Start your day’s excursion with a fun ride uphill. Get aboard the swanky royal blue, driverless coach of Penang Hill funicular rail. Feel the acute incline from the moment you get to the slopes of the rail platform, which is essentially a series of steps. There are no vibrations, no rumblings of the tracks, clanking of the couplings, but only a smooth and a relatively silent ride. Climb a 25° steep slope in less than 30 min to get from hot and sultry plains of Penang Island to the cool and breezy Penang Hill. Enjoy the changing scenes as you leave the plains behind and enter the rocky, green route.

Tips: Hire a cab from your hotel or ride a bus from George Town to Air Itam, the base of the hill. The service operates between 6 AM and 11 PM with a return fare of RM 30 and RM 60 for normal and fast lanes respectively. Fast lane passengers are accorded priority to the limited seats inside the coach—something to bear in mind if you cannot travel standing. On weekends and Malaysian holidays, expect long queues and plan around 30 min to buy tickets and board the rail.