Phnom Penh

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View of Phnom Penh from SVAY CHROM, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Buddhist Institute Phnom Penh Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

About Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh grew where the Tonle Sap River meets the Mekong, and the riverfront is still where the Cambodian capital shows its best face: golden roofs of the Royal Palace, saffron-robed monks, sunset cruises and street-food carts along Sisowath Quay. Legend says the city takes its name from Lady Penh, who founded a shrine on a small hill, today's Wat Phnom.

The French era left wide boulevards, villas and the domed Central Market, and the 1950s and 1960s added bold New Khmer architecture such as the Independence Monument. Then came the darkest chapter: in 1975 the Khmer Rouge emptied the city, and Tuol Sleng prison and the killing fields of Choeung Ek now stand as sober memorials to the genocide that followed.

Today Phnom Penh is a fast-growing, energetic city of rooftop bars, cafes and new towers alongside its pagodas and markets. Give it at least two full days: one for the palace, the National Museum and the river, one for its painful history, with an evening at the Russian Market or a boat trip to the silk-weaving villages of Koh Dach.

Best seasonNovember to February, the cooler dry season

Ideal stay2 to 3 days

ArrivingFly into Techo International Airport, or arrive by bus or boat from Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh City

12 Unforgettable Things to Do in Phnom Penh

Landmarks 2

Royal Palace Phnom Penh

Built from the 1860s when King Norodom moved the capital here, the Royal Palace is still the residence of Cambodia's king, so only...

Independence Monument Phnom Penh

Designed by the architect Vann Molyvann and inaugurated in 1958 to celebrate independence from France, this tall lotus-shaped towe...

Temples 3

Silver Pagoda

Inside the palace grounds, Wat Preah Keo Morakot is known as the Silver Pagoda because its floor is laid with thousands of silver...

Wat Phnom

Rising on a small wooded hill in the north of the centre, Wat Phnom marks the spot where, according to legend, Lady Penh built a s...

Wat Ounalom

Facing the river near the Royal Palace, Wat Ounalom is one of the oldest and most important monasteries in Phnom Penh and the seat...

Museums 2

National Museum of Cambodia

Housed in a red, temple-style building completed in the 1920s next to the Royal Palace, the museum holds the world's finest collec...

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

A former high school turned into the Khmer Rouge prison known as S-21, Tuol Sleng held thousands of people who were interrogated a...

History 1

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center

About 15 kilometres south of the city, this former orchard became one of the best-known killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, where p...

Neighborhoods 1

Sisowath Quay

This long riverside boulevard runs beside the Tonle Sap near its meeting with the Mekong, with a wide promenade on one side and re...

Shopping 2

Central Market Phnom Penh

Opened in the late 1930s, Phsar Thmei is a striking Art Deco building with a huge central dome and four long wings, painted a brig...

Russian Market Phnom Penh

Psar Toul Tom Poung earned its nickname from the Russian residents who shopped here in the 1980s. Under its low tin roofs, a maze...

Day Trips 1

Koh Dach

A short ferry ride up the Mekong from the city, Koh Dach is a long rural island known as Silk Island for the families who weave si...

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