VacationSelector
The red five-storey pagoda of Tocho-ji, Fukuoka
FukuokaThe red five-storey pagoda of Tocho-ji
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Fukuoka by Nick-D, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Fukuoka 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 Fukuoka for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • families

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

Choose Penang for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • 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. Fukuoka 50, Penang 44: Fukuoka leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Fukuoka 82, Penang 86: Penang leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Fukuoka 50, Penang 70: Penang leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Fukuoka 60, Penang 40: Fukuoka leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Fukuoka 62, Penang 55: Fukuoka leads by 7 points.
Day trips. Fukuoka 84, Penang 42: Fukuoka leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Fukuoka 78, Penang 52: Fukuoka leads by 26 points.
Getting around. Fukuoka 82, Penang 40: Fukuoka leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Fukuoka 65, Penang 42: Fukuoka leads by 23 points.
Affordability. Fukuoka 58, Penang 78: Penang leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Fukuoka 45, Penang 30: Fukuoka leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Fukuoka 60, Penang 42: Fukuoka leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Fukuoka and Penang.

Your match

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

Fukuoka
Best match
65match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Penang
52match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Fukuoka in July

31 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
301 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
14 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
FukuokaPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Fukuoka: 1991-2020 normals, Fukuoka (1.9 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFukuokaPenang
Official languageJapaneseMalay
CurrencyYen (JPY)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the regionG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+9UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 110, fire 119999
Elevation8 m4 m
Main airportFukuoka Airport (FUK)5 km from centre46 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days-

By the numbers

MeasureFukuokaPenang
City population1,603,043794,313
People per km²4,715-
Museums within 10 km239
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Fukuoka 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). 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.