VacationSelector
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside
Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo
TokyoShibuya Crossing

Photos: Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Tokyo by Benh LIEU SONG, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Penang or Tokyo?

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

  • prices
  • beaches

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

Choose Tokyo for

  • getting around
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Tokyo’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, Tokyo 40: Penang leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Penang 86, Tokyo 98: Tokyo leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Penang 70, Tokyo 84: Tokyo leads by 14 points.
Nightlife. Penang 40, Tokyo 86: Tokyo leads by 46 points.
Nature & outdoors. Penang 55, Tokyo 68: Tokyo leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Penang 42, Tokyo 85: Tokyo leads by 43 points.
Good for families. Penang 52, Tokyo 95: Tokyo leads by 43 points.
Getting around. Penang 40, Tokyo 98: Tokyo leads by 58 points.
Shopping & style. Penang 42, Tokyo 99: Tokyo leads by 57 points.
Affordability. Penang 78, Tokyo 48: Penang leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Penang 30, Tokyo 86: Tokyo leads by 56 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Penang 42, Tokyo 78: Tokyo leads by 36 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Penang and Tokyo.

Your match

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

Penang
52match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

Tokyo
Best match
80match

Wins on getting around and shopping 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

Tokyo in July

30 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
157 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
PenangTokyo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre). Tokyo: 1991-2020 normals, Tokyo (3.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePenangTokyo
Official languageMalayJapanese
CurrencyMalaysian Ringgit (MYR)Yen (JPY)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+9
Emergency number999Police 110, fire 119
Elevation4 m6 m
Main airportPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinationsTokyo Haneda International Airport (HND)18 km from centre98 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasurePenangTokyo
City population794,31314,264,798
People per km²-6,501
Museums within 10 km9192
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months4 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Penang or Tokyo 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.