 80, Penang 70: Budapest leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Budapest 78, Penang 40: Budapest leads by 38 points.
Nature & outdoors. Budapest 58, Penang 55: Budapest leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Budapest 68, Penang 42: Budapest leads by 26 points.
Good for families. Budapest 62, Penang 52: Budapest leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Budapest 78, Penang 40: Budapest leads by 38 points.
Shopping & style. Budapest 55, Penang 42: Budapest leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Budapest 62, Penang 78: Penang leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Budapest 76, Penang 30: Budapest leads by 46 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Budapest 98, Penang 42: Budapest leads by 56 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Budapest and Penang.

Your match

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

Budapest
Best match
67match

Wins on wellness and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Penang
52match

Wins on food and drink 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.

Budapest in July

27 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
75 mmrain in the month
10 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
BudapestPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Budapest: 1991-2020 normals, Budapest Met Center (2.1 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBudapestPenang
Official languageHungarianMalay
CurrencyForint (HUF)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112999
Elevation117 m4 m
Main airportBudapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport (BUD)18 km from centre157 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBudapestPenang
City population1,675,777794,313
People per km²3,191-
Museums within 10 km819
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Budapest 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). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. 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.