Phnom Penh: The Complete Guide
Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use.
Phnom Penh is Cambodia’s capital, sitting at the Chaktomuk confluence where the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Bassac rivers meet. Most travelers give it two to three focused days as the capital-city leg of a wider Cambodia trip, not a full week on its own, and that’s an honest amount of time, not a compromise. The city carries a fast-moving riverside energy alongside the open weight of its recent history, and both are worth your attention.
Phnom Penh at a glance
| Days needed | Best months | Getting in | One thing to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-3 days for the core | Nov-Feb (cooler, dry) | Techo International Airport (KTI), opened Sep 2025, ~25-30km south | The old Phnom Penh International is fully closed to commercial flights |
What Phnom Penh actually offers
The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda (about $10) remain an active royal residence, open in two sessions, roughly 7:30-11am and 2-5pm, with a dress code that’s strictly enforced: shoulders and knees covered or you’re turned away at the gate. The National Museum of Cambodia, a short walk from the Palace, holds the world’s best collection of Khmer and Angkorian art for about $10. Wat Phnom ($1) is the temple-topped hill the city is named after, tied to a 1372 founding legend about a woman named Penh. Wat Ounalom, seat of Cambodia’s Buddhist patriarch, sits quietly nearby on the riverside, a calmer stop than the Palace crowds.
For markets, Central Market (Phsar Thmei) is a bright-yellow Art Deco dome from 1937 worth seeing for the architecture alone, and the denser Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Poung) is where the better souvenir and silk prices are, if you’re willing to bargain. Sisowath Quay, the riverside promenade facing the Palace at the visible three-river confluence, is where the evening energy shows up: sunset river cruises run about 5pm, and a Friday-to-Sunday Night Market adds food stalls after dark. The Independence Monument, a 1958 lotus-stupa design by architect Vann Molyvann, is a quick photo stop on the way between them.
The history you can’t visit around
Two of the city’s most-visited sites, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21) and Choeung Ek, are Khmer Rouge genocide memorials, not attractions in the conventional sense, and this guide won’t frame them that way. From 17 April 1975 to early January 1979, the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot ran Democratic Kampuchea, and an estimated 1.7 to 2.2 million people died, roughly a quarter of the country’s population, from execution, starvation, forced labor and disease.
Tuol Sleng, a former high school converted into the regime’s central secret prison, held an estimated 14,000 to 20,000 people, almost all of whom were killed; only around 12 are known to have survived. It’s open daily 8am-5pm, about $5 adult admission, and the $5 audio guide is worth adding. Choeung Ek, about 15km south (30-45 minutes by tuk-tuk), is the best known of the killing fields; its memorial stupa holds more than 5,000 skulls, and many of the 129 mass graves are left unexcavated out of respect. It’s open daily 7:30am-5:30pm, about $6 including the audio guide. Most visitors give both sites one sober half-day, Tuol Sleng first, then Choeung Ek, and don’t schedule anything cheerful immediately after. Book directly through the official Tuol Sleng site rather than a tour-bundle affiliate; Choeung Ek tickets are sold at the gate.
Where to eat and stay
Fish amok (coconut-fish curry steamed in banana leaf) and lok lak (peppery stir-fried beef) are the dishes to seek out, alongside kuy teav noodle soup for breakfast and Kampot pepper, Cambodia’s EU-protected crop, wherever it shows up on a menu. Friends and Romdeng, both TREE Alliance training restaurants for at-risk youth, are worth naming directly: the food is genuinely good, and your bill funds real vocational training. Riverside/Daun Penh is the walkable, central base, home to the historic Raffles Hotel Le Royal; BKK1 has the café and nightlife scene and is close to Rosewood Phnom Penh, atop the Vattanac Capital tower. Check current Phnom Penh hotel rates before booking, prices move with the season.
Getting there and the practical basics
Techo International Airport (KTI) opened 9 September 2025 and fully replaced the old Phnom Penh International; budget 45-75 minutes for the transfer into the city, and book through PassApp or Grab for a locked-in fare rather than negotiating at the curb. Most visitors need an e-visa (about $36 total, via evisa.gov.kh ) or a visa on arrival (about $30), plus the mandatory Cambodia e-Arrival Card at arrival.gov.kh , filed within 7 days before landing, since January 2025. The US dollar is used everywhere; Cambodian riel covers change under a dollar, and only crisp, undamaged US bills are accepted anywhere in the country. Hold bags away from the road on tuk-tuk rides, motorbike bag-snatching along the riverfront and BKK1 is a real, well-documented problem, and don’t resist if it happens.
How long do you need?
Two days covers the Royal Palace, National Museum and the memorial sites; three adds Central Market, Russian Market and a proper sunset cruise without rushing. Past that, the honest move is a day trip, Koh Dach’s silk-weaving villages or the hilltop stupas at Oudong, rather than pretending the city has more marquee sights than it does. For the full breakdown, see our things to do in Phnom Penh and our 2-day through 7-day itineraries.