EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

The site of Fort Cornwallis (daily 8.30am-7pm; RM1) on the northeastern tip of Pulau Penang marks the spot where the British fleet, under Captain Francis Light, disembarked on July 16, 1786. But for all its significance it holds little of interest save a replica of a traditional Malay house and an underground bunker detailing the history of Penang. Southwest from the fort, Lebuh Pantai holds some fine colonial buildings, including the Standard Chartered Bank and the Hong Kong Bank. West of Lebuh Pantai, on Jalan Masjid Kapitan Kling (or Lebuh Pitt), stands the Anglican St George'S Church (Tues-Sat 8.30am-12.30pm & 1.30-4.30pm, Sun 8.30am-4.30pm), one of the oldest buildings in Penang (1817-1819) and as simple and unpretentious as anything built in the Greek style in Asia can be. Next to the church on Lebuh Farquhar, Penang Museum and Art Gallery (Sat-Thurs & Sun 9am-5pm, closed Fri; free) has an excellent collection of rickshaws, press cuttings and black-and-white photographs. The area east of here, enclosed by parallel Lebuh King and Lebuh Queen, forms Georgetown's compact Little India district, full of saree and incense shops, banana-leaf curry houses, and the towering Sri Mariamman Temple (open early morning to late evening) on the corner of Lebuh Queen and Lebuh Chulia, a typical example of Hindu architecture.

To the south, in a secluded square at the end of an alleyway off Lebuh Acheh, stands the Khoo Kongsi (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 9am-1pm; free - closed at the time of writing for refurbishment), one of many kongsi, or traditional "clan-houses" in Penang where Chinese families gather to worship their ancestors. The original building was started in 1894 and meticulously crafted by experts from China. Its central hall is dark with heavy, intricately carved beams and pillars and bulky mother-of-pearl inlaid furniture. The hall on the left is a richly decorated shrine to Tua Peh Kong, the god of prosperity; the right-hand hall contains the gilded ancestral tablets. Connecting all three halls is a balcony minutely decorated in carvings of folk tales.

On the western edge of Georgetown, on the corner of Lebuh Leith, is the stunning Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion , whose outer walls are painted in a striking rich blue. It's the best example of nineteenth-century Chinese architecture in Penang, built by Thio Thiaw Siat, a Cantonese businessman. The elaborate halls of ceremony, bedrooms and libraries, separated by courtyards and gardens, have been restored and are privately owned. Tours are infrequent and by appointment only (tel 04/261 6301).

Bedecked with flags, lanterns, statues and pagodas, the sprawling and exuberant Kek Lok Si Temple (open morning to late evening; free) is supposedly the largest Buddhist temple complex in Malaysia and a major tourist spot. The "Million Buddhas Precious Pagoda" is the most prominent feature of the compound, with a tower of simple Chinese saddle-shaped eaves and more elaborate Thai arched windows, topped by a golden Burmese stupa. It costs RM2 to climb the 193 steps to the top, where there is a great view of Georgetown and the bay. Getting there involves a thirty-minute bus ride west on Transitlink #1, 101, 130, 351, 361, yellow bus #85 or minibus #21.