VacationSelector
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Manila 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 Manila for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • shopping

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

Choose Penang for

  • beaches
  • food and drink
  • 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.

Beaches & swimming. Manila 12, Penang 44: Penang leads by 32 points.
Food & drink. Manila 64, Penang 86: Penang leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Manila 54, Penang 70: Penang leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Manila 64, Penang 40: Manila leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Manila 40, Penang 55: Penang leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Manila and Penang are level on 42.
Good for families. Manila 42, Penang 52: Penang leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Manila 26, Penang 40: Penang leads by 14 points.
Shopping & style. Manila 60, Penang 42: Manila leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Manila 77, Penang 78: Penang leads by 1 points.
Live music & performing arts. Manila 50, Penang 30: Manila leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Manila 40, Penang 42: Penang leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Manila and Penang.

Your match

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

Manila
48match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Penang
Best match
52match

Wins on beaches 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.

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Penang in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
189 mmrain in the month
30 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
ManilaPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureManilaPenang
Official languageEnglish, Filipino, TaglishMalay
CurrencyPhilippine Peso (PHP)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+8
Emergency number911999
Elevation9 m4 m
Main airportNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days-

By the numbers

MeasureManilaPenang
City population1,902,590794,313
People per km²76,104-
Museums within 10 km279
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Manila 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. 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.