Phnom Penh, Cambodia 5 Day Itinerary

Phnom Penh 5-Day Itinerary

If you flew into Phnom Penh before September 2025 and are coming back, note that the old Phnom Penh International Airport has been retired. You will now land at Techo International Airport, a new facility further outside the city, which changes the arrival math for this whole itinerary.

Day 1: Arrival & Exploring the City

  • Arrival at Techo International Airport. The drive into the city center takes 1 to 1.5 hours, longer than the old airport’s quick 20-minute hop, so budget accordingly. A tuk-tuk runs roughly 8 to 15 dollars, a metered taxi or ride-hail app like Grab or PassApp closer to 10 to 20 dollars. Book the ride-hail app rather than a freelance taxi tout at arrivals; the upfront price avoids the inevitable haggling.
  • National Museum of Cambodia: Open 8 am to 5 pm daily, home to one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of Khmer art and stone sculpture. Admission is around 10 dollars for foreign visitors now, noticeably more than the 3 dollars quoted in older guides.
  • Wat Phnom: A hilltop temple founded in 1443 (not 1437, a figure that gets repeated incorrectly across a lot of travel blogs), and the site the city itself is named after. A quiet, shaded break in the middle of a hot day.
  • Riverside Walk: The Sisowath Quay promenade along the Tonle Sap and Mekong confluence is the best free activity in the city at golden hour, when the water traffic and joggers both pick up.
  • Dinner at FCC Angkor: Riverside colonial-era building, a mix of Cambodian and international dishes, and honestly more about the view and the atmosphere than the food, which is solid but not the reason to go.

Day 2: History & Culture

  • Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21): Open every day, 8 am to 5 pm, including weekends, contrary to older listings that claim weekend closures. Admission for foreign adults is now 5 dollars, with an audio guide available in eleven languages for a small extra fee. This is a genuinely difficult two hours; do not rush it, and do not schedule anything cheerful directly afterward.
  • Killing Fields of Choeung Ek: About 17km southwest of the city, open daily 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. Admission is 6 dollars and includes an excellent, well-paced audio tour, cash only at the gate. Most day-tour bookings from hotels do not include this entrance fee, so budget for it separately.
  • Lunch at Psar Tuol Tom Pong (the Russian Market): Cheap, chaotic, and full of good street food between the stalls selling knockoff clothing.
  • Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda: Open 8 am to 11 am and again 2 pm to 5 pm, admission now 10 dollars cash only. Shoulders and knees must be covered for both men and women; sarongs and trousers can be rented at the gate if you show up in shorts. No photography inside the Silver Pagoda or Throne Hall, and shoes come off before you step inside either building.
  • Dinner at Malis: A high-end Khmer restaurant with a refined take on traditional dishes, worth the splurge once on this trip.

Day 3: Discovering Local Life

  • Central Market (Phsar Thmei): The art deco domed market is worth seeing for the architecture alone, plus solid souvenir shopping and street food.
  • Wat Ounalom: The seat of Cambodia’s Buddhist patriarch, a short walk from the Central Market and usually far less crowded than the Royal Palace.
  • Lunch at Friends Restaurant: A social enterprise training and employing former street youth, tapas-style Khmer-fusion plates, and proceeds go directly back into the program.
  • Boeung Tamok or Boeung Tompun area: Local wetlands and lake life on the city’s edge, a good antidote to the tourist circuit, though note that ongoing lake infill development has shrunk some of these areas in recent years.
  • Dinner at Romdeng: Another social enterprise restaurant, known for its fried tarantula dish, which is more of a novelty item than the best thing on the menu; the amok and Khmer curries are the better order.

Day 4: Day Trip to Koh Dach (Silk Island)

  • Morning trip to Koh Dach: Arrange a boat crossing from the riverside or take the free public ferry a bit further north; either way this gets you to a genuinely rural stretch of the Mekong within half an hour of downtown. Weaving workshops and village visits are easy to arrange on arrival.
  • Lunch at Koh Dach: Simple riverside Khmer food, quieter and cheaper than anything in the city center.
  • Return to Phnom Penh in the afternoon and spend the evening on the riverside, where the bar strip picks up after dark.
  • Dinner at Chanrey Tree: A polished modern take on Cambodian cuisine, a good closing dinner if you want something a step up from street food.

My honest take on day 4: Koh Dach is pleasant but not essential if you are short on time. If you would rather trade it for a half-day at Oudong, the former royal capital with hilltop stupas about 40km out, that is the more memorable side trip for history-minded travelers.

Day 5: Departure

  • Free morning for last-minute shopping or sightseeing, ideally back at the Russian Market if you did not finish browsing on day two.
  • Check out from your hotel and leave extra time for the drive to Techo International Airport. Since the new airport sits well outside the city, add at least 30 minutes of buffer over what you would have budgeted for the old airport, especially if you are flying during afternoon rush hour.

One practical closer: carry small US dollar bills for entrance fees. Riel is used for change and small purchases, but most attraction gates and hotels still quote and prefer dollars, and torn or heavily worn notes get rejected more often than travelers expect.