Phnom Penh: 7-Day Itinerary
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Seven days is genuinely more than most travelers need for Phnom Penh alone, and this itinerary is honest about that: three full core days, then four separate day trips, rather than padding the city itself with content it doesn’t have. Land at Techo International Airport (KTI), 25-30km south, opened September 2025; book the transfer through PassApp or Grab.
Day 1: Arrival and the Palace
Check into a Riverside or Daun Penh base; Raffles Hotel Le Royal anchors the area if you want the historic option. Afternoon: the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, open 7:30-11am and 2-5pm, about $10, dress code enforced, shoulders and knees covered. Evening: Sisowath Quay at sunset, dinner riverside.
Concrete tip for the day: don’t plan the Palace for right after landing, give yourself a buffer for the 45-75 minute transfer from Techo before committing to a timed visit.
Day 2: The Museum, Wat Phnom and the markets
Morning: the National Museum of Cambodia, about $10, daily 8am-5pm. Afternoon: Wat Phnom (about $1), then Central Market for the Art Deco dome. Lunch at Romdeng, the TREE Alliance restaurant in a garden courtyard.
Concrete tip for the day: visit Central Market before 9am to photograph the dome without wading through stalls.
Day 3: Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek
This day is deliberately heavier. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21), about $5 plus a $5 audio guide worth adding, open 8am-5pm, comes first. Choeung Ek, about 15km south (30-45 minutes by tuk-tuk), about $6 including its audio guide, open 7:30am-5:30pm, follows. Budget three to four hours total, and don’t schedule anything upbeat directly after. Evening: a quiet dinner.
Concrete tip for the day: do both sites back to back, the history connects and splitting them across days doesn’t make either lighter.
Day 4: Wat Ounalom and the Russian Market
Morning: Wat Ounalom, the quieter seat of Cambodia’s Buddhist patriarch. Afternoon: the Russian Market for souvenirs and silk, bargaining expected. Evening: the Independence Monument at dusk, then dinner at Friends on Street 13.
Concrete tip for the day: bring small bills, market vendors rarely have change for a large note.
Day 5: Koh Dach (Silk Island)
Morning: a short crossing plus a ferry to Koh Dach, rural silk-weaving villages and quiet cycling lanes about 30-45 minutes from downtown. Afternoon: return to the city, spend the evening on the riverside.
Concrete tip for the day: arrange the boat crossing early, workshops are livelier before midday heat sets in.
Day 6: Oudong
A half to full day: Oudong, about 40km northwest (1-1.5 hours), Cambodia’s former royal capital, with hilltop stupas reached by roughly 500 steps. Return to the city for the evening.
Concrete tip for the day: bring sun protection, there’s little shade on the climb itself.
Day 7: Tonle Bati, Ta Prohm and Phnom Tamao, then departure
Morning: Tonle Bati, about 30-40km south (about an hour), a small Angkorian-era temple paired with a lakeside stop, easily combined with nearby Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue, a genuine rescue and rehabilitation sanctuary rather than a display zoo. Afternoon: return to the city, check out, and confirm your Techo Airport transfer with real buffer time given the 25-30km distance.
Concrete tip for the day: keep this day’s pace loose, it’s your last one, and the drive back plus airport buffer matters more than fitting in one more stop.
Where to stay
Raffles Hotel Le Royal, in Riverside/Daun Penh, is the historic luxury choice; Rosewood Phnom Penh, atop the Vattanac Capital tower in BKK1, is the standout for skyline views and a livelier café-and-nightlife district. Check current Phnom Penh hotel rates before booking.
Things to know
- Most visitors need an e-visa (about $36 via evisa.gov.kh) or visa on arrival (about $30), plus the mandatory e-Arrival Card at arrival.gov.kh, filed within 7 days before landing.
- Carry crisp US dollar bills, torn or worn notes are refused at ticket counters and shops.
- Hold bags away from the road on tuk-tuk rides, motorbike bag-snatching along the riverfront and BKK1 is a real risk.
- Angkor Wat, in Siem Reap about 300km away, is not part of this itinerary on purpose, it needs its own separate multi-day trip.
For the shorter version of this trip, see our 4-day itinerary , and for the fuller day-trip picture, our day trips guide .