Where To Explore In Penang

A few days away from Singapore...

Both my parents are over with us in Singapore visiting for the second time. We wanted to take them to explore a new country for a couple of days plus somewhere me and my husband hadn't been either. We wanted somewhere near a beach and also have some sight seeing too. We decided on Penang! 

The flight time is an hour and half so quick! We stayed in 'Batu Ferringhi' at 'Lone Pine Hotel'. It is the only boutique hotel and is situated along Penang's gorgeous coastline. 

Lone Pine Hotel

Pool

Balcony View

Beach

It has a very relaxing vibe which is just what we all wanted. Every staff member we dealt with were very attentive and lovely. The hotel is surrounded by little beach bars and cafes and is just behind the area where the night markets takes place. 

They had some really nice touches at the hotel. For example they go round twice a day by the pool and offer freshly made ice lollies  (popsicles!)which is just what you need to cool off. Flavours included: strawberry, sweet plum, orange and pineapple.

Then they also had a daily happy hour 5-9pm. The staff would come around at 5pm and ring the bell to let everyone know it was happy hour :). 

Click here to find out more about Lone Pine:

Lone Pine Hotel

One little place right next two 'Lone Pine' on the beach was a favourite of mine. Nothing fancy, plastic chairs but looking out to sea and the food was amazing. Here is a little snippet...

Magic 1 Restaurant: The Wizard Of Food 

Just across the street and up from 'Lone Pine' we found this little gem! A massive menu to choose from and great cocktails. We had two different sizzling beef dishes, chicken and cashew nut, vegetables, satay and a cheesecake. Plus two Mai Tai's and and a fresh orange juice. All this for £34.00/$66 SGD

That is what I call value for money :)

The staff were lovely and the restaurant had a very happy vibe.

There is also a massive Night market right next to 'Lone Pine' that goes on and on! If you're a sucker for a bargain this is for you!

Georgetown

My advice would be book a driver when visiting 'GeorgeTown' and do some research beforehand to find out where you want to go and places to stop to eat. The reason I say this, is there are so many different streets and areas, unless you're map savvy it would be hard to get around. We booked ours at the hotel and it was 180 MYR for 4 hours for 4 of us. We ended up adding 2 more hours on as ran out of time. 

We did Penang Hill, Kek Lok Si Temple, Wall Art in Georgetown and lunch then on to 'Eastern & Oriental Hotel'(the sister hotel to Lone Pine). Thanks to researching on 'Tripadvisor' the place I found for lunch was spot on. 

It's called 'The Book Sandwich Cafe' as you can see from the above pictures the food looks yummy, it really was :)! 

Kek Lok Si Temple

Here is a snippet from the train ride back down Penang Hill:

My overall thoughts on Penang is that it's definitely worth a visit. We went for 4 days which I think is enough. If you're looking for a more relaxed holiday I would choose to stay in 'Batu Ferringhi', but if you're not really a beach person it may be better to stay in 'Georgetown' where it is busy and you can explore a lot more areas.