When you are staring at the 30 odd recommended temples and attractions on the Free Visit Penang Map you have just picked up, and suddenly realize you don't have much time on the island. Then what?  backpackies guide that's what! We have listed out what’s worth seeing in Penang for you below so you don’t waste time and manage to experience the best of Penang!. Check it out!

This apple green mansion greets you with intricate Chinese floral and feng shui designs on its handcrafted wooden doors and windows. Thin gold leaves used to cover these pieces of art, still shines in the sunlight withstanding the testament of time. Once home to Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee, the Kapitan was infamous as the head honcho of the secret society called the Hai San Kongsi (Hai San - Sea Mountain) and was also involved in the Larut Wars (1860-1874) in Perak. With 16 maids serving 8 people, a tour through this mansion, cements the meaning of the saying "Living like a king".

The mansions grounds is fully restored to its former grandeur, and showcases more than a thousand Peranakan artifacts, including complete sets of baju kebayas, wedding head gear, jewellery, hand embroided bead shoes, pottery and baskets. The tour around the house, brings you through the life of the Kapitan. Living like a king, each room was restored and decorated with an individual theme, for example the one that caught my eye was the women’s recreation room, where there was a mahjong table in the middle, that the women used to entertain them selves while the men discussed business. You would notice that not a single room has a monotonous display of artifacts. Each room seemed to portray elements of western and Asian culture due to the Kapitans extensive travel.  Also the mansions air wells, brought in natural light and rain that cooled the mansion as we toured the place. Bring along your cameras for a snapping good time. For more information,visit their website www.pinangperanakanmansion.com.my
Tel: 604- 2642929
(Visiting Hours) Monday- Saturday 9 am - 5pm. Closed on Sundays and all Public Holidays
Admission: Adults RM 10, Child (<10 years old): Free



Visible from along Queen Street (in Litte India) are guardian warriors armed with magical weapons guarding the majestic Gopuram (tower) of the oldest indian temple in penang. Sri Mariamman Temple was built to worship Goddess Mari also known as Mariamman by the early Indian Community of Penang,as she was looked as their protector during their struggles in the foreign land. Mariamman is a manifestation of the goddess - Parvati, an incarnation embodying Mother Earth with all her terrifying force. She is associated with disease and fever and protects her devotees from unholy or demonic events. Mari is usually portrayed as a beautiful young woman with a red-hued face, wearing a red dress. Sometimes she is portrayed with many arms, representing her many powers, but in most representations she has only two or four. Her hands may display some mudra and her usual attributes are the trident or spear and the bowl, which are derived from stories told about her.

Housed within its ornately decorated interior is the priceless statue of Lord Subramaniam showered with gold, silver, diamonds, emeralds and semi precious gems. The statue figures prominently in the annual Thaipusam festival when it is borne on a silver chariot though the city streets to the temple.

Admission is free
Opens 8am - 12pm, 4pm - 9pm
Blessings is conducted by the priests, and donations are voluntary



Sunset Bistro Penang @ Feringghi Beach
Flashy bling bling's, horizon pools and smashing rock bands aside, this place ain't Rasa Sayang nor is it Hard Rock Hotel. This beach side bistro offers some real great tunes, a yummy range of food, and a fantastic beach side atmosphere to top it all up.

Sunset Bistro is a turn off on the right after Park Royal Hotel along Batu Feringghi Beach. Initially a quiet spot when it started off, this place has proven to be "the place" to come to, and can get quite full up especially if there is a birthday celebration or a family get-together. But if you are in Penang and looking for a nice decent place to chill, have dinner and chat, then this is your place.

The beach in front of the bistro is very popular for water sports, horse riding and swimming. The water sport prices aren’t fixed, so feel free to bargain. The bistro's restaurant offers quite a decent selection of local and western food (the nasi goreng - fried rice is really good). And is open for lunch and dinner. Beers cost around RM 8 per bottle, and of course there are also cocktails and other juices available too. If you are bringing your own bottle of wine or liquor, the corkage charge is around RM 50. To give it the real beachy feel, the tables and chairs are set on the beach, with the bar and DJ shack made out of wood. The tunes start off light and easy in the afternoons and revs up to moderate R&B during the night. Yet it still is a great place to chit chat. It's a pity that, there aren’t any more nice spots like these on Penang island that maximizes the full potential of its beaches. We will keep you updated if there is anywhere worth shouting about. We are glad we found this place though. We hope you love it as much as we do. Cheers.
Rapid Penang no 101 heads up that route.

It is a local wet market in the morning and a dry market by day. Click here to read more on the morning market.
Chowrasta Market is located in town along Penang Road directly opposite the main police station.  The morning market is set up along the narrow street. It is an interesting place as it is one of the main markets in town. Locals sell everything from fresh produce like seafood, chicken, meat, vegetables to anything they think they can sell. Clothes, shoes, pots and pans and plenty of other stuff are for sale here. The hawkers food here is plenty and delicious. Great place to soak in the local atmosphere in the morning! The dry market is in the complex building. Small stalls make up this bazaar selling from traditional Malay clothes namely Songkok (male headgear) and baju kebayas (blouse), traditional beauty products, small handicraft and local agricultural produce like nutmeg and preserved foodstuff. The back of the complex is a wet market in the morning. The top floor sells shoes, a bit of clothes and also houses some second hand book shops. If you are looking to bring back some nutmeg, rojak sauce (dip for rojak),dry cuttle fish or some preserved foodstuff you can try the stalls up front on the ground floor.

Opens from 7am - 5pm
Getting there: Rapid Penang Bus Number(s) : 103 / 104 / 201 / 202 / 203 / 204 / 101 / 10 / 11



Penang Islamic Museum @ Syed Alatas Mansion
This museum gives a good explanation on the life and culture of Islamic Malays in Penang. Originally called the Syed Alatas Mansion, this building was really in shambles back in 1990's, till it underwent some serious renovation work back in 1996. This museum is dedicated to show the contribution of Malays in Penang especially in the development and propagation of Islam.

This Mansion which is situated along Armenian Street was built by Syed Mohammad Al-Attas, an Achenese by descent. Incidentally his neighbor happens to be Dr Sun Yat Sen (Father of Modern China) who lives just a few doors down from his mansion.The mansion which was built in 1860 spots a mid-19th century Straits Eclectic style, with a few Islamic elements thrown in to its design (notice the front facade).

Syed Alatas played an important role in providing assistance in terms of sending firearms to the Achehnese during the battle against the Dutch. This mansion was then used as an operation base or a secret meeting place by the Acehnese leaders.
Syed Al-Attas was also the leader of the Red Flag secret society back then, which was centred in the Muslim settlement around Acheen Street and Armenian Street. Their opponents were the white flag society which
had its base at the Rope Walk Mosque (Masjid Pintal Tali) and was composed of Malay, Kling and Jawi Pekan rope spinners and cart drivers.These secret societies would battle out for territorial dominance.
The Red Flag society fought with the White Flag secret society in the Penang Riots of 1867

The ground floor of the museum has various sections: Introduction to the History of Penang, Islam and Culture, Outstanding Muslim Personalities, Architecture and Interior Decoration, and Religious Teachings.
The upper floor shows the growth and development of Islam in Penang through trade.
Among the interesting exhibits at the museum are dioramas depicting the early days, an ancient grinding stone (batu giling), a replica of the Terengganu Stone, Arab calligraphy, paintings, old photographs of Muslim personalities and the bed of Syed Mohammed Alatas.
This museum isnt that big, and maybe take about an hour of your time.

Opens Daily- 9am -5.30pm
Closed on Tuesdays
Admission: Adult(RM 3), Child (RM 1)
Getting here
If you are taking the CAT free shuttle service, stop at Carnavon Street. You will need to walk back track, about 300 meters before you reach the museum.
By bus, take the Rapid Penang Bus 10, 301, 302, 307, 401 and U502, disembarking at Lebuh Carnavon. Walk along Lebuh Carnavon to the junction with Lebuh Acheh. A short distance down, to the left, is Lebuh Armenian. The Penang Islamic Museum is at the corner of the junction. 

This is where we draw the line and stress that the view of Georgetown and of the entire Kek Lok Si temple grounds from the 10000 pagodas is not overrated as some claim it to be, and neither is the cable car ride up for a snap shot next to the towering 30.2m bronze Kuan Yin statue! It’s all worth it. You can’t overload the Pagoda though, as the steps up is very narrow and the best viewing point may only fit like 3-4 people. Hey its the "Temple of Supreme Bliss" we are talking about here. The best time to visit the temple is during Chinese New Year. This is when the entire temple complex is lit up with thousands of lanterns, making it look like a magnificent olden day palace amidst the darken sky.
Let’s do a quick flash back on its history and facts before we tour the place.

- Largest Buddhist Temple in South East Asia
- Temple is of Mahayana Buddhist Tradition
- Temple began construction in 1890
- Temple has 70,000 volumes of Imperial Edition Buddhist Sutras as a gift from Emperor Guangxu of China.
- The Liberation Pond is home to about ~ 683 tortoises. (We finger counted them for fun)-Feel free to count and let us know if we are wrong.

So you might be asking, of all the many temples in Penang, why did we choose Kek Lok Si to feature. Well honestly it was a very tough choice to make.
As you might have already known, most of the temples on Penang Island share almost the same amount of history and architecture. Some are regarded as clan houses (Yap KongSi, Khoo Kongsi, Cheah Kongsi), which houses only their clans deities and ancestors. Almost all the Chinese temples have pretty impressive structures and most of the building materials for these temples are all hand crafted and shipped all the way from China.Taking into a lot of factors, from art, history, landscaping, significance, and also to see if it was worth your valuable time (history and how large the temple is), we finally choose Kek Lok Si. We didn’t think that you would appreciate a visit to the temple without having to travel for it (as most of the Chinese Temples in Penang are all in the city center).
What is there to see?
The main features of the temple is the spiral Ten Thousand Buddha’s Pagoda featuring a Burmese Top, Thai Middle Structure and Chinese bottom, a towering 120 feet bronze statue of Goddess Kuan Yin and the overcrowded Liberation Pond filled with hundreds of tortoises. To get to the temple, you can either drive up or better still, we suggest you take a scenic walk up the shaded steps blanketed with small souvenir stalls selling from plastic dog shit, samurai swords to the local produce of nutmeg and various religious amulets and statues.

Kek Lok Si is arguably the largest and most beautiful Buddhist temple complex in Malaysia, often referred to as the 'Temple of Supreme Bliss' or the 'Pure Land Temple', covers the expanse of a sloping, east - facing hillside at Air Itam, just to the west of the city of Georgetown. As you walk into the temple's compound, you will notice large boulders that bear inscriptions of Chinese verses, beautiful sculptures.

The serene air and peaceful ambience of the compound grounds reflects the tranquility borne of meditation and prayers within the temple's interior. The construction of the temple started in 1890 and took almost 20 years to complete. Atop the temple, you can view the entire city below. The main shrine hall is simply amazing, with the Golden Buddha Statue and other placed beside it. The wall decorations and carvings are covered in gold leaves and mother of pearl.
You are allowed to take pictures, but proper dressing is required if you want to enter. Shoes are not allowed in the main shrine hall. Outside the Pagoda, is a gong, which locals believe to be a wishing gong. You are supposed to make a wish and hit the gong with the wooden log (some believe if you whack the gong harder, wishes will come true, but all it does is, it annoys the heck out of the other visitors). Donations are optional. There is a cable car running to the top, where the bronze statue of Kuan Yin sits. (RM 5 return). 
Rapid Penang Bus No. 203 goes to Air Itam Village at the foot of Kek Lok Si.

This majestic blue mansion restored to its former glory has been voted “Most Excellent Project UNESCO, Asia Pacific Heritage Awards 2000”. Its architecture is a fusion of Hakka – Teochew style, built with imported Chinese building materials. The house was built and named after a Hakka migrant in 1890. He was born a penniless person but eventually became the most powerful overseas Chinese merchant of his time in Nanyang. Moving to Penang, he continued to build his empire of shipping, opium and mining in Southeast Asia. The house is a magnificent architectural marvel with distinct European styling and stained-glass windows. Today, the house is open for visitors to learn more about Cheong’s history through antiques and paraphernalia displayed in the building.
The mansions 38 rooms, serves as a home-stay program, where each room is specially designed by famous local artists according to specific themes. For additional information, please refer to the website. www.cheongfatttzemansion.com
Tel/fax: 6042625289
email: cftm@tm.net.my
Opening Hours : 11am - 3pm

Entrance: RM 10 adults.