PHNOM PENH · CAMBODIA
Heritage, the Mekong, and the heart of Cambodia.
The Royal Palace, the Killing Fields, the Mekong at sunset and a thousand tuk-tuks in between. Phnom Penh is Cambodia’s beating capital. Start your visit here.
Only in Phnom Penh
Three things only Phnom Penh delivers.
Heritage tours, sunset cruises and food walks exist in most capitals. These three sit differently. The weight of recent history. The geography of a river confluence. A cuisine you can’t taste back home. Plan the rest of the trip around them.
The city’s memory
The Killing Fields and S-21.
No other capital asks you to begin like this. Choeung Ek is a former orchard. Tuol Sleng is a former school. Together they are the unflinching ground-truth of what Cambodia survived. Almost every visitor in Phnom Penh sees both, usually in one half-day. Take it slowly.
- 1 Phnom Penh: The Killing Fields & Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
- 2 The Killing Field and Toul Sleng Genocide Museum (S21) Tour
- 3 Phnom Penh: Killing Fields and Prison S21 Bus Tour
Where two rivers meet
Sunset on the Mekong.
Phnom Penh is one of the few capitals on earth at the confluence of two major rivers. The Mekong runs south to the sea. The Tonle Sap reverses direction every year to feed inland Cambodia. Sunset on the water, from a slow boat with a beer in hand, is the city’s slowest hour.
- 1 Phnom Penh: Sunset Cruise with Unlimited Beers & BBQ Buffet
- 2 Phnom Penh: Sunset Cruise with Unlimited Beer &Fruit platter
- 3 Sunset Cruise with unlimited beer & soft drinks -English speaking guide on board
At the table
The Khmer Table.
Cambodian food is its own cuisine. Distinct from Thai. Distinct from Vietnamese. Built around rice, prahok and fresh river fish. The best way in is a tuk-tuk food tour after dusk: eight stops, two languages, more spice than the menus warn.
- 1 Ultimate Phnom Penh Food Tour by Tuk Tuk: 20 Tastings and Drinks
- 2 Khmer Cooking Class Half Day (AM or PM)
- 3 Phnom Penh’s Culinary Underground: Local Food Tour by Tuk-tuk
Crowd favourite
What everyone in Phnom Penh books.
After the heritage stops, this is what travellers reach for next. The single most-booked Phnom Penh experience outside the Killing Fields circuit. Worth pencilling in.
The classics
Phnom Penh’s Most Popular Experiences
The Royal Palace, Tuol Sleng, the Killing Fields, sunset on the Mekong, tuk-tuk food loops through the Russian Market. The half-days the city is built around.
Day trips
Beyond Phnom Penh.
Silk Island for the weavers. Oudong for the old capital. The road to Siem Reap when you’re ready for Angkor. Cambodia outside the city stays close enough for a day.
By experience
Or pick what kind of day you want.
Heritage if you came for the history. Mekong if you came for the river. Food if you came hungry. Tuk-tuk if you want to see it the way the city sees itself.
The local way
By Tuk-Tuk Through The City.
Three wheels, two passengers, the heat in your hair. Phnom Penh shows itself best from a tuk-tuk. Weaving between traffic at the height of a parked car. Three city loops we’d put on any first-time itinerary.
Civic Phnom Penh
The Royal Palace and the museums.
The Silver Pagoda, the National Museum, Wat Ounalom. The city’s civic and Buddhist core. Cooler hours, gilded roofs, and the Khmer art the French missed. Our three favourite half-day routes.
After dark
After dark in Phnom Penh.
Dinner cruises on the Mekong, night-market food walks, Kun Khmer fights, after-hours pub loops. The city wakes a second time once the heat drops.
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