Penang Attractions: Penang Hill, Blue Mansion and Khoo Kongsi

These four guides cover the Penang Hill funicular and three of George Town's heritage houses: the Blue Mansion, the Pinang Peranakan Mansion and the Khoo clan house. Fees are in Malaysian ringgit: a Standard adult round trip on the funicular costs RM 40 in the Normal Lane, a guided tour of Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is listed at RM25 per adult, the Pinang Peranakan Mansion charges adults RM30, and Khoo Kongsi lists RM 17 for foreign adults. Each guide gives that site's hours, fees and how to get there, with the source for each figure.

Penang attractions with visitor guides

Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera)

Penang Hill, known in Malay as Bukit Bendera, is a forested group of peaks near the center of Penang Island, about 9 km west of central George Town, and the summit area on Flagstaff Hill is reached by the Penang Hill Railway funicular from Air Itam. The funicular, run by the Penang Hill Corporation (Perbadanan Bukit Bendera), operates daily from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., and a Standard (non-Malaysian) adult round trip costs RM 40 in the Normal Lane or RM 80 in the Express Lane. At the top are the Skywalk and Skydeck viewpoints over George Town, colonial-era bungalows, a mosque and a Hindu temple, and privately run attractions such as The Habitat rainforest park, which charge their own admission.

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Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (The Blue Mansion)

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, known as the Blue Mansion for its indigo-blue lime-washed walls, is a Chinese courtyard mansion at 14 Leith Street in George Town, built between 1897 and 1904 for the merchant Cheong Fatt Tze. It is now an 18-room boutique hotel with restaurants, and the public sees it on a ticketed tour: a 45-minute guided tour daily at 11:00am and 3:30pm (RM25 per adult, RM12.50 per child under 12, up to 24 people per tour) or a self-guided audio tour with entry from 11am to 6pm. To protect hotel guests' privacy, only parts of the house are open on tours, covering the reception hall, the main courtyard and the museum exhibition on the second floor; the mansion says tours often sell out and recommends booking online well in advance.

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Pinang Peranakan Mansion

Pinang Peranakan Mansion is a museum of Penang's Peranakan (Baba-Nyonya, or Straits Chinese) heritage, housed in a green-painted 19th-century mansion at 29 Church Street in George Town. It recreates the home of a wealthy Baba of a century ago, with over 1,000 antiques and collectibles of the era on display. It is open daily, including public holidays, from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm; adult admission is RM30 and complimentary tours are available.

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Khoo Kongsi (Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi)

Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi, usually shortened to Khoo Kongsi, is the clan house and temple of the Khoo clan on Cannon Square in George Town, and the largest Hokkien clanhouse in Malaysia. The ornate main hall, completed in 1906, stands on a granite-paved square with a traditional opera stage, the clan's administrative building and rowhouses built for clan members. The clan house and its museum are open daily from 9am to 5pm, except on Chinese New Year Eve and Chinese New Year Day.

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Planning your visit to Penang

Opening hours differ: the funicular runs from 6:30 AM to 11:00 PM, the Pinang Peranakan Mansion opens from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, and Khoo Kongsi from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion has no walk-in hours: you visit on a guided tour at 11:00 AM or 3:30 PM, or on the self-guided audio tour, which you can start between 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM. The three mansions are in George Town; Penang Hill is about 9 km west of central George Town.