Phnom Penh: Best Photo Spots

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Phnom Penh photographs well in a specific, low-key way: gold roofs against river light, an Art Deco market dome, and a riverside that changes completely between noon and sunset. Here’s where to actually point a camera, and where not to.

6 photo spots worth the walk

  1. Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda exterior: the gilded roofs and gardens are the classic shot, about $10 to enter. No photography is allowed inside the Throne Hall or the Silver Pagoda itself, so plan your interior expectations accordingly and shoot the grounds and exteriors instead.
  2. Wat Phnom: climb the hilltop temple for a panoramic view over the surrounding streets, about $1 entry, best in the earlier, cooler part of the day before the haze thickens.
  3. Central Market (Phsar Thmei): the bright-yellow 1937 Art Deco dome is one of the most distinctive buildings in the city, worth photographing from outside and from within the covered stalls.
  4. Sisowath Quay at sunset: the riverside promenade facing the Palace, at the visible point where the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Bassac rivers meet, is at its best in the last hour of light, when the water traffic picks up.
  5. Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Poung): a denser, more chaotic market than Central Market, good for close-up shots of goods, textiles and the working stalls themselves rather than wide architectural frames.
  6. Independence Monument: the 1958 lotus-stupa design by architect Vann Molyvann photographs cleanly lit at dusk, a quick stop rather than a destination in itself.

Where not to point your camera

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek are not photo-spot material, and this page won’t treat them as such. Both sites carry real photography restrictions and, more importantly, real gravity: they’re Khmer Rouge genocide memorials where an estimated 1.7 to 2.2 million people died under the regime. If you visit, go with the intent to understand, not to collect an image, and follow whatever on-site rules are posted. Our Killing Fields and S-21 page covers what to expect there.

Practical notes

Always ask permission before photographing monks or people directly, particularly around temples. Midday light is harsh across most of these spots, mornings and the hour before sunset both work better. For the fuller sightseeing plan around these stops, see our things to do in Phnom Penh guide.