Bukit Mertajam
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Bukit Mertajam

Bukit Mertajam

Mainland Penang town with an old trading centre and Chinese temples beneath Bukit Mertajam hill.

Bukit Mertajam is a town on the mainland side of Penang state, across the channel from George Town. It is rarely on tourist itineraries, but it has a genuine, unhurried character that makes it worth a stop if you are passing through. The town grew around the tin and rubber trades and has a compact old centre with Chinese shophouses, Indian temples, and a lively morning market.

The main landmark is Bukit Mertajam hill itself, a 443-metre peak with hiking trails through tropical forest. The climb is popular with locals on weekends and offers views across the Penang strait to the island. At the base of the hill, the Cherok Tok Kun recreational forest has easier walks and picnic spots. The town is a junction on the main north-south rail line — Bukit Mertajam railway station is one of the most important junctions in Malaysia — and well connected by bus to George Town, Butterworth, and other mainland Penang towns.

The old town shophouse quarter around Jalan Kulim has pre-war Chinese shophouses in varying states of preservation, with old coffeeshops still operating at street level. The Jit Sin National Type Chinese High School, founded in 1918, is one of the surviving Chinese-medium secondary schools in Malaysia and a landmark of the district's educational tradition.

Guide

Eating Out

Bukit Mertajam's food scene is firmly local and largely unexplored by tourists. The town's mix of Hokkien Chinese, Malay, and Tamil communities makes for a varied range of food stalls and small restaurants. Char koay teow — the flat rice noodle dish fried with prawns, cockles, and egg — is the signature street food of mainland Penang, and several well-regarded stalls operate in the old town. Look for the smoky wok char at evening hawker centres around Jalan Pasar and near the bus station.

Guide

Getting Around

The old town centre is compact and walkable. Motorbike taxis and Grab are the practical options for reaching the hill trailhead at Cherok Tok Kun, which is about 3 kilometres from the railway station. Local buses connect the town to surrounding villages and to Butterworth. George Town on Penang island is around 30 minutes away by taxi or Grab via the Penang Bridge.

Guide

Getting There

Bukit Mertajam sits on the main KTM Intercity rail line between Kuala Lumpur and Butterworth (for the Penang ferry). Intercity trains from KL take around 4 hours; it is also a quick 20-minute hop from Butterworth. The station is the most convenient arrival point.

By road, the town is easily reached from George Town via the Penang Bridge — the mainland-side expressway junction leads directly into Bukit Mertajam. Buses run from Butterworth bus terminal and from Penang Sentral. From Kuala Lumpur, intercity buses serve the town directly, or take a bus to Butterworth and change.

Guide

Things to Do

Bukit Mertajam is not a major tourist destination, but it rewards those who take the time to look around. The hill itself is the main draw — the climb through tropical forest is popular with local families at weekends, and the views across the Penang strait are good on clear days. The old town centre has genuine character: Chinese shophouses in varying states of preservation, Tamil temples, and a market culture that remains rooted in the town's working life rather than shaped for visitors.