PENANG & LANGKAWI

17-02-20

Penang – Langkawi, Malaysia

3 nights – 5 nights

PENANG

After heading north of Kuala Lumpar on a 4 hour train to Butterworth followed by a short 10 minute ferry we landed in Penang 🌟 One of the largest islands on Malaysia’s west coast, Penang’s Georgetown is a growing hub of hip cafes and street art with its original and historic culture.

One of the major plus sides to staying on Penang is that Grab is available here and at such a cheap rate so roaming around the island is super easy and no need to think about a ‘perfectly located hostel/hotel’.

In order to make the most of Penang’s street art, you wont have to wander far into Georgetown until you start to spot them! However if you want a good starting point, head to a street called Lebuh Armenian. This is almost one of the main streets in Georgetown and leads you off to many other hot spots such as Chew Jetty ⛴

Chew Jetty is exactly what it says on the tin….it is a Jetty however a very unique one with floating markets and food stalls 🥡 It also creates a great viewing point of the outskirts of Georgetown and Butterworth when you reach the end of the jetty. There are more street art pieces on the jetty 🎨

If the city life of Georgetown is getting you a bit hot and bothered, a perfect spot for a days escape to the sea is Batu Ferringhi 🏖 A long stretch of beach with lots of water sport options or for simple sunbathing. Behind the beach is a long strip which lights up at night! A shopping night market runs the whole length of the street offering everything you could ever wish to purchase but the real winner on this street is Long Beach Cafe🙌🏼

Long Beach Cafe is an outdoor food court filled with local vendors. With more dishes than you could poke a stick at, this food extravaganza is all you could wish for and is a real shame it’s not closer to Georgetown. Grab a Tiger and a plate of spring rolls and you are rocking 🍻

If local outdoor food courts are your scene for dinner than one we found in Georgetown was Padang Brown. Filled with locals and we were the only tourists there which is always a good sign as it means delicious authentic food🥢

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LANGKAWI

An absolute beach paradise, Langkawi is the perfect spot to really relax into the sunbathing lifestyle 👙 A simple 4 hour ferry from Penang at £15/person makes this a worthwhile stop!

The main beach on Langkawi is Cenang. This 2 kilometre stretch of coast is where you will find the hub of backpackers soaking up the rays ☀️ Cenang is filled with water sport shacks and cafes to grab fresh juices and lunch so makes it a perfect location for an all-day rest spot. We found that when looking out to the sea, the left hand side of the beach is much nicer to plot with a good range of cafes and quieter water sport wise.

The next beach along from Cenang, Pantai Tengah makes for a nice alternative as it is only a 15 minute walk away. This beach is much quieter and brings a nice break from the craziness of Cenang however along with this comes higher end resorts therefore the price of lunch here is much higher than Cenang. Therefore, nice for a morning or afternoon spot if you want to stay on that low budget life 💷

Finally, the beaches of them all on Langkawi, Tanjung Rhu. This is said to be the most beautiful beach on the island and can definitely see how it owns this reputation 🏝 With a gorgeous horizon of rocks in the sea, bright sands and tranquility, this beach on the north coast is a must visit. About 2/3 of beach is owned by a resort therefore there is a section specifically for the public and security guards do run after you if you try to go on the resorts side of the beach….trust me, we tried it 😂

Not to be all David Attenborough but we must have picked around 10 items of rubbish, plastic or wrappers out of the sea and sand while we were there and that was only within 3 hours. Therefore please help out the gorgeous sea and take them to a bin if you see anything unnatural floating around 🚫

Our next stop was going to be the west coast including the Perhentians, however after finding our it is monsoon season over there, we have decided to take a rain check and will revisit during our trip 🙌🏼 That means next stop…Singapore ♥️

Peace and love,

Yasmin xo