Getting to Penang

Penang is an island located North-West of Malaysia. You can get to Penang either by air, road or rail.

By Air

The Penang International Airport is located in the south of the island. It connects major capitals in the South East Asia region. There are 10 airlines operating from the Penang airport:

Penang by Air Taxis and buses connect commuters to most destinations on the island. An average journey from the airport to Georgetown city centre takes approximately 30minutes, though journey time increases if heading Northwards to beach hotels. Most hotels would be able to arrange for airport-hotel taxi services upon request.

By Road

The North-South Highway connects Penang to major cities on West Peninsular Malaysia. Once you get to Butterworth (the entry point to Penang), you have a choice of using the Penang Bridge or the ferry service that connects to Penang Island. The ferry service links Penang Island from Weld Quay (also known as Pangkalan Raja Tun Uda terminal) to Butterworth at the Pangkalan Sultan Abdul Halim terminal.

Travelling on the North-South Highway is convenient and gives you an interesting view and experience of West Peninsular Malaysia. The highway connects northwards to Thailand, and southwards to Singapore.

If you are less confident about driving yourself on the North-South Highway, you can always hop on a bus either from Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. The NICE bus or PlusLiner are two of the more comfortable and efficient bus service providers. There are many other bus services that operates offline:

By Rail

Alternatively, you can reach Penang Island by rail if you are on a leisurely travel pace. Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) operates the Malaysian rail service which connects Penang north to Thailand, and south to Singapore.

From the Butterworth rail terminal you can choose to hop on the ferry service or catch a taxi across the bridge to Penang Island.