Phnom Penh: What to See and How to Visit
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Phnom Penh sits at the Chaktomuk confluence, the point where the Mekong, Tonle Sap, and Bassac rivers meet, and that river geography is still the shape of the city today: the riverside is where the Royal Palace, the National Museum, and most visitors’ hotels sit, while the harder history is a short tuk-tuk ride south. It’s a capital most travelers give 2-3 days on a wider Cambodia trip, before or after Siem Reap and Angkor Wat (a separate, roughly 5-6 hour trip north, not something to fold into a Phnom Penh visit) or the south coast. That’s an honest amount of time, not a compromise; the marquee list here is genuinely short.
Key facts
| Currency | US dollar for everything; Cambodian riel for change under $1 |
| Time needed | 2 days for the core, a heavy 3rd day for the memorials and markets |
| Entry | e-visa about $36 at evisa.gov.kh; e-Arrival Card at arrival.gov.kh mandatory for all air arrivals |
| Getting around | Tuk-tuks via PassApp/Grab; no metro; riverside and central core are walkable |
The Royal Palace, National Museum, and the old city
The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda (about $10) is a working royal residence, so it keeps morning and afternoon visiting sessions, roughly 7:30-11am and 2-5pm, rather than staying open all day; the dress code, shoulders and knees covered, is strictly enforced at the gate. 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. Wat Phnom ($1), the temple-topped hill the city takes its name from, ties back to the 1372 legend of Lady Penh, while Wat Ounalom, free with a donation welcome, is Cambodia’s Buddhist headquarters and a quieter stop near the river. For shopping, Central Market (Phsar Thmei), a bright-yellow 1937 Art Deco building, and the denser Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Poung) cover souvenirs, silk, and krama scarves; go to the Russian Market early, around 8am, and expect to bargain.
The memorial sites: a history to sit with, not a checklist
Two of the city’s most-visited sites exist because of the Khmer Rouge, the Pol Pot-led Democratic Kampuchea regime that 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, and forced labor, in what’s remembered as the Cambodian genocide.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21), a former high school converted into the regime’s central prison and interrogation center, held an estimated 14,000-20,000 people between 1975 and 1979, almost all of whom were killed; only around 12 are known to have survived. It’s preserved much as it was found in 1980, including cells, shackles, and thousands of the regime’s own prisoner photographs. Entry is about $5 ($3 youth) plus a worthwhile $5 audio guide, daily 8am-5pm; book direct at the official site . Choeung Ek, about 15km south (30-45 minutes by tuk-tuk), is the best-known of the killing fields, the execution and burial site for S-21 prisoners; its memorial stupa holds more than 5,000 recovered skulls, and of 129 identified mass graves, many remain unexcavated out of respect. Entry with audio guide is about $6, daily 7:30am-5:30pm. Most visitors pair the two in this order, Tuol Sleng then Choeung Ek, the same sequence prisoners went through, and treat it as a sober half-day rather than something to rush between other sightseeing.
Food and where to eat it
Fish amok (amok trey), a coconut fish curry steamed in a banana leaf, and nom banh chok, cold rice vermicelli under a green fish curry, are Cambodia’s two national dishes; bai sach chrouk (grilled pork and rice, sold at most stalls only until about 10am) and kuy teav (rice noodle soup) are the standard breakfasts, and lok lak, peppery stir-fried beef with a lime-pepper dip, is the easy dinner order. For a sit-down meal with a good cause behind it, Friends (215 Street 13) and Romdeng are genuine TREE Alliance/Friends-International restaurants that train at-risk youth.
Where this fits in a trip
Base yourself in Riverside/Daun Penh for the walk to the Palace and the Museum, in BKK1 for the café and nightlife scene, or in quieter Tonle Bassac near Aeon Mall; check rates on Booking.com for any of the three. For the full day-by-day plan, see the 2-day or 3-day itineraries, and for the practical side, visas, the new Techo airport, and safety notes, the Phnom Penh travel guide covers all of it.
One concrete note: Phnom Penh’s own marquee list is genuinely done by day three. Extra days are better spent on day trips like Koh Dach or Tonle Bati, or heading onward to Siem Reap or the coast, than searching for a fourth central sight that isn’t there.