Phnom Penh · Attractions
Visitor guides to the Royal Palace, the National Museum of Cambodia, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Wat Phnom: hours, US-dollar fees and getting there.
These four guides cover Phnom Penh's palace, its two main museums and the hilltop temple that gave the city its name. Fees are charged in US dollars: $10 for international visitors at the Royal Palace and at the National Museum of Cambodia, $5 for international adults at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, and about $1 for foreigners at Wat Phnom. Each guide gives that site's hours, fees and how to get there, with the source for each figure.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is the memorial site of S-21 (Security Prison 21), the Khmer Rouge interrogation and detention center that operated in a former Phnom Penh high school between 1975 and 1979. It is open every day, including public holidays, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. International adults pay $5 (cash only, US dollars or Cambodian riel) and an audio guide costs $5 more.
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The Royal Palace is the official residence of the King of Cambodia, a walled complex of golden-spired Khmer buildings on Sothearos Boulevard facing the confluence of the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers in central Phnom Penh. Visitors can see the Throne Hall, the Silver Pagoda with its silver-tiled floor and Emerald Buddha, the Moonlight Pavilion and the cast-iron Napoleon III Pavilion, while the king's private residence stays closed. It opens in two sessions, 8 to 11 am and 2 to 5 pm, and international visitors pay $10.
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Wat Phnom, formally Wat Phnom Daun Penh, is the Buddhist temple on the small hill in Daun Penh that gave Phnom Penh its name. Phnom Penh Capital Hall traces it to 1372, when Lady (Daun) Penh found Buddha statues in a koki tree floating in the river and had a hill raised and a temple built to house them. Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism lists it as open from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily, with an entry fee of about $1 for foreigners.
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The National Museum of Cambodia is the country's leading museum of cultural history and archaeology, housing one of the world's greatest collections of Khmer cultural material, from prehistoric, pre-Angkorian, Angkorian and post-Angkorian periods. It sits on Street 13 in central Phnom Penh next to the Royal Palace, in a red, temple-inspired building around a garden courtyard. It is open daily from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (last tickets 4:30 pm), and foreign adults pay $10.
Visitor guide →Opening hours differ: the Royal Palace closes from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, while Tuol Sleng and the National Museum of Cambodia stay open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Wat Phnom from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The National Museum stands next to the Royal Palace. Tuol Sleng is a genocide memorial; its guide covers what the site holds and how to visit respectfully.
