George Town

Currency

The changers on Lebuh Pantai in the old town give the best rates on the island and are used to travellers.

ATMs & cards

Around 10-15 MYR per foreign withdrawal. Machines are everywhere in the old town; the hawker stalls take cash only.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

Very safe, including at night in the old town. The traffic is the hazard — pavements vanish without warning and scooters use them. Watch for open monsoon drains, which are deep and unlit.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Worth having

• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid
• Tetanus up to date
• Rabies if you will be near animals or staying a while
• Japanese encephalitis for long rural or Borneo stays

Getting treated

Kuala Lumpur and Penang have excellent private hospitals — Malaysia is a medical tourism destination in its own right, and standards and English are both high at a fraction of Western cost. Care thins out quickly in the interior of Borneo, where a serious case means a flight to the coast.

Dengue is endemic and Malaysia has large outbreaks; there is no prophylaxis, so repellent and covered arms at dusk are the whole defence. Rabies is present — any bite or scratch from a dog or monkey means a clinic the same day.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Malaysians argue about a lot, but most agree Penang wins on food. Assam laksa, char kway teow at Siam Road, cendol at Penang Road, and the Chulia Street night stalls. Gurney Drive is famous and touristy; New Lane is where locals go.

Getting around

• On foot — the UNESCO core is small and walking it is the point
• Rapid Penang buses — 1.40-4 MYR, the CAT shuttle round the old town is free
• Grab — cheap and reliable across the island
• Ferry — the crossing from Butterworth is a few ringgit and worth it for the view
• Airport: Grab to the old town (30 min, ~40 MYR)

Must-see

Things to do

• Walk the shophouse quarter and find the street art
• Ride the Penang Hill funicular at sunset
• Eat assam laksa at a hawker centre
• Visit Kek Lok Si, the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia
• Tour the Khoo Kongsi clan house
• Take a cooking class in the old town

Nearby day trips

Religion

Sunni Muslim, officially

Islam is the religion of the federation and about 63% of people are Muslim, but Malaysia is genuinely plural: roughly 19% Buddhist, 9% Christian and 6% Hindu, largely along ethnic Chinese and Indian lines. Muslims are subject to sharia courts in personal matters, non-Muslims are not. In practice this means mosque etiquette matters, alcohol is available but not everywhere, and the conservative states of Kelantan and Terengganu are noticeably stricter than Kuala Lumpur or Penang.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Use your right hand to eat, to give and to receive — the left is for the bathroom
• Remove your shoes before entering a home, a mosque or most temples
• Point with your thumb over a closed fist; an index finger is rude here
• Dress modestly away from the beach, and cover your head and arms at a mosque — they lend robes at the door

Don't

• Do not offer alcohol to a Malay Muslim, and do not assume a restaurant serves it
• Do not eat or drink in public during daylight in Ramadan, out of ordinary courtesy
• Do not touch anyone of the opposite sex in greeting unless they offer a hand first
• Do not show affection in public — it draws real disapproval, and in the conservative north it can draw the authorities