VacationSelector
The fountain in Piazza De Ferrari, Genoa
GenoaThe fountain in Piazza De Ferrari
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Genoa by Faber1893, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Genoa 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 Genoa for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Penang for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • wellness

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. Genoa 62, Penang 44: Genoa leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Genoa 72, Penang 86: Penang leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Genoa 76, Penang 70: Genoa leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Genoa 42, Penang 40: Genoa leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Genoa 78, Penang 55: Genoa leads by 23 points.
Day trips. Genoa 83, Penang 42: Genoa leads by 41 points.
Good for families. Genoa 64, Penang 52: Genoa leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Genoa 66, Penang 40: Genoa leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Genoa 48, Penang 42: Genoa leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Genoa 55, Penang 78: Penang leads by 23 points.
Live music & performing arts. Genoa 52, Penang 30: Genoa leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Genoa 35, Penang 42: Penang leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Genoa and Penang.

Your match

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

Genoa
Best match
61match

Wins on day trips and getting around 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.

Genoa in July

27 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
27 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
24 °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
GenoaPenang

Where the figures come from

Genoa has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Genoa's sunshine is measured 80 km from the centre, at Capo Mele.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Genoa: 1991-2020 normals, Genova / Sestri (6.7 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGenoaPenang
Official languageItalianMalay
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCFL230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112999
Elevation20 m4 m
Main airportGenoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport (GOA)7 km from centre25 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureGenoaPenang
City population558,745794,313
People per km²2,325-
Museums within 10 km519
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Genoa 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.