16+ Amazing Activities that make Penang one of the best things to do in Malaysia with kids

When my family first started looking for things to do in Malaysia, Penang was one listed on several different lists. Cultural hot spots in Malaysia? Penang has a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site! Top national parks in the country? Penang has an excellent one! Beautiful beaches? Top foodie destinations? Great expat communities? Penang, Penang, Penang!

Obviously, it made the list of places that we just had to visit during our trip to Malaysia!

Our Malaysia schedule was pretty tight, but we just managed to give ourselves a full week of exploring Penang before continuing on to the island of Langkawi, in the north. The verdict? We loved it. From beautiful jungle trails that lead to pristine, secluded beaches, to bustling city roads offering up good eats and fun street art, Penang is an island filled to bursting with unique and educational experiences.

Here are some the highlights!

Exploring the Natural Beauty of Malaysia

One of my favorite bits of exploring Malaysia is getting to see just how GREEN it all is! After spending a few months in Egypt, I was really needing some trees in my life, and Penang definitely scratched that particular itch.

Many of the best things to do in Malaysia are nature-related, and Penang puts those activities front a center!

Penang National Park

Established in 2003, Penang National Park is the smallest national park in Malaysia, but despite being less than 10mi² in area, it’s still a great place to have BIG adventures!

The main draw for visitors to the park is the ability to hike its jungle trails, and that’s exactly where my family started. The park has two main jungle trails, each leading to one of the park’s beaches. The longer trail, the Kerachut (Turtle) Beach trail, cuts straight across the jungle to reach a secluded beach on the far side of the park. It’s listed on All Trails as being a 4.7 mile out-and-back trail, though my family chose to only hike it one way. Instead of hiking back out, we opted to hire a boat to pick us up at the beach! (Make sure to hire your boat before hiking 2.5 miles into the jungle, as there is no cell service at Kerachut Beach!)

Several smaller trails branch off from the main Kerachut Beach trail, which I’m assuming offer slightly more of a challenge for those looking for it, but the main trail was plenty for our kids.

Note: While Turtle Beach was a cool destination to hike to, visitors should not swim there, as dangerous currents and jellyfish make the area unsafe.

The other main trail, unfortunately, was closed on the day we visited. And after reading several other blogs on the topic, it appears that it has been for years at this point. When it was open, the trail led to Penang National Park’s other main beach, Monkey Beach, which is a much better option for families wanting to get in the water. You can still get to Monkey Beach by hiring a boat from one of the providers outside the main gate, and can either be taken from the park entrance or get picked up after hiking to Turtle Beach.

When we visited, there were several different restaurants located on Monkey Beach where families could buy a food and drink, if they didn’t bring a picnic for themselves. Just watch out for the name-sake monkeys, as they may try to get a piece of your food!

Tropical Spice Garden

I so wanted to visit the Tropical Spice Garden during our trip, but we just couldn’t find the time!

Unlike some of the more wild locations on this list, the Tropical Spice Garden is, well, a garden. It covers over 5 acres of land, and works, essentially, as a living museum showcasing tropical plants and spices from around the world!

Visitors to the Tropical Spice Garden can sign up for a guided tour (or a self-guided audio tour), visit the Garden’s cafe, or just wander about and look at the multitude of tropical plants.

If you’re up for it, you can even sign up for a cooking class that makes use of the spices growing right there on site!

Needless to say, this one is definitely on our list for next time.

Entopia Butterfly Farm

While Entopia is billed as a butterfly farm, there’s actually a ton more to see there than just butterflies! Leaf insects, turtles, snakes, and tropical plants are all on offer.

This another location in Penang that I have yet to visit, but if you have space in your schedule, it looks like an excellent place to spend a day!

Exploring Penang’s Cultural History

Alongside the island’s beautiful forests and incredible biodiversity, Penang also has a rich cultural history to explore with your kids. Whether its learning about Malaysia’s time as a British Colony or seeing the impact of Penang’s history of accepting immigrants from other parts of Asia, there’s a ton of interesting history to explore.

Penang Hill

Looking for a place where you can learn about Penang’s colonial history and explore tropical plant life? Then look no further than Penang Hill!

Historically, Penang Hill was a favorite destination of the British living in Penang, as the hill is tall enough that the temperature on top is several degrees cooler than it is a sea level. The cooler temperatures were a welcome respite from the lowland heat, and some of the British even ended up building their homes on the hill.

The lower temperatures also have an effect on the flora and fauna, and many of the plants that grow there are more similar to what you would find in temperate forests like you find in the Cameron Highlands, instead of the tropical plants elsewhere in Penang.

Some of the bigger attractions up top include a nature park called the Habitat where you can learn about local plants and animals and the Gallery at Edgecliff, where visitors can learn about the people and events that made Penang into the city it is today.

It’s technically possible to visit Penang Hill for free, simply by walking up one of the trails to the top, though that route can be a bit tiring. Instead, consider taking the funicular train!

The Penang funicular train is one of the oldest funiculars in Malaysia, dating back to the early 1920’s, but it’s still the easiest way to get to the top of the hill. It takes a little less than 5 minutes to get to the top, and the train runs every 15-30 minutes, depending on demand.

Colonial Georgetown (Street Art Walk, Rickshaw) UNESCO World Heritage

Colonial Georgetown was founded in the late 1700’s as a free port city. While this was done primarily as a way of supporting British interests in South East Asia, the result was a thriving port that brought together traders and merchants from across a wide number of Asian countries.

The impact from that time period is still evident today, with a mix of architectural styles on display throughout Georgetown.

More recently, Georgetown has become known for its beautiful and unique street art, and walking the streets in search of as many of these famous paintings as possible is one of the best ways to see the area. However, if you’re still feeling tired from the hike up Penang Hill, you could also hire out a trishaw to take you around and show you the best parts!

Our family opted for an hour long trishaw ride around Georgetown and were treated to a relaxing ride from art piece to art piece, including several that we probably wouldn’t have found on our own! We hadn’t planned on taking this particular ride, but our kids loved taking a break from walking around the streets and felt like the trishaw ride was the height of luxury.

Just be sure to grab some food at one of the many food courts in the area once you’re done!

Check out the Clan Jetties of Penang (Chew Jetty)

Located just on the edge of Georgetown, Penang’s clan jetties are long wooden piers lined by homes, shops, and small restaurants. Historically, these jetties were built as a place where Chinese immigrant families could live when they couldn’t otherwise find housing in Georgetown.

Each jetty was the home for a single clan, and would be extended to make room for new families belonging to that clan over time. Some jetties, like Chew Jetty, had dozens of houses built along their edges!

Sadly, of the original 10 clan jetties that were built, 4 have since burned down, leaving only 6 to explore. Each of the origina jetties has its own personality, so it’s worth visiting at least a couple of them. Just remember that people do still live on the jetties. You’re visiting people’s homes, so be respectful of that fact.

The Blue Mansion (Cheong Fatt Tze)

Penang is filled with unique architecture from across the world, but few, if any, of the city’s architectural wonders match the elegance and history of the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion.

Originally built in the late 1800s, this iconic blue mansion was created by Cheong Fatt Tze as both a place of business and a family refuge for the members of his family. It was made according to the principles Feng Shui and with a mind towards honoring Chinese tradition and culture. And it remains one of the most majestic locations in Penang.

Today, the Blue Mansion serves two main purposes. A large part of the mansion has been converted into a museum where visitors can come and marvel at the luxury, while the rest has been converted into one of the most impressive hotels in all of Malaysia.

Be sure to check out the Street Food Markets

Penang is renowned across Malaysia for having some of the best food in the country!

As with other locations in Malaysia, the best places to find great food at great places are the different food markets spread across town. There are tons to choose from, but literally all of them have plenty of amazing options to choose from.

Here are some great options to choose from:

Temples, Churches and Mosques

All across the globe, there are few structures more impressive than the ones that people build themselves to worship in. Penang’s varied cultural history, as well as its popularity as a port city, has led to several different temples worth visiting being built in the area.

Kek Lok Si Temple

I honestly did not know what to expect when I asked our driver to take us to Kek Lok Si Temple. I had heard that we needed to put it on our itinerary as a place to visit, but I hadn’t ever found the time to research why.

As it turns out, the reason why is simply because Kek Lok Si Temple is easily one of the most impressive Buddhist temples that I’ve ever had the chance to see!

My family spent a nearly 3 hours wandering the temple grounds, from the large turtle pond at the base of the temple’s hill, to the massive temple pagoda, all the way up to the top to visit the 35.5m tall statue of Guanyin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy.

Quite honestly, if you only have time to visit a single temple in the area, this is the one you should choose.

Masjid Terapung (The Floating Mosque)

Located in Georgetown, the Masjid Terapung is a mosque built in a rather unique location. Instead of constructing this mosque in town alongside the other buildings in town, it was instead decided to build it at sea.

The Floating Mosque was actually made as a replacement for an older mosque in the area that was destroyed in the 2004 tsunami. The Islamic population in Penang was in the process of outgrowing the older mosque and when it came time to rebuild, it was decided that they would need more space than the original location could offer. And so, they decided to build their new mosque over the water instead!

Penang Snake Temple

Penang’s Snake Temple is a Chinese Buddhist temple located in the southern part of the island, not far from the airport.

Penang’s Snake Temple is a Chinese Buddhist temple located in the south of the island, close to the airport. It is a temple dedicated to the Buddhist monk Chor Soo Kong, who was noted for performing miraculous healings and, you guessed it, for giving shelter to snakes. And, in his honor, this temple is filled with snakes.

Unlike Kek Lok Si, the Snake Temple won’t take you very long to explore. It has nice, but not stunning, architecture, and it is much smaller. Really, the only real reason for visiting is getting the chance to see some exotic snakes up close, without even glass between you.

Some of the snakes in the temple are large pythons. Some are (de-venomed) vipers. Overall, it’s a pretty neat experience, but it’s not something you’d want to experience if you don’t like snakes.

Beaches

Let’s face it. While there are plenty of other great educational trip options for families in Penang, we all know that you just can’t visit a tropical island like Penang without taking at least a few trips to the beach!

Luckily, there are some great ones to choose from!

Batu Ferringhi Beach

Batu Ferringhi is one of the smaller towns located along the outskirts of Georgetown in Penang. And it’s also the home of one of the most popular beach destinations on the island. While that popularity means easy access to amenities, like beach umbrellas and local restaurants, it also means a lot more people. You win some, you lose some.

This is a great beach if you’re looking for an easy place to get in the water with minimal effort. It’s super easy to get to using either Grab or local buses, and there are fun water sports activities, like banana boats, all up and down the beach.

Miami Beach

Located just a short distance away from the main Batu Ferringhi beach, Miami beach is a small, less visited beach with fine white sand that’s perfect for a beach day. Of course, fewer people does mean fewer amenities. Come prepared with your own snacks and drinks, and be sure to bring a towel to lay out on. It isn’t too far to get food, but I’ve always felt like it’s better not to have to leave at all, once I’m there.

The easiest way to get to Miami Beach is to head to the Miami Cafe and take the stairway in the back down to the beachfront.

There are, of course, other beaches on the island that you can visit, but for the ease of access and great amenities nearby, these two are pretty hard to beat.

Other Great places to visit in Penang with kids

Of course, not every part of your trip needs to be educational. After all, there’s a lot to be said for doing things with your kids that are just plain fun. Here are some great choices from around Penang!

ESCAPE Penang

If you’re looking for an inexpensive and fun way to spend a day in Penang, then look no further than Escape Penang. This is one of the best amusement parks in all of Malaysia! Spread across over 44 acres, Escape Penang features ziplines, rock climbing, and the world’s longest waterslide!

That slide is over a kilometer long, and can take over 3 minutes to ride, from top to bottom. As we only had a week in Penang, we chose to not to visit ESCAPE, but some of our friends did, and the will not stop talking about how fun that slide was! Definitely check it out.

The TOP Penang

The TOP is a huge indoors edutainment amusement park featuring all sorts of fun indoors activities, from go karts, to rock climbing, to taking in the incredible views from their Rainbow Skywalk, 68 stories in the air!

Since most of the activities at the TOP are indoors, this is an excellent way to beat the heat while still having fun. And, since they are EDU-tainment venue, they even have some interesting educational exhibits as well! Assuming you can peel the kids away from the climbing wall.

All in all, it’s a fun choice!

Penang Upside Down Museum

Upside down museums seem to be way more popular in South East Asia than they are in the States, and I’ve seen them in several of our stops in Malaysia. They look like a ton of fun! However, I haven’t actually checked any of them out in person, yet.

This one in particular features tons of different rooms all built completely upside down to create the illusion that you’re on the ceiling! It’s a fun photo opportunity, and would make a great activity for a break day.

From spending a day relaxing on the beach to learning about Malaysia’s rich cultural history, Penang is a city filled to bursting with great things to do. And since it has its own international airport, it’s also a relatively easy place to visit! (Check out the widget below for ticket prices from some other popular locations in the area.)

If you’re trying to figure out where you should visit in Malaysia, Penang should definitely make the list.