VacationSelector
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside
The Iguazu Falls in the green jungle, Puerto Iguazu
Puerto IguazuThe Iguazu Falls in the green jungle

Photos: Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Puerto Iguazu by Muhammed Ballan, Pexels License.

Penang or Puerto Iguazu?

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 Penang for

  • culture and sights
  • food and drink
  • beaches

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

Choose Puerto Iguazu for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Puerto Iguazu’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. Penang 44, Puerto Iguazu 5: Penang leads by 39 points.
Food & drink. Penang 86, Puerto Iguazu 28: Penang leads by 58 points.
Culture & sights. Penang 70, Puerto Iguazu 9: Penang leads by 61 points.
Nightlife. Penang 40, Puerto Iguazu 14: Penang leads by 26 points.
Nature & outdoors. Penang 55, Puerto Iguazu 95: Puerto Iguazu leads by 40 points.
Day trips. Penang 42, Puerto Iguazu 33: Penang leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Penang 52, Puerto Iguazu 55: Puerto Iguazu leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Penang 40, Puerto Iguazu 54: Puerto Iguazu leads by 14 points.
Shopping & style. Penang 42, Puerto Iguazu 17: Penang leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Penang 78, Puerto Iguazu 48: Penang leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Penang 30, Puerto Iguazu 7: Penang leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Penang 42, Puerto Iguazu 34: Penang leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Penang and Puerto Iguazu.

Your match

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

Penang
Best match
52match

Wins on culture and sights and food and drink with your weighting.

Puerto Iguazu
33match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

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

Puerto Iguazu in July

22 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
103 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
No seasea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
PenangPuerto Iguazu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre). Puerto Iguazu: 1991-2020 normals, Iguazu Aerodrome (17.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePenangPuerto Iguazu
Official languageMalaySpanish
CurrencyMalaysian Ringgit (MYR)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-3
Emergency number999117 or 911
Elevation4 m162 m
Main airportPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinationsCataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)18 km from centre8 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasurePenangPuerto Iguazu
City population794,31354,903
Museums within 10 km90
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Penang or Puerto Iguazu 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.