Trip: December 2017
Below is our Top 5 Things To Do in George Town, Malaysia, part of the Just Carrying On – Top 5 Things To Do series. These lists are favorite activities, eats, and drinks from our travels around the world—in no particular order.
We visited the island of Penang, where George Town is located, on a whim. We weren’t planning to visit Malaysia at all on this tour of SE Asia but heard so many good things from other travelers that we squeezed it in. George Town ended up being one of our favorite stops of our entire 3 months in SE Asia and is a place we’ve frequently referenced since, with its multi-cultural heritage, amazing food, and cool street art.
1. Street Art Walking Tour
George Town is famous for its street art and it is super fun. Print out this map and lead your own walking tour. You don’t need a guide, just some sunscreen and a camera. All the major art pieces are also on Google Maps. The art is so prevalent, just walking around George Town is sure to lead you to discover most of the art, even without following a map.
2. Cheong Fatt Tze – The Blue Mansion
This is a must-do tour. We had a fantastic guide (entrance includes the guided tour) who told us all about George Town history through the eyes of the Blue Mansion. On the one hand, it is just a house that a really rich guy built; on the other hand it is so much more. Make time for it. The home was recently purchased by locals and restored to its original state, providing a beautiful venue to learn about the history, art and culture of George Town.
3. The Canteen at Chinahouse
We usually find super hipster places by reading hipster blogs, but Olivia literally stumbled into the Chinahouse looking for a bathroom. It is an incredible, narrow, and diverse space with food, amazing cakes and pies (shown above from above), art galleries and a couple bars. The Canteen is technically the bar all the way in the back of the building, in one of the many diverse spaces. We came for music and split some cake to go with our drinks.
4. Woodlands Vegetarian Restaurant
There is a lot of amazing Indian food in George Town. We tried a few places but liked Woodlands the best. It is all vegetarian, well-priced and features Thali style meals that are served on giant banana leaves.
5. Poh Piah Food Stall
Near our hotel was a street food pod. We ate at several of these stalls and really enjoyed Poh Piah. It is veggie, savory, tasty, not heavy, and cheap. Check out the google location below to enjoy the many choices.
Honorable mentions
Yin’s Sourdough Bakery: A lovely elderly gentleman, presumably Yin, runs the shop. They serve what to us was a more typical Western style of breakfast, with a really delicious selection of breads and good coffee. We were lucky to snag a seat inside before it quickly filled up in the morning.
Wheeler’s Coffee: It is hard to find a good bagel outside of the U.S. but the bagels and excellent Wifi for our morning meeting really hit the spot.
Top 5 Things To Do in George Town, Malaysia is part of Just Carrying On – Top 5 Things To Do series, which offers our best travel recommendations from around the world.