Penang

The island of Penang is a cultural crossroads, where the British, Malays, Chinese and Indians have all left their mark, leaving a heady cocktail of tea shops, temples and low-slung townhouses, colourful night markets, Chinese mansions and some of Asia’s finest food.

You get a little of everything in Penang. Malaysia’s mother cultures of Chinese, Indian and Malay are more inextricably mixed here than in any other state, topped up with the vestiges of British colonial rule. Travellers today are frequently charmed by its quaint colonial style, lively local atmosphere and mesmerising melting pot of cultures and cuisines.

A UNESCO World Heritage site with a big personality, George Town is for many the embodiment of Penang: a faded but incredibly charming colonial outpost, where trishaws trundle down charming narrow streets lined with incense-filled temples, Chinese shopfronts and British Raj-era buildings. Yet there’s more to Penang than simply the state capital. Beyond lies a landscape of jungles, lakes, beaches, temples, a national park and even a hill station in which to escape the heat.