Best Photo Spots In Phnom Penh
One note before the list: Angkor Wat is not a Phnom Penh photo spot. It’s in Siem Reap, about 300km and 5-6 hours away, a separate trip entirely; if sunrise-over-Angkor shots are the goal, plan for Siem Reap directly rather than expecting to work it into a Phnom Penh visit.
Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda
Gold roofs, tiered stupas, and manicured gardens make the Palace grounds the most straightforwardly photogenic stop in the city. Sessions run roughly 7:30-11am and 2-5pm; the softer light in the first hour after opening beats midday, when the gold roofing turns hard and glary. No photography is allowed inside the Throne Hall or the Silver Pagoda itself, so plan for exteriors and courtyards.
Sisowath Quay at sunset
The riverside promenade facing the Palace looks out over the Chaktomuk confluence, where the Mekong, Tonle Sap, and Bassac rivers meet, and it’s genuinely one of the better sunset views in Southeast Asia when the sky cooperates. A sunset river cruise, typically an hour to 90 minutes, gets you the same light from the water, boats and the skyline included in the frame.
Central Market (Psar Thmei)
The bright yellow Art Deco dome, built in 1937, is one of the more distinctive pieces of architecture in the city, both from outside for the full building and from underneath the central dome looking up. Morning light through the market’s arched windows is the best window before the crowds and heat build.
Wat Phnom
The temple-topped hill the city is named for gives you a green, elevated vantage point close to downtown, with the temple itself, the surrounding stupas, and city views from the base of the hill. It’s compact enough to shoot in 30-45 minutes even on a tight schedule.
Independence Monument
Vann Molyvann’s 1958 lotus-stupa design reads well both in daylight and lit at night, and the wide roundabout it sits on gives you room to frame it against traffic or, if you time it right, an empty street.
Chroy Changvar Peninsula
Across the river from the confluence, this peninsula gives you the reverse angle: the Phnom Penh skyline and the Palace from the water side, with fewer people in frame than the Sisowath Quay side offers.
For where these fit into a day, see the Phnom Penh travel guide , and for planning around sunset timing and crowds, the 2-day itinerary sequences the Palace and riverside across a realistic first day.