Muscat & Penang Tour Question

[SakeDad]

We are looking at DIY in Muscat and just walking from the ship to the shopping area and some mosques. And we were planning on just doing the Hop On/Hop Off in Penang. But today we got an off for excursions from an online company that has a Magical Muscat/Taste of Penang dual tour. My concern is we like to meander, eat here and there, see sights and not feel rushed. For tasting different foods I don't want to be handed 3 little things, hurried to eat and move on to the next place. Also it's Ramadan in Muscat when we go so not sure how that would affect organized tours. If we are on our own we just change our plans.

If you have done these tours and also done these cities on your own I would love to hear what our best option is. We have traveled all over, are very adventurous eaters and shoppers but also want to see all the key spots in these ports.

Thanks in advance

[Omega1]

We have done both Muscat and Penang on our own. In fact we are currently in Kuala Lumpur at the end of a two week diy trip to Borneo and Langkawi. Anyway, Muscat and Penang are very easy to do on your own. In Muscat we walked off the ship along the ‘promenade’ to the souk and then negotiated a 4 hour taxi tour to the royal palace and to the mosque (with other places) - the driver was great, spoke good English and very proud of his country. Can’t remember the cost of the taxi but it was a fraction of any other tours.

In Penang, again we got a taxi up Penang Hill for the views and then on to the impressive Kek Lok Si temple. We were then dropped off in Georgetown to wander around before finishing with a civilised afternoon tea at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel which is close to the port.

On our current trip, for taxis, we use the Grab app (Malaysian Uber) very efficient and cheap..

[tsutt35]

We did Penang on our own when we were there in 2016. We just wandered from the port for all of the day. I blogged about what we did with pictures if you are interested.

 

https://tanyastravelblog.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/would-you-like-piles-or-dressed-chicken-with-that/

 

[iancal]

We have been to Penang twice on land trips.  We enjoy it very much.  

 

I think that this is one of the easiest ports to do on your own.  I would not bother with any tours, especially tours that take you to the national park.  Very easy to spend an enjoyable day if you are OK with walking.  Lots of good places to eat, interesting streets.   The Indian section really changes at night.  Well worth touring at night depending on when your ship departs.