VacationSelector
The Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi
HanoiThe Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Hanoi by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Hanoi 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 Hanoi for

  • prices
  • day trips
  • nightlife

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

Choose Penang for

  • beaches
  • families
  • getting around

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. Hanoi 6, Penang 44: Penang leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Hanoi 85, Penang 86: Penang leads by 1 points.
Culture & sights. Hanoi 72, Penang 70: Hanoi leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Hanoi 50, Penang 40: Hanoi leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hanoi 52, Penang 55: Penang leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Hanoi 58, Penang 42: Hanoi leads by 16 points.
Good for families. Hanoi 35, Penang 52: Penang leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Hanoi 36, Penang 40: Penang leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Hanoi 50, Penang 42: Hanoi leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Hanoi 98, Penang 78: Hanoi leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hanoi 40, Penang 30: Hanoi leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hanoi 46, Penang 42: Hanoi leads by 4 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hanoi and Penang.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Hanoi
52match

Wins on prices and day trips with your weighting.

Penang
52match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Hanoi in July

34 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
311 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 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
HanoiPenang

Where the figures come from

Hanoi's sunshine is measured 86 km from the centre, at Phu Lien.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hanoi: 1991-2020 normals, Ha Noi (4.4 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHanoiPenang
Official languageVietnameseMalay
CurrencyDong (VND)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsACFG220 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 113, ambulance 115, fire 114999
Elevation10 m4 m
Main airportNoi Bai International Airport (HAN)22 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureHanoiPenang
City population8,717,600794,313
People per km²2,595-
Museums within 10 km149
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 Hanoi 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). 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.