Penang · Malaysia
July
George Town Festival brings world-class arts — and conditions are better than June.
Strong option
#4 of 12 months
There are better months for Penang — see the full ranking below.
See when to go instead →Climate
High
32.5°C
Low
24.9°C
Rain
107mm
Sun
7.9hrs/day
30-year climate normals · Open Meteo ERA5
How July scores in Penang
Weather
Very good
Value
Good
Crowds
Above average
Events
Excellent
Atmosphere
Excellent
What you gain in July
- ↑The George Town Festival (July–August) is one of Southeast Asia's finest urban arts festivals: international visual art, theatre, music, and dance installations spread across the UNESCO heritage zone. Venues include colonial shophouses, clan temples, and street corners — a genuinely innovative programme each year.
- ↑July sits in a relative dry spell within the SW monsoon: 107mm across the month with more sunny days and fewer full-day rain events than May-June. Beach visits to Batu Ferringhi are more reliable.
- ↑The Hungry Ghost Festival (late July to August, date varies with lunar calendar) is one of the most atmospheric events in Chinese cultural life: offerings burned on the streets, temporary stages erected for Chinese opera, and the Getai variety shows performed for the unseen audience of wandering spirits. George Town during Hungry Ghost is unlike anywhere else in the world.
What you sacrifice
- ↓International visitors for the George Town Festival push accommodation prices up from June levels — not dramatically, but the budget floor is higher in July.
- ↓Heat and humidity remain relentless: 32.5°C and 78% humidity require acclimatisation and a strategy of early starts and cool retreats.
How July compares to February (best month)
| Factor | July | February ★ |
|---|---|---|
| Weather | 7 | 9 |
| Value | 6 | 7 |
| Crowds | 5 | 6 |
July in other destinations
Lisbon (25.9°C)Barcelona (28.4°C)Tokyo (30.5°C)Bali (29.8°C)Santorini (25.7°C)Paris (23.5°C)New York (28.5°C)Marrakech (36.3°C)Amsterdam (21.6°C)Maldives (30.2°C)Rome (30.2°C)Bangkok (31.8°C)Istanbul (27.9°C)Vienna (25.6°C)Seoul (28.6°C)Dubrovnik (28.3°C)Rio de Janeiro (25.1°C)Kyoto (31.8°C)Phuket (31.5°C)Cape Town (16.8°C)Prague (26°C)Amalfi Coast (31°C)Mexico City (23°C)Medellín (29°C)Fiji (26°C)London (24°C)Sydney (16°C)Iceland (14°C)Tulum (32°C)Dubai (42°C)Singapore (32°C)Hoi An (34°C)Chiang Mai (31.5°C)Miami (33.3°C)Florence (32.2°C)Queenstown (7.5°C)Madrid (32.8°C)Porto (27°C)Edinburgh (19°C)Copenhagen (22°C)Budapest (28°C)Kraków (24°C)Tbilisi (31°C)Palawan (30°C)Hanoi (33°C)Osaka (33°C)Goa (30°C)Cusco (19°C)Buenos Aires (14°C)Mykonos (29°C)Zanzibar (26°C)Sri Lanka (30°C)Costa Rica (25°C)Cancun (32°C)Krabi (32°C)Athens (33°C)Seville (36°C)Cartagena (31°C)Siem Reap (31°C)Havana (32°C)Split (30°C)Taipei (35°C)Kuala Lumpur (32°C)Valletta (32°C)Ho Chi Minh City (32°C)Hawaii (31°C)Cappadocia (32°C)Dominican Republic (31°C)Jamaica (32°C)Tanzania (22°C)Seychelles (26°C)Nepal (27°C)Jordan (36°C)Azores (26°C)Bora Bora (26°C)Los Angeles (27.9°C)Cairo (38.5°C)Kenya (23.4°C)Jaipur (34.2°C)Las Vegas (41.4°C)San Francisco (17.5°C)Madeira (27.5°C)Vancouver (23.4°C)Muscat (40.2°C)Lima (17°C)Cinque Terre (28°C)Kotor (31°C)Tel Aviv (31°C)Santiago (13°C)Bogotá (19°C)Bruges (22.5°C)Lombok (30.2°C)Cape Verde (28.8°C)Fez (37.8°C)Kerala (29°C)Kigali (25°C)Hong Kong (31°C)Oslo (24°C)Auckland (13°C)
Climate data: 30-year normals (1991–2020) from Open Meteo ERA5 reanalysis. Scores compare months within Penang, not across destinations. Methodology →