Photos: Ho Chi Minh City by trungydang, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.
Ho Chi Minh City 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 Ho Chi Minh City for
- nightlife
- wellness
- day trips
What lies behind each score is written up on Ho Chi Minh City’s own page.
Choose Penang for
- nature and the outdoors
- beaches
- culture and sights
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.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Ho Chi Minh City 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
Wins on nightlife and wellness with your weighting.
Wins on nature and the outdoors and beaches with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Ho Chi Minh City in July
Penang in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Ho Chi Minh City 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.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Ho Chi Minh City: 1991-2020 normals, Ho Chi Minh (6 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Ho Chi Minh City | Penang |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Vietnamese | Malay |
| Currency | Dong (VND) | Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) |
| Sockets | ACFG220 V, 50 Hz | G240 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Left |
| Time zone | UTC+7 | UTC+8 |
| Emergency number | Police 113, ambulance 115, fire 114 | 999 |
| Elevation | 13 m | 4 m |
| Main airport | Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN)7 km from centre90 non-stop destinations | Penang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations |
By the numbers
| Measure | Ho Chi Minh City | Penang |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 14,002,598 | 794,313 |
| People per km² | 2,068 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 9 | 9 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 1 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Ho Chi Minh City or Penang somewhere new.