VacationSelector
The Opera House on the fjord, Oslo
OsloThe Opera House on the fjord
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Oslo by Beata May, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Oslo 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 Oslo for

  • getting around
  • live music and the arts
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Penang for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • beaches

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. Oslo 36, Penang 44: Penang leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Oslo 55, Penang 86: Penang leads by 31 points.
Culture & sights. Oslo 66, Penang 70: Penang leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Oslo 48, Penang 40: Oslo leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Oslo 82, Penang 55: Oslo leads by 27 points.
Day trips. Oslo 52, Penang 42: Oslo leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Oslo 63, Penang 52: Oslo leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Oslo 85, Penang 40: Oslo leads by 45 points.
Shopping & style. Oslo 50, Penang 42: Oslo leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Oslo 14, Penang 78: Penang leads by 64 points.
Live music & performing arts. Oslo 62, Penang 30: Oslo leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Oslo 60, Penang 42: Oslo leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Oslo and Penang.

Your match

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

Oslo
Best match
56match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Penang
52match

Wins on prices 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.

Oslo in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
86 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
18 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
OsloPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Oslo: 1991-2020 normals, Oslo-Blindern (4.3 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureOsloPenang
Official languageNorwegian, Nynorsk, Bokmål, SámiMalay
CurrencyNorwegian Krone (NOK)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 113, fire 110999
Elevation23 m4 m
Main airportOslo-Gardermoen International Airport (OSL)37 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureOsloPenang
City population717,710794,313
Museums within 10 km609
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Oslo 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.