3 Days in Phnom Penh: First-Timer Plan
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Three days is the first-timer sweet spot for Phnom Penh: two days for the Palace and the memorials, plus a third for the markets and the riverside. With less time, drop day three and use the 2-day plan ; with more, the 4-day version adds a Koh Dach day trip on top of this same spine.
Day 1: Royal Palace, National Museum, and the riverside
Start at the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda (about $10), open during the morning session, roughly 7:30-11am. It’s an active royal residence, so dress modestly, shoulders and knees covered, or you won’t get past the gate; budget 1.5-2 hours.
Walk a few minutes to the National Museum of Cambodia (about $10, $5 for youth; daily 8am-5pm), home to the world’s best collection of Khmer and Angkorian art in a red-brick building from 1917-20. No photos inside the galleries. For lunch, fish amok, the coconut fish curry steamed in banana leaf that’s Cambodia’s national dish, is the thing to order.
In the evening, walk Sisowath Quay, the riverside promenade facing the Palace at the visible meeting point of the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers, then dinner at Friends (215 Street 13), a genuine TREE Alliance restaurant that trains at-risk youth.
Day 2: Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek
This is a heavy day, and it’s meant to be. In the morning, visit Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21) (about $5 plus a worthwhile $5 audio guide, daily 8am-5pm), a former high school the Khmer Rouge converted into their central prison and interrogation center from 1975-79; an estimated 14,000-20,000 people were held here, almost all of them killed. Book direct at the official site rather than through a tour markup.
From there, take a tuk-tuk (30-45 minutes) to Choeung Ek, about 15km south, the best-known killing field and the execution site for prisoners sent from S-21 (about $6 including audio guide, daily 7:30am-5:30pm). The memorial stupa holds more than 5,000 recovered skulls. Doing the two sites in this order, detention then execution, follows the same sequence prisoners went through.
In the evening, decompress at the Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Poung) for souvenirs and silk.
Day 3: Central Market, Wat Ounalom, and a sunset cruise
In the morning, visit Central Market (Phsar Thmei), a striking bright-yellow Art Deco building from 1937 under a 26-meter dome, then walk to Wat Ounalom, Cambodia’s Buddhist headquarters and a quieter counterpoint to the busier temples, free to enter with a donation welcome.
In the afternoon, stop at the Independence Monument, a 37-meter lotus-shaped stupa designed by Vann Molyvann in 1958, a photo stop rather than a ticketed site. If you haven’t done it already, this is also a good slot for Wat Phnom ($1, roughly 7am-6pm), the hilltop temple the city is named for.
In the evening, take a sunset river cruise from Sisowath Quay, leaving around 5pm along the Tonle Sap-Mekong confluence; prices vary by operator, so check on the quay or through your hotel. If it lands on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, follow it with the riverside Night Market for food stalls and crafts.
Where to stay
Base yourself in Riverside/Daun Penh, walkable to the Palace, the Museum, and Sisowath Quay; the historic Raffles Hotel Le Royal anchors the area if you want a splurge, or search other options nearby .
Getting around
Tuk-tuks via the PassApp or Grab apps cover all three days without haggling over price. Keep bags away from the road: motorbike bag and phone snatching is a real riverfront and BKK problem, and the advice if it happens is to let the bag go rather than fight for it.
Concrete tip: do Tuol Sleng before Choeung Ek, not the other way round; the chronological order, detention then execution, is easier to sit with than the reverse. Plan ahead: file the Cambodia e-Arrival Card at arrival.gov.kh before you leave home, since it’s separate from your visa and checked at the airport.