Guide to Penang's most popular streets

This street is very possibly the most coveted in terms of heritage. It seems to house eccentric individuals as well as businesses comfortably. At the very end of this street is the infamous thieves’ market contained within a small patch of grass while on the other end of this narrow street is the famous mural of two kids enjoying a ride on an old bicycle by Ernest Zacharevic.

Street smart tip: Try either the mamak mee goreng from the mobile stall on the left of the photograph or a bowl of prawn mee from the coffee shop across from it.

Street smart tip: From the point in this photograph, keep following the road till you hit a set of traffic lights and you’ll see Prangin and 1st Avenue shopping malls with KOMTAR, George Town’s tallest building, right behind them.

Street smart tip: From this cross junction of the street, you can already see the tips of the mosque’s minaret peeking through tops of the trees. Another 30 steps and you’ll be standing right in front of this lovely building.

Street smart tip: This point in the photograph marks the start of this long street. Walk to almost halfway point and you’ll see Lee Soo Kee Rotan where the uncle hand weaves the rattan furniture.

This is a long street that widens to where the Whiteaways Building is. On the narrower part of the street it’s filled with more ‘industrial’ businesses housed in old shop houses. If it seems as if these businesses have been there for decades to you, well, they have! As the road widens towards Fort Cornwallis, it gets a little more polished with refurbished old buildings housing banks and such. There are a few cafes and restaurants along this part that are good for a latte or lunch.

Street smart tip: You can already see the clock tower in this photograph. Take a few steps behind it and you’ll arrive at Fort Cornwallis, the largest standing fort in the country.

Honestly, no one ever calls it anything else but Love Lane. With a lightly salacious history linked to its name, this narrow lane is now dotted with budget and a luxury accommodation. There’s also a charming curios shop within what used to be a goldsmithing business premises. During late afternoons when the sun is at its scorching peak, you’d very possibly catch a trishaw rider taking a nap on his vehicle, a respite from the heat and hard work.

Street smart tip: Along this short lane is a little souvenir shop, 41 Living Story, where you’ll find curious things that might tempt you.

Although the whole of George Town is filled with refurbished shop houses, here’s where you can examine them more closely. Work in progress in terms of refurbishment of old shop houses is constantly happening here, side by side with those already renovated and those that aren’t – which gives you a chance to compare between the new, old and in-between. Just be ready to step aside for cars, fearless motorcyclists and crawling trishaws. Yes, the road is quite narrow.

One of the main streets of Penang’s Little India, during Deepavali this street along with all the others encompassing Little India is even more alive with vivid colours, eardrum-bursting Indian pop songs and extended shop fronts.