Penang (George Town): the vibe
Videos from people who went, played right here, with what viewers said underneath. Not part of the score.
The verdict
Liked · 70Commenters, many from Penang itself, praise cheap food, friendly locals and a livable colonial city, but several warn that real rents run well above the videos' budgets and short-term stays are hard to find.
- cheap and excellent food
- friendly locals
- colonial heritage charm
- affordable lifestyle
- good English among locals
- relaxed island pace
- rents higher than videos suggest
- short-term rentals hard to find
- landlords prefer year-long contracts
- traffic
- murky sea water for swimming
- urban feel for some
- Food is the standout reason to visit and stay
- Budget claims in videos may understate actual rents
- Good option for retirees and long-stay nomads
- Locals are welcoming and less smug than big cities
- Short-term stays need careful planning and realistic budgets
Read from 8 videos, 40 comments and 0 posts on 2026-11-07; the summary is written by a language model and can misread sarcasm.
COST OF LIVING in PENANG MALAYSIA for Digital Nomads + Apartment Tour (BETTER than CHIANG MAI?!) 🇲🇾
One Shot Adventures · 81K views · 2020
What viewers said
“I am a Penangite. Thank you for promoting Penang, Pearl of the Orient and a Food Paradise, too.”
♥ 19 likes
“I'm a Penangite, and I'm glad you enjoy the life here in this lovely island. :)”
♥ 18 likes
“My husband and me visited Penang in December 2017 and have lovely memories of this clean, serene city with down to earth people We are from india”
♥ 6 likes
“It looks like you took a great decision to stay in the more local area of Georgetown. The apartment look pretty cool, very modern and spacious. I love the bedroom with those lovely floor to ceiling windows. I can't believe how cheap it was ”
♥ 11 likes
“The hidden gem is Moonlight Bay. Beautiful apartment is close to the beach and Batu Ferringhi check it out when in Penang”
♥ 4 likes
“Great video mate! We need more of these kinds of videos for digital nomads :)”
♥ 9 likes
“Awesome tips for Penang! We plan to visit soon. A great comparison to Chiang Mai for us as we have done Chiang Mai too. The daily spend is actually really good! I can see why it is also popular for digital nomads.”
♥ 9 likes
“Another great video, the apartment you guys rented looked amazing, need to get some tips off you for when I go back to Bangkok. Keep up the great videos”
♥ 10 likes
“It’s nice to see a different part of Malaysia. I liked this total travel guide. Like you mentioned, I liked the colonial feel of Georgetown. Look at those apartments! Super nice! Totally somewhere I would like to stay. The cost wasn’t too b”
♥ 7 likes
“I'm seriously looking to retire in Maylasia, watched your video and most impressed. Nice to have a Brit providing the commentary and using GBP rather than Dollars for once. Certainly will check out Georgetown. Informative video thanks for t”
♥ 3 likes
Found with a YouTube search for the city and “digital nomad”, fetched 2026-11-07; titles, descriptions and comments belong to their authors and link to the originals.