George Town UNESCO World Heritage Historic City Walk

What's included

What you'll see and do

1. The Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower is a Moorish-style Jubilee clocktower within George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. Located at the intersection of Light Street and Beach Street, it was built to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. The tower is sixty feet to the centre of the clock, one foot for each year of Victoria's reign. A corner of the wall surrounding Fort Cornwallis is situated behind the tower.

   10 minutes here

2. Fort Cornwallis

   Fort Cornwallis is a bastion fort in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, built by the British East India Company in the late 18th century. Named after the then Lieutenant-General The 2nd Earl Cornwallis (1738–1805), the Governor-General of Bengal at the time of the fort's construction, it is the largest standing fort in Malaysia. The fort never engaged in combat during its operational history.

   30 minutes here · Admission not included

3. Esplanade Walkway

   The Esplanade is a seafront city square in the heart of George Town. This waterfront Esplanade features historical landmarks, such as the Cenotaph war memorial and Fort Cornwallis, scenic promenades and access to several museums of art and culture. Architectural gems include Penang City Hall, which combines Edwardian Baroque and Palladian styles. Cafes, restaurants and bars dot the area, and there’s a handful of hotels.

   30 minutes here

4. The City Hall is the local government headquarters of George Town within the Malaysian state of Penang. Built by the British, it now serves as the seat of the Penang Island City Council and was previously the seat of the George Town City Council. Originally completed in 1903 as the Municipal Offices, the building was erected at a cost of $100,000 to relieve the demand for office space at the adjacent Town Hall.[1][2] The name City Hall dates back to the grant of city status to George Town in 1957.

   Pass by without stopping

5. Logan Memorial

   The Logan Memorial is situated in front of the Penang High Court at Light Street in George Town, Malaysia, and was erected in memory of James Richardson Logan, Scottish lawyer and man of letters, who lived in the Straits Settlements in the 19th century. James Richardson Logan (1819 – 1869) was a lawyer and advocate, trained in Scottish law, who practised in Penang defending, without charge, the rights of non-Europeans. He was also an eminent scholar, founding and writing articles for the influential Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, and was proprietor of the leading newspaper, the Penang Gazette.

   10 minutes here

6. St. George's Anglican Church

   St. George's Church is a 19th-century Anglican church within George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. The oldest purpose-built Anglican church in Southeast Asia, it was elevated by to the status of pro-cathedral in 2023. The church lies within the jurisdiction of the Upper North Archedeaconry of the Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia.

   10 minutes here

7. Penang State Museum and Art Gallery

   The museum building used to house the Penang Free School in 1821–1927. After Penang Free School moved to a new building in Green Lane, the Hutchings School took over the building in January 1928 and used it until 1960. The museum was opened by Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Penang Raja Uda Raja Muhammad on 14 April 1965. The building was declared a heritage building under the 2005 Heritage Act.

   Pass by without stopping

8. St. Xavier's Institution, at Farquhar Street in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, is the oldest Lasallian school in Southeast Asia and one of the Catholic Lasallian schools in Malaysia. While it has a history dating back to 1787, the present-day institution, named after St. Francis Xavier, was only established in 1852. This secondary school has been an all-boys school since its establishment, although girls have been admitted in Form 6 since the 1950s (but as of 2022, it is now a co-educational secondary school ever since female students were admitted for the first time beginning in Form 1 of the batch born in 2009 for the 2022-2023 Malaysian school academic year).

   Pass by without stopping

9. Cheong Fatt Tze - The Blue Mansion

   The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is a government gazetted heritage building located on Leith Street in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. The mansion's external decorations and indigo-blue outer walls make it a very distinctive building, and it is sometimes referred to as The Blue Mansion. Built by the merchant Cheong Fatt Tze at the end of the 19th century, the mansion has 38 rooms, 5 granite-paved courtyards, 7 staircases and 220 vernacular timber louvre windows. It served as Cheong's private residence as well as the seat of his business activities in Penang.

   10 minutes here · Admission not included

10. Old Protestant Cemetery

    The Old Protestant Cemetery, also known as Northam Road Cemetery, is a disused Protestant cemetery in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. After more than a century of neglect, it is now listed as a Class 1 Heritage Site and is maintained by the Penang Heritage Trust. Established in 1786, the cemetery is of significant historic interest: it is older than many better-known burial grounds such as Père Lachaise in Paris, Powązki in Warsaw, the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, and Highgate Cemetery in London. It is also 35 years older than the Old Protestant Cemetery in Macau. In 2012, conservation works were undertaken to protect and preserve the site, although there was some concern about how the restoration was done.

    15 minutes here

11. The Eastern & Oriental Hotel (popularly known as E&O Hotel) is a British colonial-style luxury hotel in George Town, Penang, Malaysia that was established in 1885 by the Sarkies Brothers. The sea-fronting hotel is known for its luxurious accommodation and restaurants. The Eastern Hotel was founded by the Sarkies Brothers in 1884. Within one year, the hotel had prospered and surged in popularity such that the brothers established another hotel, the Oriental Hotel, in 1885, leading to a merger of both hotels into the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in 1889. The success of the brand led the brothers to establish sister hotels, the Raffles Hotel in Singapore in 1887 and the Strand Hotel in Rangoon, Burma, in 1901.

    15 minutes here

12. Penang’s Hainan Temple, also known as Thean Hou Kong Temple, is located on Muntri Street in George Town . Thean Hou Kong Temple was funded and built by a group of Chinese immigrants from Hainan Island who dedicated the temple to the Taoist Deity Mazu (also referred to Ma Chor Po) who is believed to be the protector of seafarers. Immigrants who survived the long sea crossing from Hainan Island would come to the temple to give thanks to Mazu for keeping them safe on their journey. Tha Hainanese community in George Town first established a temple to the Goddess Mazu in 1866. Thean Hou Kong Temple then moved to its current location on Muntri Street in 1895 funded by donations collected from the faithful over a period of nearly 30 years.

    10 minutes here

13. Goddess of Mercy Temple (Kuan Yin Teng)

    The Goddess of Mercy Temple (Chinese: 觀音亭; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Koan-im-têng), also known as Kuan Im Teng or Kong Hock Keong, is a Mahayana Buddhist temple within George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. Located at Pitt Street, it was built in 1728, making it the oldest Buddhist temple in the state. The temple is dedicated to the Buddhist Bodhisattva of Mercy, Guan Yin. However, it had been originally established for the worship of Mazu, a sea deity. Following the establishment of George Town in 1786, droves of Chinese migrants flocked to the city, causing the transition of the temple into one dedicated to Guan Yin by 1800; by then, it also began to function as a neutral mediator between the rival Cantonese and Hokkien communities.

    10 minutes here

14. Sri Mahamariamman Temple

    The Arulmigu Sri Mahamariamman Temple is a Hindu temple within George Town. The oldest Hindu temple in the state, it was built in 1833, and features sculptures of gods and goddesses over its main entrance and facade. It is also known as Mariamman Temple or Queen Street Indian Temple. Throughout the years, the Sri Mahamariamman temple has also been known by several names: Sri Muthu Mariamman Temple, Sri Arulmigu Mahamariamman Temple, Sri Mariamman Temple. All these names refer to the same temple. The temple is open daily from 6:30 am - 12:00 noon and 4:30 pm - 9:00 pm. It became a place of worship as early as 1801 and became a temple in 1833. It has stood at the same place for more than 200 years. The temple is in central Georgetown on Queen Street and the back entrance is on Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, in between Lebuh Pasar and Lebuh Chulia. Located in Penang's Little India, in the capital city of Georgetown, the Sri Maha Mariamman temple reflects the city's rich cultural heritage.

    15 minutes here

15. Kapitan Keling Mosque

    Built in the 19th century by Indian Muslim traders in George Town, situated on the corner of Buckingham Street and Pitt Street. Being a prominent Islamic historic centre, it is part of the World Heritage Site of George Town and lies at the centre of the city's Tamil Muslim neighbourhood, the chulias. It is the first permanent Muslim institution to have been established in the area, dating from the early 1800s. Cauder Mohuddeen Merican is known as the founder of the mosque and leader of the Chulias. In 1801 Sir George Leith, who was then Lieutenant Governor of Penang, appointed this prominent Indian Muslim leader, as Captain of the South Indian “Keling” community. He granted a piece of land to build a mosque on the south side of Malabar Street (Chulia Street). Cauder Mohudeen (born 1759) was a ship mandoor or foreman from Porto Novo, which the Tamils called Parangipettai and the Muslims Mahmudbandar, about 50 kilometres south of Pondicherry, India. He was referred to as 'Kapitan Kling'.

    10 minutes here

16. Boon San Tong Khoo Kongsi

    The Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi or "Khoo Kongsi" for short, is the largest Hokkien clanhouse in Malaysia with elaborate and highly ornamented architecture, a mark of the dominant presence of the Chinese in Penang. The famous Khoo Kongsi is the grandest clan temple in the country. It is also one of the city's major historic attractions. The clan temple has retained its authentic historic setting, which includes an association building, a traditional theatre and the late 19th century rowhouses for clan members, all clustered around a granite-paved square. It is located in Cannon Square in the heart of the oldest part of the city, in the midst of narrow, winding lanes and quaint-looking pre-War houses exuding a palpable old world charm. The Khoo Kongsi is a clan association of the Leong San Tong (Dragon Mountain Hall) clan, whose forefathers came from XinAn Village, Haicang District, Xiamen Municipal in Fujian province and were of Hoklo descent. Thwy were Wealthy Straits Chinese traders

    30 minutes here · Admission not included

17. Sun Yat Sen Museum

    Formerly called Sun Yat-sen Penang Base, dedicated to Sun Yat-sen, a Chinese nationalist who established the Republic of China after his efforts in the Xinhai Revolution. He devised many of his plans to overthrow the Qing Dynasty in the museum building. In 1910, acting on immense support among overseas Chinese for the ousting of the Qing dynasty, Sun moved the southeast Asian headquarters of the Tongmenghui party to Penang. When Sun first brought his family to Penang in 1910, the building housed the Penang Philomatic Union reading club. The club was a cover for Sun's political party. On 14 Nov 1910, Sun chaired an emergency meeting of the Nanyang Tongmenghui in this house and launched the fundraising campaign for the Second Guangzhou Uprising. It was in this building that Sun delivered his famous speech at the 1910 Penang Conference. In Dec 1910, the first issue of the Kwong Wah Yit Poh was published from 120 Armenian St. It is now the world's oldest Chinese newspaper outside of China

    15 minutes here · Admission not included

18. Syed Alatas Mansion, once known as the Penang Islamic Museum, is a heritage building along Armenian Street in George Town. The museum was created to celebrate the role and contribution of Malay leaders in the development and propagation of Islam in Penang. It also documents for posterity the history of the Malay settlement in Acheen Street and provides details on Malay personalities of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Syed Alatas Mansion was built by Syed Mohammad Alatas, an Achenese by descent, who built his mansion along Armenian Street. The mansion, in mid-19th century Indo Malay Straits Eclectic style, was built in 1860, and stands today as one of the few bungalows with Islamic elements from that era.

    Pass by without stopping

19. Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic captures the essence of Penang with various street murals around George Town. Street art is not a new concept. Banksy in London has created many murals on the walls of London city that are cherished by its residents. But people don’t associate London with street art. What’s special about Georgetown and Penang is that street art has transformed the entire city and has given it a new identity. Tasteful street art is a brilliant idea that has the power to create awareness of art by masses and at the same time it helps local artists. It truly is an idea worth promoting and preserving. This 2012 work by Ernest Zacharevic is the most famous of George Town's street-art pieces. It features a real bicycle attached to a wall, on which the two laughing children riding the bike are painted. There's almost always crowds of people lining up to insert themselves into the scene and have their photo taken.

    15 minutes here

20. One of the most popular of the street art pieces we saw, Boy on a Motorbike by Ernest Zacharevic, often had a line up of visitors waiting for “a ride” on the motorbike that’s a part of the installation. The main photo at the top of this story was taken in the morning when there was less motorbike and trishaw traffic whizzing up the busy street where it’s found, Lebuh Ah Quee. Apparently, the abandoned motorcycle used in the mural-installation was left here by a tourist after he rode it from Vietnam to Penang.

    10 minutes here

21. Chew Jetty

    Chew Jetty is the biggest of the waterfront settlements in George Town. It was created in the middle of the 19th Century, in a very different Penang from what it is today. For the unfamiliar, the Clan Jetties consist of seven sets of wooden piers. They are home to seven clans who migrated from China: the Lims, Chews, Tans, Lees, Yeohs, Koays and one mixed jetty. Each of the clan jetties has a small shrine to pay homage to the sea deities. Chew Jetty is the only clan jetty left that continues to have observe the once a year annual worship of its Temple Deity and the Jade Emperor.

    10 minutes here

Where it starts and ends

Options you can book

• 4hr George Town Heritage Walk

• George Town UNESCO World Heritage Historic City Walk

Before you book

Cancellation

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Languages

ms, en

Ticket

Mobile Only

Runs on

Every day

Group size

Up to 10 travelers per booking

Operated by

Penang George Town UNESCO Heritage Walk

Know before you go

• Wheelchair accessible
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
• Specialized infant seats are available
• Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
• All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Photos

Traveler reviews

17 verified traveler reviews for George Town UNESCO World Heritage Historic City Walk. Ratings and reviews provided by Viator and Tripadvisor.