VacationSelector
The Elbphilharmonie from the water, Hamburg
HamburgThe Elbphilharmonie from the water
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Hamburg by Wolfgang Weiser, Pexels License; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Hamburg 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 Hamburg for

  • live music and the arts
  • getting around
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Hamburg’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. Hamburg 28, Penang 44: Penang leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Hamburg 55, Penang 86: Penang leads by 31 points.
Culture & sights. Hamburg 62, Penang 70: Penang leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Hamburg 76, Penang 40: Hamburg leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hamburg 52, Penang 55: Penang leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Hamburg 70, Penang 42: Hamburg leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Hamburg 74, Penang 52: Hamburg leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Hamburg 80, Penang 40: Hamburg leads by 40 points.
Shopping & style. Hamburg 65, Penang 42: Hamburg leads by 23 points.
Affordability. Hamburg 38, Penang 78: Penang leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hamburg 80, Penang 30: Hamburg leads by 50 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hamburg 44, Penang 42: Hamburg leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hamburg and Penang.

Your match

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

Hamburg
Best match
60match

Wins on live music and the arts 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.

Hamburg in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
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
HamburgPenang

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

Before you go

MeasureHamburgPenang
Official languageGermanMalay
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112999
Elevation6 m4 m
Main airportHamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM)9 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days-

By the numbers

MeasureHamburgPenang
City population1,869,473794,313
People per km²2,476-
Museums within 10 km779
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 Hamburg 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.