8 Reasons To Visit Georgetown In Penang, Malaysia
George Town is the capital city of Penang state. It is located on Penang Island in Malaysia. It is Malaysia’s second largest city after Kuala Lumpur and UNESCO’s world heritage site. If you are fond of towns and cities with grand history then this is your place. With amazing artistic streets and with heritage architecture, George Town should be on your travel bucket list if you are visiting Malaysia. George Town caters for the history nerds and travel photographers the most but it is also the city for shopaholic and foodie fanatic.
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1. Street art
This is something unique about this town. Funny and humorous street art of George Town makes the town even more interesting and lively. One can spend the whole day clicking all the art people have shown on the walls of streets. Rent a bicycle or take a rickshaw to explore them all. Take a camera to capture them all.
2. It is a UNESCO’s heritage site
Georgetown is UNESCO’s heritage site. It has over 12,000 old buildings which consist of Chinese houses, residential buildings, churches, temples, mosques, and British colonial government offices and monuments. With all the great history around the city, George Town was awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2008.
3. Chinese temples
George Town has many absolutely amazing and unique Chinese temples which you won’t find anywhere else in Southeast Asia. One of the temples which I loved was Khoo Kongsi temple. It is the most beautifully carved of all Chinese temples in the city. It was built by the Khoo clansmen more than 100 years ago and its lineage can be traced back 650 years. Khoo Kongsi is exceptional and I urge all who are visiting Malaysia, should visit and feel the aura of the place.
4. Penang National Park - Taman Negara
Penang National Park is a vast jungle by the sea. It can definitely turn out to be a great gateway from the heat and the busy town. It covers an area of about 2000 km and has more than 500 flora and fauna species.
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5. Street Food
George Town is food heaven for everybody. The delicious Malay, Indian and Chinese food can be the best treat one can enjoy. Little India is a perfect place to explore food streets. There are a lot of vegetarian and non-vegetarian restaurants with pretty reasonable rates.
6. Green botanical gardens
Botanical gardens are very near from the center of George Town. It is set up by the British in the year of 1884, botanical gardens contain a huge variety of autochthonic and exotic plant species. They are also known as Waterfall Gardens, because of the 122-meter high shower at the end of the Botanic Gardens, which adds alluring beauty to the place. You will see lots of monkeys in the botanical gardens too.
7. Little India
George Town’s Little India is a small and lively Indian neighborhood. The colorful streets are full of rainbow sari shops, odorous Indian grocery stores with a lot of spices, Hindu temples, tempting Indian eateries, and loud Bollywood music. The best time to go is in the evening when everything is open. You can enjoy street shopping and colorful life.
8. Shopping
There are nice little boutique shops within the Chinese shophouses. You can find things like crafts, home furnishings, fashion, and jewelry. You can also visit an area called Komtar. It is a little far from the city. Komtar shopping mall has 5 levels and all the levels are full of designer shops and luxury shopping. The brands include H&M, Cotton On, Nikon, Digi and much more.
People visiting Malaysia should keep this beautiful tiny town on the list. Plan a luxury vacation with all the details on it!