George Town

Khoo Kongsi, Penang Hill and the Teluk Bahang trails in three days

Three days cover George Town and its island. Walk the UNESCO heritage zone on day one, starting at Khoo Kongsi when it opens and moving on to the Armenian Street murals. Ride bus 204 to Air Itam for Kek Lok Si and the Penang Hill funicular on day two, and take bus 101 to Teluk Bahang on day three.

Day one: the heritage zone. Be at Khoo Kongsi when it opens, while the carved roofs are in soft light and the courtyard is empty. Walk on to Armenian Street for the murals, including Zacharevic's two children on a bicycle, and look into the small museums along it. Drop down to Weld Quay for the Clan Jetties; Chew Jetty is the busiest, so walk one of the quieter ones too. After a hawker lunch, join the guided tour of the indigo Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, then wander Little India past the Sri Mahamariamman Temple and the Kapitan Keling Mosque as the evening cools.

Day two: up the hill. Ride bus 204 or a Grab to Air Itam and take the funicular up Penang Hill in the morning, before the clouds build. The air at the top is noticeably cooler and the view takes in the whole channel. Come down to Kek Lok Si in the late afternoon, when the light warms its pagoda, and eat assam laksa beside the Air Itam market on the way back.

Char kway teow, assam laksa and nasi kandar at the hawker stalls

Eat at George Town's hawker stalls, many of which cook a single dish. Queue for char kway teow, rice noodles fried hard with prawns, cockles and egg, try tamarind-sour assam laksa, and finish late at a nasi kandar shop, the Indian Muslim rice-and-curry institution. Gurney Drive has the famous seafront hawker centre.

Assam laksa is the island's own laksa, a sour fish broth sharpened with tamarind and topped with mint and pineapple, and the stalls beside the Air Itam market are the classic place for it. Hokkien mee here is a prawn-based soup, nothing like the dark noodles of Kuala Lumpur.

The Indian Muslim community gave George Town nasi kandar: rice with a choice of curries flooded over the top, from shops in the old town that run late. For something sweet, the cendol stall on Lebuh Keng Kwee, off Penang Road, draws queues all afternoon, and Nyonya kuih, the bright layered cakes of the Peranakan kitchen, are sold in the mornings.

Where to eat matters. Gurney Drive's seafront hawker centre is the famous one, but many locals find it overpriced. The food courts on Jalan Macalister, the night stalls on Kimberley Street and Lebuh Chulia, and New Lane after dark are better value. Many stalls open only for breakfast or only at night, and most take a weekly day off, so do not cross town for one without checking.

Dry months, Thaipusam and the Hungry Ghost month

Come between December and February, when George Town is driest, with under 90 mm of rain in January and in February. Chinese New Year, the Thaipusam kavadi procession and the Hungry Ghost month fill the streets, and on 7 July the city celebrates its World Heritage listing.

September and October are the wettest, at well over 300 mm, though storms usually come in the afternoon and mornings stay workable.

The festival calendar is as full as the hawker one. Chinese New Year, in January or February, lights up Kek Lok Si with thousands of lanterns, and on Chap Goh Meh, its fifteenth night, young women throw oranges into the sea along the seafront in hope of a good husband. Thaipusam, in the same season, sends a silver chariot from Little India up to the hilltop temple on Jalan Air Terjun, with devotees carrying kavadi.

Balik Pulau, the Kerachut trail and Penang Hill's jeep track

Use George Town as the base for the rest of Penang Island. Penang Hill can be climbed on the old jeep track as well as ridden by funicular, the marked trail from the Teluk Bahang gate of Penang National Park leads to Pantai Kerachut, and a hired car or bicycle reaches the orchards of Balik Pulau.

Penang Hill is more than the funicular ride. The line opened in 1923 and climbs close to 2 km, and Western Hill, at 833 m, is the highest point on the island. Fit walkers can skip the train and follow the 5.1 km jeep track that starts by the Botanic Gardens. Allow two to three hours at an easy pace, set off early, and ride the funicular down.

For a slower day, hire a car or a bicycle for Balik Pulau on the far side of the island, a district of padi fields and nutmeg and durian orchards with its own well-known assam laksa. Drivers coming from the mainland should know that the Butterworth ferries have taken only foot passengers, motorbikes and bicycles since 2020, so cars use the two road bridges, which charge their toll only on the way onto the island.