VacationSelector
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Maastricht 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 Maastricht for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • shopping

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

Choose Penang for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • 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. Maastricht 8, Penang 44: Penang leads by 36 points.
Food & drink. Maastricht 58, Penang 86: Penang leads by 28 points.
Culture & sights. Maastricht 60, Penang 70: Penang leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Maastricht 42, Penang 40: Maastricht leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Maastricht 58, Penang 55: Maastricht leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Maastricht 77, Penang 42: Maastricht leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Maastricht 55, Penang 52: Maastricht leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Maastricht 74, Penang 40: Maastricht leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Maastricht 60, Penang 42: Maastricht leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Maastricht 38, Penang 78: Penang leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Maastricht 40, Penang 30: Maastricht leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Maastricht 52, Penang 42: Maastricht leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Maastricht 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

Maastricht
52match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Penang
52match

Wins on prices 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.

Maastricht in July

24 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
73 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 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
MaastrichtPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMaastrichtPenang
Official languageDutchMalay
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112999
Elevation49 m4 m
Main airportMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureMaastrichtPenang
City population120,227794,313
People per km²2,000-
Museums within 10 km219
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
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 Maastricht 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.