Georgetown is the capital of the island and state of Penang, on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia.

Understand

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Founded in 1786 by British trader Francis Light, Georgetown was one of the three Straits Settlements along with Malacca and Singapore. Modern-day Georgetown is one of Malaysia's largest cities with 600,000 inhabitants.

Note that with its combination of Chinese and Muslims, Georgetown takes its religious resting days. Most of the town stops working for the latter half of Saturday, and all of Sunday. Many shops and restaurants are closed during these times and the streets are extremely sleepy and quiet, with little tourist friendly activity going on. Muslim prayer calls can be heard at the required prayer times, and it is not uncommon to see the Chinese locals burning incense for ancestor worship on the sidewalks.

The town seems quite relaxed, as restaurants, small shops, and mall shops don't fully open until around noon. If you're waking up early, be sure to look for Chinese Dim Sum stalls as they are only available in the morning. But don't bother looking for any other activities besides eating.

Get in

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Georgetown is Penang's transportation hub. Ferries arrive at the terminal on Weld Quay (Pengkalan Weld) on the east city of the city; the bus station is nearby on Victoria Street.

Get around

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Public transportation around the city is not very well organized. There are, however, buses that ply the length and breadth of the city, and even one that can take you around the island itself. Having said that, there is a chance you master the system by going either to the KOMTAR building or the ferry terminal. There, all busses stop on their route, and if you don't mind going around the city a bit if you actually want to leave it, you have good chances of getting where you want. But if you're planning to venture out of Georgetown to the suburbs and beyond for a day's tripping, do bear in mind that the public buses STOP picking up passengers AFTER 10pm daily - apparently even on weekends and holidays (as of November 2006). And if you need to take a taxi back to your quarters after midnight, be prepared to pay a 100% surcharge on top of the usual quoted fare.

Going to the airport (bus 3-4 from both ferry and KOMTAR) takes forever, as you might wait up to 45min for the bus to come and another 60-120 min to reach the airport. Costs only around RM 4 as opposed to the official RM 35 tariff..

Taxi rides within the city should cost RM 10-20; agree on the fare before you get in as they do not run on meters. Taxi's can also be hired for a minimum of 3 hours at 25 RM per hour. A good way to see the Northern and Western parts of the island if you don't have your own vehicle.

Trishaws cater to tourists and charge around RM 30 per hour. However, these trishaw rides are becoming more of a...