VacationSelector
The Campanile, Trinity College, Dublin
DublinThe Campanile, Trinity College
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Dublin by David Kernan, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Dublin 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 Dublin for

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

What lies behind each score is written up on Dublin’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. Dublin 27, Penang 44: Penang leads by 17 points.
Food & drink. Dublin 50, Penang 86: Penang leads by 36 points.
Culture & sights. Dublin 64, Penang 70: Penang leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Dublin 62, Penang 40: Dublin leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dublin 70, Penang 55: Dublin leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Dublin 72, Penang 42: Dublin leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Dublin 57, Penang 52: Dublin leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Dublin 66, Penang 40: Dublin leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Dublin 54, Penang 42: Dublin leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Dublin 20, Penang 78: Penang leads by 58 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dublin 65, Penang 30: Dublin leads by 35 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dublin 25, Penang 42: Penang leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dublin and Penang.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Dublin
53match

Wins on live music and the arts and day trips 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.

Dublin in July

20 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
62 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
15 °Csea
17 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
DublinPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dublin: 1991-2020 normals, Dublin Airport (9.3 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDublinPenang
Official languageEnglish, IrishMalay
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsG230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC, UTC+1 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112999
Elevation20 m4 m
Main airportDublin Airport (DUB)9 km from centre200 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureDublinPenang
City population592,713794,313
People per km²5,154-
Museums within 10 km409
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Dublin 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.