Day1: Full-Day Phnom Penh Sightseeing Tour

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. Royal Palace, is a complex of buildings which serves as the official royal residence of the King of Cambodia. The palace was constructed by King Norodom between 1866 and 1870; this original palace was largely demolished and rebuilt between 1912 and 1932, It is situated at the Western bank of the confluence of the Tonle Sap River and the Mekong River called Chaktomuk.

   1 hAdmission included

2. National Museum of Cambodia, The museum houses one of the world's largest collections of Khmer art, including sculptural, Khmer ceramics, bronzes, and ethnographic objects. Its collection includes over 14,000 items, from prehistoric times to periods before, during and after the Khmer Empire, which at its height stretched from Thailand, across present-day Cambodia, to southern Vietnam.

   1 hAdmission included

3. According to legend, in 1372, a wealthy old lady named "Penh" lived on a small hill near the bank of the confluence of the four rivers. One day, when it was raining, Penh went down to the port to take a bath and saw a floating Koki tree in the river and she called the village to fish it from the water. She and the villagers took a piece of wood to scrape off the mud and in the hole of the Koki tree, there were four Buddha statues made of bronze, brass and one made of marble. Another statue was in the form of Vishnu with the hands holding a staff, a chain, a snail, and a lotus flower. Penh asked the villagers to help retrieve the Koki tree and retrieve the four treasures. Later, Penh assigned the villagers to build an artificial hill and build a small wooden temple on top of the hill to house the statues. She invited monks to bless the statues and the monks named the hermitage "Wat Phnom" which is known as to this day.

   1 hAdmission included

4. The site is a former secondary school which was used as Security Prison 21 by the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 until its fall in 1979. From 1976 to 1979, an estimated 20,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng and it was one of between 150 and 196 torture and execution centers established by the Khmer Rouge and the secret police known as the Santebal (literally "keeper of peace").

   1 hAdmission included

5. Situated about 17 kilometres (11 mi) south of the city center, it was attached to the Tuol Sleng detention center. The bodies of 8,895 victims were exhumed from the site after the fall of the Rouge, who would have been executed there—typically with pickaxes to conserve bullets—before being buried in mass graves.

   1 hAdmission included

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 3 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Phnom Penh

• Its from-price is 29% above the median of the 573 experiences we list in Phnom Penh.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 243 of 573.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is Cambodia's riverside capital, where a gilded royal palace, French-era boulevards and markets sit beside memorials to the Khmer Rouge years.

The Royal Palace, with its tall pointed spires, and the neighbouring Silver Pagoda, whose floor is laid with silver tiles, stand close to the riverfront promenade where the Mekong and Tonlé Sap meet. Wat Phnom, a small hill temple, gave the city its name, and the National Museum, in a red Khmer-style building, holds a major collection of Angkorian sculpture. Art Deco Central Market and the busy Russian Market are good places to wander.

Top-ranked sights in Phnom Penh: Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21), Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (Choeung Ek Killing Fields), Royal Palace.

See all 573 experiences in Phnom Penh