VacationSelector
The Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro, Paris
ParisThe Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Paris by Efrem Efre, Pexels License; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Paris 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 Paris for

  • live music and the arts
  • shopping
  • day trips

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

Choose Penang for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

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. Paris 9, Penang 44: Penang leads by 35 points.
Food & drink. Paris 96, Penang 86: Paris leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Paris 97, Penang 70: Paris leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Paris 80, Penang 40: Paris leads by 40 points.
Nature & outdoors. Paris 52, Penang 55: Penang leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Paris 92, Penang 42: Paris leads by 50 points.
Good for families. Paris 79, Penang 52: Paris leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Paris 88, Penang 40: Paris leads by 48 points.
Shopping & style. Paris 98, Penang 42: Paris leads by 56 points.
Affordability. Paris 25, Penang 78: Penang leads by 53 points.
Live music & performing arts. Paris 88, Penang 30: Paris leads by 58 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Paris 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: Paris and Penang.

Your match

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

Paris
Best match
70match

Wins on live music and the arts and shopping 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.

Paris in July

26 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
58 mmrain in the month
No seasea
16 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

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ParisPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Paris: 1991-2020 normals, Paris-Montsouris (4.6 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureParisPenang
Official languageFrenchMalay
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112999
Elevation27 m4 m
Main airportCharles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG)22 km from centre277 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureParisPenang
City population2,103,778794,313
People per km²19,960-
Museums within 10 km2519
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km41
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 Paris 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.