VacationSelector
The Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens, Marrakech
MarrakechThe Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Marrakech by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Marrakech 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 Marrakech for

  • wellness
  • shopping
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Marrakech’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. Marrakech 7, Penang 44: Penang leads by 37 points.
Food & drink. Marrakech 64, Penang 86: Penang leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Marrakech 76, Penang 70: Marrakech leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Marrakech 33, Penang 40: Penang leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Marrakech 70, Penang 55: Marrakech leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Marrakech 28, Penang 42: Penang leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Marrakech 25, Penang 52: Penang leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Marrakech 38, Penang 40: Penang leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Marrakech 72, Penang 42: Marrakech leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Marrakech 72, Penang 78: Penang leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Marrakech 25, Penang 30: Penang leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Marrakech 75, Penang 42: Marrakech leads by 33 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Marrakech and Penang.

Your match

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

Marrakech
49match

Wins on wellness and shopping 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.

Marrakech in July

38 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
11 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
MarrakechPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Marrakech: 1991-2020 normals, Marrakech (5.1 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMarrakechPenang
Official languageArabic, Standard Moroccan TamazightMalay
CurrencyMoroccan Dirham (MAD)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCE50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15999
Elevation465 m4 m
Main airportMarrakesh Menara Airport (RAK)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureMarrakechPenang
City population1,002,697794,313
People per km²4,360-
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 Marrakech 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). 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.