We did this route in the opposite direction several years ago, but obviously, things have changed. The fast ferry that used to run between Penang and Langkawi, often referred to as the “vomit comet” now no longer runs. (It was another victim of the pandemic), but this doesn’t mean that you can’t travel this route. You’ll need to consider flying from Penang to Langkawi or taking a combination of buses and a ferry. There are two different ferry ports to consider, and a few different bus options too. I’ve detailed the least complicated, which is also – apart from flying – the quickest route from Penang to Langkawi. And I’ve also covered all the details you need for taking alternative routes. Here’s our guide on how to get from Penang to Langkawi.
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Where is Penang?
Penang is both the Malaysian state and the island of Penang. However, when most people are talking about Penang they mean the island of Penang. And most are heading to the capital, George Town, which is the capital of the state of Penang. Penang state is south and west of the state of Kedah and to the north of Perak.
It is 110 kilometers (68 miles) from Penang to Langkawi as the crow flies. The shortest distance to travel this route by a combination of ferry and bus is about 217 kilometers (135 miles). Firstly it’s 3.8 kilometers (2.4 miles) across the Straits from George Town to the mainland on the ferry. The bus from Penang Sentral (the bus terminal on mainland Malaysia) to Kuala Perlis is 174 kilometers (108 miles). Finally the ferry to Langkawi from Kuala Perlis (the closest ferry port) is about of 39 kilometers (24 miles).
If you’re looking to do this route in the opposite direction – i.e. Langkawi to Penang, then I wrote about that here.
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How to Go from Penang to Langkawi – Transport Options
In this guide on how to go from Penang to Langkawi, we’ll cover the fastest way to travel from Penang to Langkawi, the easiest way to go to Langkawi from Penang, and the cheapest way to get to Langkawi from Penang, as well as the most fun way to get to Langkawi from Penang. Our guide on the best things to do in Langkawi is here.
How to get to Langkawi from Penang
For transport from Penang to Langkawi, then you have several options. The fastest option is to fly. Flights from Penang to Langkawi take about 45 minutes, but you’ll have to get to the airport, check-in and wait. And then get from the airport at the other end. I’ll cover the options for all of that. The cheapest option is to take a bus from Penang to one of the two ports on the Malaysian mainland near Langkawi, and then take a ferry to Langkawi from there. I’ll cover both bus and ferry port options and explain why we took the route that we did.
Flights from Penang to Langkawi
As the crow flies it is 110 kilometers (68 miles) from Penang to Langkawi. And that makes it a short flight. You’ll spend more time in the airport than you will on the plane for this flight. There are usually 5 flights a day from Penang to Langkawi, but AirAsia has the best schedules.
- Air Asia – check Air Asia flights from Penang to Langkawi here
- Firefly – check Firefly flights to Langkawi from Penang here
These flights tend to be cheap – sometimes from as little as US$20 (but don’t forget any charges for bags too. You’ll leave from Penang Airport (PEN) and land at Langkawi Airport (LGK). The first flight is usually around 09:20 and the last flight to Langkawi from Penang is around 20:00. Schedules differ during the seasons.
- Check fares for morning flights from PEN to LGK
- Check fares for afternoon flights from Penang to Langkawi
- Check fares for evening flights to Langkawi from Penang
Getting from George Town to Penang Airport
Penang’s airport is 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) from George Town. To get to Penang Airport from George Town, you can take a bus (the 102 goes from the Komtar Bus Terminal and it takes about an hour). Alternatively, take a taxi or a Grab. A Grab from George Town to Penang Airport costs about 20 RM, depending on the time of day and demand.
Getting from Langkawi Airport to Pantai Cenang
When you arrive at Langkawi Airport you’re about 7 kilometers (4 miles) from Pantai Cenang, which is the main tourist area. A Grab costs about 11 RM (again, depending on demand).
Warning About Grabs and Taxis in Langkawi
Langkawi is seeing increased tourism traffic these days and gets a regular set of cruise ship passengers. If you’re arriving when there’s a cruise ship in town, then you can expect delays for taxis and Grabs AND surge pricing. When we arrived in Langkawi, a Grab that would usually cost about 26 RM, cost us 42 RM because demand was so high. And we had to wait around 25 minutes for it to arrive! Consider pre-booking a transfer in Langkawi!
Bus and Ferry to Langkawi from Penang
The direct ferry from Penang to Langkawi has NOT run for several years. So now you’ll need to get to one of the mainland Malaysia ports that run ferries to Langkawi. These two ports are Kuala Kedah (closer to Penang) and Kuala Perlis.
I’ll cover using the route Penang – Kuala Perlis – Langkawi first, as to my mind it’s easier and less hassle than going from Penang to Kuala Kedah to Langkawi.
Penang to Kuala Perlis to Langkawi – Bus and Ferry
Buses from Penang to Kuala Perlis leave from the Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal on Penang Island, they then cross the Straits via the Penang Bridge and call at the Penang Sentral Bus Terminal and collect more passengers. The bus makes one more stop, at Alor Setar before terminating at Kuala Perlis.
The bus from Penang takes around 3 hours to get to Kuala Perlis. So if you take the 09:00 bus from Sungai Nibong (or the 09:30 from Penang Sentral), then you will be able to catch the 13:00 ferry from Kuala Perlis to Langkawi. You should pre-book the bus here.
You can book the bus with Busonlineticket here – or with Easybook here – the benefit of booking with Easybook, if you’re departing from Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal, is that you do NOT have to pay the 2 RM “boarding pass fee!
And also pre-book your ferry. If the bus is delayed, you do NOT want to be stood in a line trying to buy a ticket for the ferry! There are passenger ferries from Kuala Perlis to Langkawi at 07:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:30, 15:00, 17:00 and 19:00.
The fast passenger ferry from Kuala Perlis to Langkawi is scheduled to take 1 hour and 5 minutes. (Ours took about 1 hour and 15 minutes).
The 09:00 bus from Penang Sungai Nibong and the 13:00 ferry from Kuala Perlis are the BEST options for going from Penang to Langkawi. This is the QUICKEST bus and ferry option from Penang to Langkawi.
Penang to Alor Setar to Kuala Kedah to Langkawi – Bus and Ferry
The other ferry port on the Malaysian mainland is Kuala Kedah, so you can also take a ferry from Kuala Kedah to Langkawi. However. Buses from Penang do NOT go to Kuala Kedah, they go to Alor Star, which is about 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) from Kuala Kedah. So you’ll need to either take a minibus or a Grab from Alor Setar to Kuala Kedah.
The bus from Penang Sungai Nibong to Alor Setar is the same bus as I mentioned above. You can also join this bus at Penang Sentral. But you’ll need to prebook the seats. The bus takes 2 hours from Penang Sungai Nibgon to Alor Setar.
Then it will take you about 15 minutes to go from Alor Setar to Kuala Kedah (assuming that you can pick up a Grab or a taxi, which *should* be plentiful).
So you (assuming no delays), will be in time to catch the 14:00 ferry from Kuala Kedah to Langkawi. The fast passenger ferry from Kuala Kedah to Langkawi takes about 90 minutes, as it’s a slightly longer journey than the route above.
You should book the ferry from Kuala Kedah here as if you get there and there are no tickets left, you’ll be waiting for the next available ferry. There are ferries from Kuala Kedah to Langkawi at 14:00, 15:00, 17:00, and 19:00. There is also a car ferry that leaves at 13:30.
If you want to travel from Penang to Langkawi via the Kuala Kedah route, then the best times for buses and ferries to catch for the most pleasant journey are
09:00 bus from Penang Sungai Nibong Terminal (or 09:30 from Penang Sentral): Book the bus here
14:00 ferry from Kuala Kedah to Langkawi. Book the ferry here.
Map of Bus Stops and Ferry Terminals for going from Penang to Langkawi
You can also see the full map of bus terminals and ferry ports for going from Penang to Langkawi here
Popular Routes in Malaysia
Traveling around Malaysia? Here’s some of the most popular routes and the best ways to go between these places.
- How to go from Langkawi to Koh Lipe
- How to go from Penang to Cameron Highlands
- How to go from Krabi to Langkawi
- How to go from Langkawi to Penang
- How to go from Cameron Highlands to Melaka
- How to go from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan
- How to go from Labuan to Brunei
- How to go from Kota Kinabalu to Labuan Island
- How to go from Brunei to Miri
- How to go from Ipoh to Penang
- KLIA2 to Ipoh – buses, transfers and trains
- How to go to George Town from Ipoh
- How to go from Kota Bharu to Sungai Kolok
- How to go from Singapore to the Perhentian Islands
- Penang to Langkawi
- How to go from Melaka to Kuala Lumpur
The quickest way to get from Penang to Langkawi
It is quickest to fly from Penang to Langkawi. It takes about 40 minutes to fly to Langkawi from Penang and you can book flights from Penang to Langkawi here.
The easiest way to go to Langkawi from Penang
I think that the bus and ferry combination from Penang to Langkawi via Kuala Perlis is the best option. You can book the bus from Penang to Kuala Perlis here and the ferry from Kuala Perlis to Langkawi here.
The cheapest way to go from Penang to Langkawi
The cheapest way to get to Langkawi from Penang is to take the bus and ferry combination.
Our trip from Penang to Langkawi
We took a Grab from our apartment in the east of George Town to the Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal. We had to wait around 10 minutes for the Grab, which was the longest time we’d waited during our week in Penang.
On arrival at the Sungai Nibong bus terminal, you have to get a boarding pass for the bus. It will cost you 2 RM per person (unless you have booked your bus tickets with Easybook when the boarding pass is free). This 2 RM is a terminal/boarding pass fee.
There is NOTHING at this bus terminal currently, apart from a small shop upstairs with the usual packaged snacks. The whole upstairs is undergoing renovation/building work, although the toilets here are clean and usable. Do NOT plan on getting breakfast or food here.
After handing over my phone with the tickets on, and the 2 RM per person boarding pass, I got screenshots of the boarding details for the bus, plus a piece of paper with the registration plate of the bus, so we’d know which one it was. There was only one Plusliner bus scheduled at 09:00, so we easily knew which it was going to be.
The buses pull into “any platform”. And they’ll arrive about 10 minutes before they’re scheduled to depart. Everyone on this bus has a numbered seat, so there’s no scrum to get the best seats.
The A/C worked well. There are curtains on this bus for the sun (sit on the LEFT HAND SIDE to avoid the sun in the morning for this route). There’s luggage storage underneath, but there is NO overhead storage in the passenger compartment, so any bags you bring into the bus have to go by your legs, under the seats, or on your lap.
There were no working seatbelts on this bus, and there was no mask mandate, although 50% of passengers wore a mask.
We set off on time, and Google Maps initially showed that we would NOT be catching our scheduled 13:00 ferry (we did, and with plenty of time). Our first stop was at 09:30 at Penang Sentral, where we picked up several more passengers and were then full.
The next stop was at Alor Setar, where about 40% of the passengers got off. The bus was on time (taking two hours from Penang Sungai Nibong to Alor Setar) and we continued to Kuala Perlis, where we arrived at 12:05.
From the bus terminal at Kuala Perlis, it’s a 200-meter walk to the Kuala Perlis jetty building. It’s signposted FREQUENTLY. You can’t get lost. Simply walk out the way that the bus drove in and you’ll see the signs.
The booking hall is on the left-hand side of the road as you walk towards the ferry terminal. If you’ve already bought your tickets then simply join the line, scan your tickets on the barriers and you’re in the waiting room area. There are (clean and plentiful) toilets in the waiting area but NO other facilities, so if you need food or drinks you must get them BEFORE you scan your tickets.
The doors opened for ferry boarding about 15 minutes before departure time. There was no further ticket check needed. We joined the line and boarded the boat. We opted for regular seats (although we didn’t get a choice of seat when booking), each seat is numbered and allocated on booking. There are 7 seats in the center of the boat and 4 on each side near the windows. The 7 seats in the middle really only fit about 5 people – but we all squeezed in. It’s only an hour and 5 minutes, but it wasn’t the most comfortable of seats, based on the hips and shoulders of our fellow passengers!
Your big bags go in a “baggage” area.
As you have a numbered and allocated seat, I would board LATER, rather than earlier, then your bag will be on the top of the pile of bags and you’ll be able to get it out earlier and get off the ferry sooner. Why? Because when a full passenger ferry disgorges in Langkawi on a day when there’s also a cruise ship in there is a BIG demand for taxis and Grabs. That means delays and also surge pricing (not far off double the regular pricing!). So if you want to avoid this, prebook a transfer for your arrival in Langkawi.
The ferry arrives at the Kuah Terminal in Langkawi, which is about 20-25 minutes from Pantai Cenang, the main tourist area on the island. Our Grab drive was friendly, the car was comfortable and he regaled us with how much the island has changed since we were here last and how regular the cruise ship trade is, so he “hadn’t stopped for two days”. Good to hear that the tourism business has picked back up again.
And that’s it. Our easy journey from Penang to Langkawi.
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Final Words on How to Go from Penang to Langkawi
It’s a bit of a shame that the fast ferry from Penang to Langkawi no longer runs, as it was easy and fun (despite the awful names that it got), but the bus and ferry options to do this route are easy to manage, and if you pick the right timed buses and ferries (which I’ve covered above), then it is easy to go from Penang to Langkawi in a day.
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