VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Kathmandu 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 Kathmandu for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips

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

Choose Penang for

  • beaches
  • families
  • 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. Kathmandu 4, Penang 44: Penang leads by 40 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Penang 86: Penang leads by 31 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Penang 70: Kathmandu leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Penang 40: Penang leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Penang 55: Kathmandu leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Penang 42: Kathmandu leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Penang 52: Penang leads by 32 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Penang 40: Penang leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Penang 42: Kathmandu leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Penang 78: Kathmandu leads by 19 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Penang 30: Penang leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Penang 42: Kathmandu leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Penang.

Your match

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

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Penang
Best match
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.

Kathmandu in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
384 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
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
KathmanduPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduPenang
Official languageNepaliMalay
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101999
Elevation1,300 m4 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduPenang
City population845,767794,313
People per km²17,121-
Museums within 10 km99
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 Kathmandu 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.