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Phnom Penh, Cambodia, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)
▶ Video · Phnom Penh on Foot
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Top 10AsiaCambodia

Top 10 Things To Do in Phnom Penh

Country
Cambodia
Best months
Nov · Dec · Jan
Population
~2.3M
Language
Khmer
Budget / day
$40–80
Quick answer

The best things to do in Phnom Penh are the Royal Palace with its Silver Pagoda, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the Choeung Ek memorial 15 kilometres south, the National Museum and Wat Phnom, the hill the city is named after. Two days covers all five. A third buys the Russian Market and an hour on the water at sunset. Come between November and February.

Phnom Penh on Foot

▶ Video guide

Phnom Penh sits where the Mekong, the Tonle Sap and the Bassac meet, which is why the French made it the capital of their Indochinese protectorate and why the Khmer court moved back here in 1866. The city reads in layers: colonial villas and a domed market on top of a royal quarter, with the prison a few kilometres south.

The 10 best things to do in Phnom Penh

Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
1

Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda

Palace· Samdach Sothearos Boulevard, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh

Norodom moved the court back from Oudong in the 1860s and built here at the confluence. Visitors get the ceremonial half: a Throne Hall spired with the four faces of Brahma, and a pagoda whose floor is laid with more than 5,000 solid silver tiles. It closes for state occasions, so check before you set out.

Time2 hrs
CostTicket
Best atMorning
TipShoulders and knees have to be covered for both the palace and the pagoda
Map
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21), Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21)

Museum· Street 113, Sangkat Boeung Keng Kang 3, Khan Boeung Keng Kang, Phnom Penh

Between 1975 and 1979 the Khmer Rouge turned a suburban high school into Security Prison 21. Estimates of the number held start at 12,000 and almost none survived. The museum has changed very little: classrooms are still divided into brick cells, and one whole building is hung with the photographs the prison took of everyone who arrived.

Time2 hrs
Cost$5
Best atEarly
TipDo S-21 first and Choeung Ek after
↗ WebsiteMap
3

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center

Memorial· Roluos village, Sangkat Choeung Ek, Khan Dangkao, Phnom Penh

Fifteen kilometres south, a former orchard is where prisoners from S-21 were brought to be killed. The memorial stupa holds more than 5,000 skulls behind glass, and the path passes the excavated pits. Cloth and bone still surface after heavy rain, which is why the walkways are raised.

Time2 hrs
Cost$6
Best atMorning
TipA tuk-tuk out
↗ WebsiteMap
National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
4

National Museum of Cambodia

Museum· Corner of Streets 13 and 178, Sangkat Chey Chumneas, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh

The terracotta pavilion opened in 1920 and holds the largest collection of Khmer art anywhere: more than 14,000 objects from pre-Angkorian sculpture to the bronze reclining Vishnu from the Western Mebon. Four galleries run around a courtyard of lotus ponds, so you walk out into it rather than through.

Time1.5 hrs
Cost$10
Best atLate afternoon
TipIt stands directly north of the Royal Palace
↗ WebsiteMap
Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
5

Wat Phnom

Temple· Norodom Boulevard, Sangkat Wat Phnom, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh

The city is named after this hill and after the woman said to have founded the shrine on it, who legend has finding four bronze Buddhas inside a tree washed up in 1372. At 27 metres it is the highest point in Phnom Penh. A working temple: people come before exams, court cases and business deals.

Time45 min
CostSmall fee
Best atLate afternoon
TipReleasing a caged bird is sold at the gate as merit making
Map
Central Market (Phsar Thmey), Phnom Penh, Cambodia
6

Central Market (Phsar Thmey)

Market· Kampuchea Krom Boulevard, Sangkat Phsar Thmei 1, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh

Opened in 1937 on a drained lake, and its ochre art deco cross of four arms under a 26 metre dome was the largest market building in Southeast Asia. The plan does the work of signage: gold and gemstones in the rotunda, watches and fabric down the arms. Opening prices are set high and expected to be negotiated.

Time1 hr
CostFree
Best atMorning
TipBe here before 10:00
Map
Sunset on Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
7

Sunset on Sisowath Quay

Riverfront· Sisowath Quay, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh

Two kilometres of promenade along the Tonle Sap, and where the city goes in the last hour of daylight: aerobics classes with speakers, food carts, kite sellers. The confluence is the thing to look at: the Tonle Sap reverses direction twice a year, which is what the Water Festival marks.

Time2 hrs
CostFree
Best atSunset
TipAgree the boat price and the duration in cash before you board
Map
Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Poung), Phnom Penh, Cambodia
8

Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Poung)

Market· Street 163 at Street 444, Sangkat Toul Tum Poung 1, Khan Boeung Keng Kang, Phnom Penh

The name is a leftover from the 1980s and it stuck. Under a low tin roof are the souvenir aisles the city actually recommends: silk, silver, Kampot pepper, carved wood and factory-overrun clothing. The food court in the middle is one of the better cheap meals in the city.

Time1.5 hrs
CostFree
Best atMorning
TipThe aisles are narrow
Map
Independence Monument and Wat Botum Park, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
9

Independence Monument and Wat Botum Park

Landmark· Norodom Boulevard at Sihanouk Boulevard, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh

Vann Molyvann designed the monument for the ninth anniversary of independence, and it is the clearest surviving statement of New Khmer Architecture: a lotus-shaped tower built to the proportions of an Angkorian prasat. It is floodlit at night and hosts the Independence Day ceremony.

Time30 min
CostFree
Best atAfter dark
TipThe monument stands on a traffic island in a busy junction
Map
10

Koh Dach, the silk island

Day trip· Koh Dach, Khan Chroy Changvar, Phnom Penh

Fifteen kilometres upriver is a low island the city treats as its weekend: farmland, stilt houses, and households weaving silk on wooden looms set under the floor. Small workshops sell at the loom, and a sandbank beach fills with Khmer families on Sundays.

TimeHalf day
CostFerry fare
Best atMorning
TipRent a bicycle on the island rather than keeping the tuk-tuk
Map

9 of the 10, mapped

Phnom Penh · 9 spots
AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Phnom Penh travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Phnom Penh?+
Two covers the essentials: the Royal Palace, the National Museum and Wat Phnom on one day, S-21 and Choeung Ek on the other. A third buys the Russian Market, an hour on the water at sunset and the silk villages of Koh Dach. Most itineraries treat the city as a stop, and two nights is the usual length.
Should you visit Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields?+
Yes, and in that order. S-21 is the prison and Choeung Ek is where its prisoners were taken, so doing the memorial first leaves the story backwards. Both are hard, both have audio guides narrated in part by survivors, and neither suits young children. Give the pair a full morning and plan something undemanding after it.
Is Phnom Penh safe for visitors?+
Bag snatching from passing motorbikes is the common problem, particularly along the riverfront and after dark. Carry a bag on the side away from the traffic, keep your phone out of your hand in the street, and book a tuk-tuk through an app late at night. Violent crime against visitors is rare.
Do you use dollars or riel in Phnom Penh?+
Both, often in the same transaction. Prices are usually quoted in US dollars, ATMs dispense them, and change under a dollar comes back in riel at roughly 4,000 to the dollar. Bring clean notes, because torn or heavily marked dollars are often refused. Cards work in hotels and larger restaurants and almost nowhere else.
When is the best time to visit Phnom Penh?+
November to February, the cool end of the dry season, when highs sit in the low thirties and the humidity drops enough to walk in the afternoon. March to May is the hot season and April regularly passes 38°C. The rains run roughly May to October, usually as one hard hour in the afternoon rather than all day.
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Phnom Penh

Six kitchens covering the range: the restaurant that made the case for Khmer fine dining, two that train former street youth, and a brasserie of the kind the city has kept since the protectorate.
All 6 restaurants →
Book ahead
Norodom Boulevard

Malis

Khmer fine dining

The restaurant most often used to argue that Khmer cooking belongs beside Thai and Vietnamese. Regional rather than tourist: prahok ktis, amok, Kampot crab.

Map
Street 174

Romdeng

Training restaurant, Khmer

A restored French villa staffed by young Cambodians in training with a social programme. Country Khmer dishes, plus the crisp tarantula.

Map
Friends the RestaurantStreet 13

Friends the Restaurant

Tapas, same programme

The original training restaurant, near the National Museum, working in small plates and fruit shakes. The easiest lunch in the palace quarter.

Map
Pasteur, Street 51

Khéma

French brasserie and bakery

Charcuterie, terrines, a bread counter and a wine list, at prices unremarkable here and absurd in Paris. The bakery half is the reason to know it.

Map
Eleven One KitchenBoeung Keng Kang

Eleven One Kitchen

Modern Khmer, garden seating

A small local group cooking Khmer dishes with an eye on presentation, in garden courtyards. Reliable amok and lok lak below the fine dining end.

Map
Central

Sombok

Traditional Khmer, quiet room

Wooden interiors, a long menu of home-style Khmer cooking and a room quiet enough for a conversation. The food without the show.

Map
What to buy

Best markets and shopping in Phnom Penh

Five places to shop, from a 1937 art deco dome to the wholesale market where the city actually buys its food.
All 5 markets and shopping →
Central Market (Phsar Thmey)Daun Penh

Central Market (Phsar Thmey)

Art deco, 1937

Gold and gemstones under the rotunda, then watches, fabric and flowers down each arm. Worth walking through for the building alone.

Map
Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Poung)Toul Tom Poung

Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Poung)

Silk, silver, Kampot pepper

The souvenir market the city recommends, and the one with a food court worth eating in. All of it negotiable.

Map
Phnom Penh Night Market (Phsar Reatrey)Sisowath Quay

Phnom Penh Night Market (Phsar Reatrey)

Open air, on the riverfront

An open-air market on the riverfront after dark, with a food section where you eat sitting on mats. Easy to fold into a walk down the quay.

Map
Prampi Makara

Phsar Orussey

The market locals use

Three floors and almost no visitors. Where the city buys food, kitchenware and hardware at close to wholesale. Come for the prices and the noise.

Map
Aeon Mall Phnom PenhTonle Bassac

Aeon Mall Phnom Penh

Air conditioning and a cinema

The first of the Japanese-owned malls, with a supermarket, a cinema and an ice rink. Where the city goes when the temperature passes 38.

Map
Where to pray

Best temples and pagodas in Phnom Penh

Four working pagodas, all of them among the five the city counts as its oldest.
All 4 temples and pagodas →
Wat PhnomDaun Penh

Wat Phnom

The hill the city is named for

A nineteenth-century vihara on a 27 metre mound, and the origin story of the city in one place. Busy with offerings rather than tour groups.

Map
Sisowath Quay

Wat Ounalom

Seat of the Mohanikay order

Founded in the fifteenth century and the headquarters of Cambodia's largest Buddhist order. Its library was destroyed under the Khmer Rouge.

Map
Wat Botum Park

Wat Botum

Temple of the Lotus Blossoms

Full of stupas holding the ashes of royalty and senior monks. The quietest of the central pagodas to walk through, and closest to the palace.

Map
Near Independence Monument

Wat Langka

Founded 1442, open to visitors

Founded in 1442 as a meeting place for Khmer and Sri Lankan monks. It has long run public meditation sessions and is used to visitors.

Map
Coffee and pastry

Best cafes and bakeries in Phnom Penh

Four places to sit out the middle of the day, most of them on the two streets that have most of them.
All 4 cafes and bakeries →
Enso CafeStreet 240

Enso Cafe

Melbourne-style, all-day breakfast

A large, spare room on Street 240 doing the Australian cafe repertoire properly. The best breakfast in the palace quarter.

Map
The ShopStreet 240

The Shop

Bakery and deli

On Street 240 since the mid 2000s and still the bakery the city sends people to. The chocolate shop next door works with Kampot pepper.

Map
Feel Good CoffeeNear Independence Monument

Feel Good Coffee

Roasts on site

A small local roaster working with beans from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. At one branch the roasting happens in front of you.

Map
Brown CoffeeAcross the city

Brown Coffee

The home-grown chain

The first Cambodian speciality coffee chain and still the largest. Reliable espresso, hard air conditioning, and on most main streets.

Map
After dark

Best bars and rooftops in Phnom Penh

Four ways to drink in Phnom Penh: two towers, one hotel bar of 1929, and a lane of rooms with a dozen seats each.
All 4 bars and rooftops →
Vattanac Capital

Sora Sky Bar

37th floor, cantilevered terrace

A bar on the 37th floor with a terrace that cantilevers over the street and the largest single malt collection in the country. Worth it once.

↗ WebsiteMap
Phnom Penh Tower

Eclipse Sky Bar

23rd floor, open on all sides

Twenty-three floors up and open to the sky on every side. Cheaper and less formal than Sora, with a happy hour timed to the sunset.

Map
Raffles Hotel Le Royal

Elephant Bar

Hotel bar of 1929, long gin list

The bar of Raffles Le Royal, opened in 1929 and restored rather than modernised: rattan, ceiling fans and more than thirty gins.

↗ WebsiteMap
Tonle Bassac

Bassac Lane

A lane of one-room bars

A narrow lane of single-room bars, each with about a dozen seats and its own idea. Three or four in an evening and you never move forty metres.

Map
Where to base yourself

Best neighborhoods in Phnom Penh

Five districts, and what each of them is for.
All 5 neighborhoods →
Daun PenhRiverside

Daun Penh

Palace, museum and the quay

The historic and administrative core, holding the palace, the museum, Wat Phnom and the quay. Everything except the memorials is walkable from here.

Map
BKK1

Boeung Keng Kang 1

Embassies, restaurants, cocktail lanes

Leafy, walkable and the densest concentration of restaurants and embassies in the city. The base most repeat visitors settle on.

Map
Tonle BassacCentral south

Tonle Bassac

Towers, the mall and Bassac Lane

The business district south of the palace, where the new towers are and where Bassac Lane runs. Convenient rather than characterful.

Map
Russian Market

Toul Tom Poung

The Russian Market and its cafes

Built around the Russian Market and now the city's creative quarter: cafes and boutiques wedged between mechanics and hardware shops.

Map
North bank

Chroy Changvar

The peninsula across the water

The spit of land across the Tonle Sap, with a promenade looking straight back at the palace and the quay. The sunset works from this side too.

Map
Out of the city

Best day trips from Phnom Penh

Five trips within a couple of hours of the capital, from an island in the Mekong to a plateau of pine forest.
All 5 day trips →
Mekong

Koh Dach (Silk Island)

15 km upriver, ferry crossing

Stilt houses, farmland and silk looms set under the floor. Cross on the ferry, hire a bicycle and ride between the workshops.

Map
OudongKandal

Oudong

39 km northwest, the old capital

The royal capital from the early seventeenth century until 1866. A ridge of stupas holding the ashes of kings, up a long staircase. An hour by road.

Map
Takeo

Tonle Bati

30 km south, two Angkorian temples

Laterite temples of the Angkorian period in a village beside a lake hung with picnic platforms. Far quieter than anything at Angkor.

Map
Phnom ChisorTakeo

Phnom Chisor

43 km south, hilltop temple

An eleventh-century temple on a hill 43 kilometres south, up a long staircase, with the plain laid out below. Go early: no shade on the climb.

Map
Kirirom National ParkKampong Speu

Kirirom National Park

A plateau of pine forest

Cambodia's first national park, 35,000 hectares of pine forest on a plateau, several degrees cooler than the plain. A long day, so many people stay.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Phnom Penh (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
7 Jan

Victory over Genocide Day

A public holiday marking the fall of Phnom Penh in 1979 and the end of the Khmer Rouge government.

14 – 16 Apr

Khmer New Year (Choul Chnam Thmey)

The three days that close the harvest, and the point at which Phnom Penh empties: most residents travel home.

1 May

Visak Bochea

The Buddhist holiday marking the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha.

5 May

Royal Ploughing Ceremony

The ritual that opens the planting season. Sacred oxen are offered seven trays, and what they eat is read as the harvest forecast.

10 – 12 Oct

Pchum Ben

The fifteen-day festival of the ancestors, and the most widely observed date in the Cambodian calendar.

29 Oct

Coronation Day

The anniversary of King Norodom Sihamoni's coronation in 2004, kept as a public holiday with ceremony at the Royal Palace.

9 Nov

Independence Day

The anniversary of independence from France in 1953, with a ceremony at the monument and a parade along Norodom Boulevard.

23 – 25 Nov

Water Festival (Bon Om Touk)

Cambodia's largest festival: the Tonle Sap reverses its flow and boat crews from every province race past the palace.

Getting around

Phnom Penh transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
KTI

Techo International Airport

Cambodia's new main gateway opened south of the capital in 2025, about 20 kilometres out, which is half an hour by road with clear traffic. The Airport Express Bus leaves from outside arrivals.

↗ WebsiteMap
Rail

Royal Railway

The southern line runs to Takeo, Kampot, Kep and Sihanoukville; the northern line is suspended. Services are sparse and weighted to the weekend. The 1932 art deco station is worth walking past.

↗ WebsiteMap
In town

Tuk-tuks and ride apps

Two vehicles share the name: a carriage towed behind a motorbike, and the smaller auto-rickshaw the apps send. Book through an app rather than negotiating at the kerb.

City bus

Phnom Penh City Bus

A numbered network across the municipality at a flat fare paid in cash on board. Slow, not built for sightseeing, and by a wide margin the cheapest way to cross town.

Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The classics to order before you leave.
Fish amok, Phnom Penh (Wimup travel guide)

Fish amok

Freshwater fish folded into coconut milk and lemongrass paste and steamed in a banana leaf until it sets.

Lok lak, Phnom Penh (Wimup travel guide)

Lok lak

Cubed beef seared hard on lettuce and onion with a fried egg on top.

Kuy teav, Phnom Penh (Wimup travel guide)

Kuy teav

The breakfast the city runs on: clear pork broth over flat rice noodles with fried garlic and bean sprouts.

Nom banh chok, Phnom Penh (Wimup travel guide)

Nom banh chok

Fermented rice vermicelli under a pale green fish gravy, with raw banana flower and herbs.

Bai sach chrouk, Phnom Penh (Wimup travel guide)

Bai sach chrouk

Thin slices of pork grilled over coals on broken rice with pickled cucumber and a bowl of broth.

Num pang, Phnom Penh (Wimup travel guide)

Num pang

The Cambodian sandwich: a short baguette split and loaded with pate, cured pork, pickled vegetables and herbs.

Prahok, Phnom Penh (Wimup travel guide)

Prahok

Fermented fish paste, and the backbone of Khmer seasoning rather than a dish.

Samlor korko, Phnom Penh (Wimup travel guide)

Samlor korko

The thick country soup Cambodians call their oldest dish, thickened with roasted ground rice.

Phnom Penh fact sheet

Phnom Penh at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
Cambodia
Region
Phnom Penh Capital, an autonomous municipality ranked with the provinces
Population
About 2.3 million at the 2024 census, and the largest city in Cambodia
Founded
Traditionally 1372. Royal capital from 1434, abandoned later that century, and capital again from 1866
Nickname
The Pearl of Asia, a name it picked up in the colonial period
Language
Khmer. English is widely spoken in the centre, and French among some older residents
Currency
Riel (KHR). US dollars are used for almost everything, and change under a dollar comes back in riel
Time zone
ICT (UTC+7), with no daylight saving
Calling code
+855, area code 23
Airports
Techo International (KTI), about 20 km south, open since September 2025
Power
230V, 50Hz, with type A, C and G sockets all in use
Emergency
117 police, 118 fire, 119 ambulance
Ideal length
3 days
Getting around
App-booked tuk-tuks, plus a flat-fare city bus network
Tourism board
↗ Website

Interesting facts

  • The city takes its name from Wat Phnom and from Daun Penh, the widow who legend says found Buddhas in a tree floating in the river in 1372.
  • Phnom Penh has been the capital twice: the court moved here in 1434 after Angkor, lost the role, and returned in 1866.
  • On 17 April 1975 the Khmer Rouge emptied the city. Two million people were marched out, and it stood empty for four years.
  • Central Market opened in 1937 on a drained lake, and its 26 metre dome was the largest market building in Southeast Asia at the time.
  • The Tonle Sap changes direction twice a year: the Mekong in flood pushes it back into the great lake, and in November it drains again.

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