Things to Do in Phnom Penh: Itineraries, Costs and Food

A former high school used as a Khmer Rouge interrogation and detention centre from 1975-1979. Go in the morning, take the audio guide, and don't plan anything else demanding for the rest of that half of the day.

About 17km south of the city centre. Price and hours sourced from a travel guide rather than the site's own listing, worth confirming with your hotel or driver before you go. The audio guide, included in the ticket, does most of the explaining, walk it slowly.

Strict dress code, shoulders and knees fully covered, no exceptions at the gate, sarongs are sold outside if you get caught out. Figures via a travel guide rather than an official palace site, which doesn't appear to exist; reconfirm hours before you go, palace functions can close it without warning.

Terracotta-roofed building next to the Royal Palace, holds the country's best collection of Angkor-era sandstone sculpture. Go before or after the palace since they're a two-minute walk apart. Price via a travel guide, confirm at the counter.

The hilltop temple the city is named for, small and easy to underrate. Worth a quick stop if you're near Wat Phnom roundabout rather than a dedicated trip across town.

A striking art deco dome from the 1930s, gold and jewellery in the centre, clothes and souvenirs radiating out. Go for the architecture even if you're not buying.

Weekend riverside night market on Sisowath Quay with stalls, live Khmer music and dance performances, walking distance from the Royal Palace and Wat Phnom. Real and running, not a pop-up. Good for an evening walk and cheap souvenirs, skip it if you already did Siem Reap's version, they blur together.

37th floor open-air terrace and observation area in the city's tallest tower, panoramic view over the Tonle Sap and Mekong confluence. Worth it once for the view, especially at sunset. Drinks are priced for the view, not the pour, so treat it as a ticket price and go once.

25th and 26th floor bar and open terrace with 360 degree city views, in the BKK1 expat district. Popular on Instagram for the skyline shot. Fine for one sundowner, don't build an evening around it.

A once-sleepy residential lane in Tonle Bassac now dense with small bars, restaurants and shops, a nightly hangout for expats, locals and tourists. This is the district that's actually trending, not any single bar on it. Walk the lane and pick whatever looks busy, don't pre-plan one stop.

1937 Art Deco market building, the largest of its kind in Asia, French-designed, still a working market for clothes, jewelry, electronics and souvenirs. The building itself is the attraction as much as the shopping. Go mid-morning before it gets stifling under that dome, bargain hard, first price is never the real price.

The former S-21 prison, now a museum, and the extermination site outside the city where thousands of detainees were killed during the Khmer Rouge period, 1975-78. Not trending in the social-media sense and it shouldn't be treated that way. It's a heavy, essential half-day if you want to understand the country, go with a guide, don't just wander for photos.

Grilled pork over rice with pickled vegetables and a light broth on the side, Phnom Penh's other breakfast staple. Carts often sell out before noon.

Pork or beef broth noodle soup, the city's default breakfast, cheap and everywhere, usually built to order with your choice of noodle and toppings.

Steamed fish curry in coconut cream and kroeung, lemongrass spice paste, usually served in a banana leaf cup. Cambodia's most internationally known dish, and available in Phnom Penh even though Siem Reap gets more credit for it.

Stir-fried marinated beef served over lettuce and tomato with a lime-pepper dipping sauce, a French-colonial-era Khmer dish and a fixture on nearly every menu in the city.

Rice noodles topped with a fish-based green curry sauce and fresh herbs, eaten cold, Cambodia's other breakfast staple alongside kuy teav. Market vendors sell it from baskets, not stalls.

Fermented fish paste is the backbone of a lot of Khmer cooking, an acquired taste worth trying once with a guide from the menu.

A genuinely good concentration of coffee shops and modern Khmer-fusion restaurants, worth an evening away from the riverside strip.

A cluster of new matcha bars and specialty coffee shops opening around BKK1 and the riverside, part of a broader Cambodian aesthetic-cafe boom. Individual shops open and close fast in this scene, so don't chase one specific name from a video. The neighborhood itself is worth wandering.

A recurring Indonesian food and culture night market runs on Chaktomuk Walking Street in Phnom Penh, confirmed back for at least a second run in April 2026 after a November 2025 edition. Not a permanent fixture, it's a pop-up series, but it has kept coming back, which is more than most trend pieces can prove.

Khmer Times ran an August 2026 guide to eating after dark in Phnom Penh, pointing at a growing set of spots that stay open well past the usual dinner cutoff. This is a guide-piece trend, not a single hot spot. Read it as the city finally feeding its night owls, not a specific address to chase.

A January 2026 roundup on where to get the best tiramisu in Phnom Penh points to the Italian dessert showing up across the city's cafe scene. The article that flagged this wouldn't fully load, so this stays at the dish level rather than naming a shop.

The Great Cambodian Craft Beer Festival ran in January 2026, putting Cambodia's small craft brewing industry in the spotlight, per Cambodia Investment Review. Craft beer is still a small scene here, but a dedicated festival getting press coverage means it's past the hobbyist stage.

Phnom Penh Post's June 2026 feature on fried food catching on locally points to a run of new bars built around fried wings paired with beer. Early days for this one. Worth watching if you're into bar food, not worth planning a meal around yet.