Phnom Penh's Big Four Attractions
Four stops account for almost every ticket sold to a visitor in Phnom Penh, and knowing which two are somber before you buy changes how you plan the day.
Start with the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, the ceremonial residence of King Norodom Sihamoni since construction began in 1866. The Throne Hall alone is worth slowing down for, and the Silver Pagoda next door earns its name honestly: over 5,000 solid silver floor tiles, an Italian Baccarat crystal Buddha, and a 90 kilogram solid gold Maitreya Buddha under glass. There’s even a small iron pavilion gifted by Napoleon III sitting in the grounds, which nobody expects to find here. Admission is $10 USD per person, cash only in dollars or riel, no cards accepted, and one ticket covers both the palace and the pagoda. Cover your shoulders and knees; if you forget, free sarongs are available to borrow right at the gate.
Two of the four stops on this list are not attractions in the usual sense, and they should not be photographed or treated like one. Tuol Sleng (S-21) was an ordinary high school until 1975, when the Khmer Rouge converted it into an interrogation and torture center where more than 18,000 people were documented before execution. The preserved classrooms, the surviving torture beds, and the wall after wall of prisoner photographs are hard to walk past quickly, and the audio tour, built around survivor testimony from people like Vann Nath and Chum Mey, is worth the extra cost. Admission runs about $5 USD for adults (Cambodian nationals enter free), with the audio guide an additional $3 or so, though some ticket counters bundle both for around $6, so ask at the window rather than assume. Move through in silence, dress modestly, and do not pose for photos in the cells or courtyards, or photograph other visitors as they process what they are seeing.
Choeung Ek, 15 km south of downtown, is where prisoners from S-21 were executed, and the audio tour here, included in the $6 USD admission (about $3 for Cambodian nationals), leads past mass graves, the Killing Tree, and a memorial stupa holding more than 8,000 categorized human skulls. Stay quiet near the graves and the stupa, never climb on the grave markers or the stupa’s base, and never photograph the bone fragments that surface on the paths after rain.
Back to easier ground: the National Museum of Cambodia houses over 14,000 artifacts in a 1920 terracotta building built around a lotus pond courtyard, and its collection of ancient Khmer sculpture ranks among the best anywhere. Adult admission is $10 (ages 10 to 17 pay $5, Cambodian nationals 500 riel, children under 10 and school groups free), with an audio guide for about $5 more. It is open daily 08:00 to 17:00, but the last ticket sells at 16:30, so do not arrive at 16:45 expecting to slip in.
Round out the day at Wat Phnom, the 27 meter hilltop shrine that gave the city its name, founded in 1372 by the widow Daun Penh. It is free to wander the grounds, quick to climb, and the resident macaque monkeys stay entertaining as long as you keep food out of sight.
Verdict: pair the Royal Palace and National Museum in one morning, since both reward unhurried time, and treat S-21 and Choeung Ek as their own afternoon, not a rushed add-on before dinner. Bring cash in small bills for all four, since none of them run card machines reliably. For the wider view over the city these sights sit in, see the sightseeing guide .