Phnom Penh Travel Guide 2026: What to Know
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Phnom Penh’s core fits comfortably into two days: the Royal Palace, National Museum, and Wat Phnom on day one, then a deliberately sober day two for Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek, the two Khmer Rouge memorial sites most visitors come to see. A third day adds Central Market, the riverside, and a sunset cruise; past that, the city runs out of marquee sights and the itinerary leans on day trips like Koh Dach and Tonle Bati, or a longer coastal add-on to Kampot and Kep. Land at the new Techo International Airport (opened September 2025, about 25-30km south of downtown; the old Phnom Penh International Airport is now fully closed), file the mandatory e-Arrival Card before you fly, and carry clean USD bills. One thing this isn’t: Siem Reap. Angkor Wat is a separate trip, roughly 5-6 hours north, and doesn’t belong on a Phnom Penh itinerary.
Phnom Penh at a glance
| Days needed | 2 for the core, 3 with markets and a cruise, 4+ with day trips |
| Best months | November-February (dry season) |
| Entry | e-visa about $36 at evisa.gov.kh, or visa on arrival about $30 |
| One thing to do before you fly | File the Cambodia e-Arrival Card at arrival.gov.kh (mandatory since Jan 2025) |
Getting in: the new airport, visas, and the e-Arrival Card
Phnom Penh’s airport changed in 2025. Techo International Airport (KTI), about 25-30km south of the city, opened 9 September 2025 and is now the only option; the old Phnom Penh International Airport (Pochentong) closed for good the day before and is being turned into a park. Budget 45-75 minutes for the transfer into town.
Most nationalities need a visa: an e-visa through the official evisa.gov.kh runs about $36 total ($30 plus a $6 processing fee) for 30 days, or you can get a visa on arrival for about $30. Your passport needs at least 6 months’ validity. ASEAN nationals get 30 days visa-free. Separately, and easy to miss, every air arrival must file the Cambodia e-Arrival Card at arrival.gov.kh , a requirement since January 2025; file it within 7 days before you land, since it’s checked alongside your visa.
The memorial sites: Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek
Two of Phnom Penh’s most-visited sites document one of the 20th century’s worst atrocities, and they’re worth approaching that way rather than as stops on a highlights list. The Khmer Rouge, the Pol Pot-led Democratic Kampuchea regime, ruled Cambodia from 17 April 1975 until it fell to Vietnamese forces in early January 1979. An estimated 1.7 to 2.2 million people died, roughly a quarter of the population, from execution, starvation under forced agrarian labor, and disease. It’s remembered as the Cambodian genocide.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21) was a Phnom Penh high school the Khmer Rouge converted into their central prison and interrogation center. An estimated 14,000-20,000 people were held here between 1975 and 1979, almost all of them killed; only around 12 are known to have survived, among them the painters Vann Nath and Bou Meng. It opened as a museum in 1980 and still holds the original cells, shackles, and thousands of the regime’s own prisoner photographs; it’s a heavy, graphic visit. Official entry is about $5 ($3 for youth) plus a worthwhile $5 audio guide in 11 languages, daily 8am-5pm; book directly through the official site rather than a tour markup.
Choeung Ek, about 15km south of the city (30-45 minutes by tuk-tuk), is the best-known of the Khmer Rouge’s killing fields, the execution and burial site for prisoners sent from S-21. The memorial stupa holds more than 5,000 skulls recovered from the mass graves; of 129 identified graves, many are left unexcavated out of respect (8,895 bodies have been recovered from the ones that were). The Killing Tree and the so-called Magic Tree, where loudspeakers once masked the sounds from the site, are marked and explained on the included audio guide. Bone fragments still surface seasonally after rain; staff collect them daily. Entry with audio guide runs about $6, daily 7:30am-5:30pm.
Most visitors pair the two into one sober half-day, Tuol Sleng first (detention), then Choeung Ek (execution), the same order prisoners went through. Neither site takes affiliate bookings; go through the official channels above rather than a third-party markup.
Royal Palace, National Museum, and the rest of the marquee sights
The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda (about $10) is an active royal residence, so parts are off-limits and it keeps morning and afternoon visiting sessions (roughly 7:30-11am and 2-5pm) rather than staying open all day. The dress code is strict, shoulders and knees covered or you’ll be turned away at the gate, stricter than what you’d get away with in Bangkok. No photos inside the Throne Hall or the Silver Pagoda itself. Budget 1.5-2 hours.
A few minutes’ walk away, the National Museum of Cambodia (about $10, $5 for youth; daily 8am-5pm) holds the world’s best collection of Khmer and Angkorian art in a red-brick building from 1917-20; no photos in the galleries. Wat Phnom ($1, roughly 7am-6pm) is the hilltop temple the city is named for, tied to the 1372 legend of Lady Penh. Wat Ounalom, Cambodia’s Buddhist headquarters and said to hold a Buddha eyebrow-hair relic, is free (donation welcome) and a quieter counterpoint near the river.
For shopping, Central Market (Phsar Thmei) is a striking bright-yellow Art Deco building from 1937 under a 26-meter dome, while the Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Poung) is denser and better for souvenirs, silk, and krama scarves; go early, around 8am, and expect to bargain. The Independence Monument, a 37-meter lotus-shaped stupa designed by Vann Molyvann in 1958, is a photo stop rather than a ticketed site. Sisowath Quay, the riverside promenade facing the Palace, sits right at the visible confluence of the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers; sunset cruises leave from here around 5pm, and the Night Market runs Friday through Sunday with food stalls and crafts.
Food: fish amok, lok lak, and where to eat it
Fish amok (amok trey), a coconut fish curry steamed in a banana leaf, is Cambodia’s national dish; nom banh chok, cold rice vermicelli under a green fish curry, is the other one, usually eaten as breakfast alongside bai sach chrouk (grilled pork and rice, sold at most stalls only until about 10am) and kuy teav (rice noodle soup). Lok lak, peppery stir-fried beef with a lime-pepper dip, is the easy dinner order. Cambodia grows Kampot pepper, an EU-protected product worth seeking out certified; iced Khmer coffee with condensed milk is the local pick-me-up.
For a sit-down meal with a good cause attached, Friends (215 Street 13) and Romdeng are genuine TREE Alliance/Friends-International restaurants that train at-risk youth, and both serve solid Khmer food.
Where to stay
Riverside/Daun Penh is the central, walkable base near the Palace, home to the historic Raffles Hotel Le Royal. BKK1 (Boeung Keng Kang 1) is the upscale expat and café district, where the Rosewood Phnom Penh sits atop Vattanac Capital Tower. Tonle Bassac is quieter and closer to Aeon Mall. Cambodia is inexpensive across all three areas; book by area if you don’t have a specific hotel in mind. Check rates on Booking.com before booking.
Getting around and staying safe
Tuk-tuks (use the PassApp or Grab apps to lock in a price and skip the haggling) and motodops cover the city; there’s no metro, though the riverside and central core are walkable. The realistic safety issues are petty rather than violent: motorbike bag and phone snatching happens along the riverfront and in BKK, so keep bags away from the road, don’t use your phone near passing traffic, and don’t fight a snatcher for a bag. Tuk-tuk overcharging, gem scams, and fake-monk donation requests are common tourist-targeted hustles, and Street 51 and the Pontoon area have had drink-spiking reports. Tap water isn’t potable, stick to bottled, and dengue is a rainy-season risk from day-biting mosquitoes. Money-wise, USD is used everywhere and riel (about 4,000 to the dollar) covers small change under $1; ATMs dispense USD for a $4-6 fee, and Cambodia refuses torn or pre-2006 bills, so bring clean $10s and $20s. Tipping around 5-10% is appreciated, not required.
One unrelated flag worth a single line: the Thailand border, roughly 400km from Phnom Penh, remains a do-not-travel area under a fragile ceasefire signed 27 December 2025. It has no bearing on a Phnom Penh trip.
When to go
November through February is the dry season and the best window, cooler and comfortable. March-May runs brutally hot, 38-40°C or higher; September-October is the wettest stretch of the May-October monsoon. If your dates land around 23-26 November 2026, that’s the Water Festival (Bon Om Touk), Phnom Penh’s biggest riverside event, with huge crowds, so book accommodation ahead.
Is 2 days enough for Phnom Penh?
Yes, for the essentials: Royal Palace and National Museum on day one, Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek on day two. Three days adds Central Market, the riverside, and a sunset cruise without rushing. Past day three, the city’s marquee list is genuinely done, and extra days are better spent on day trips like Koh Dach or Tonle Bati, or a coastal overnight to Kampot and Kep, than searching for more central sights.
Is Angkor Wat in Phnom Penh?
No. Angkor Wat is in Siem Reap, about 300km and 5-6 hours away by road (or a short flight), and it’s its own multi-day trip. It doesn’t belong on a Phnom Penh itinerary or day-trip list.
Plan the rest of your trip
For the full day-by-day spine, see the 2-day , 3-day , or 4-day itineraries, or the longer 5-day , 6-day , and 7-day versions for day trips and a coastal add-on. For a city-overview take, see what to see in Phnom Penh .
One concrete tip: file the e-Arrival Card at arrival.gov.kh before you leave home. It’s separate from the visa, easy to forget, and checked on arrival alongside it.