Phnom Penh: Royal Palace, Wat Phnom & Independence Monument

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.50 (2 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/10

Duration3h–4h

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Three Phnom Penh Landmarks in One Morning, Starting at the Royal Palace Gates

You're picked up at your hotel and taken through three of Phnom Penh's most significant sites: the Royal Palace with its Throne Hall and Silver Pagoda (home to a diamond-studded gold Buddha), Wat Phnom Temple with its 14th-century origins, and Independence Monument. Your English-speaking guide provides context at each stop, and you return to your hotel by midday.

3h–4h

Step-by-step itinerary

Visit Royal Palace, Wat Phnom, Independence Monument

Hotel pick-up
Explore Royal Palace and gardens
Enter Throne Hall and Napoleon III Pavilion
Visit Silver Pagoda and see gold Buddha
Travel to Wat Phnom Temple
Learn history of Wat Phnom
Visit Independence Monument
Hotel drop-off

The Experience

Your guide is already waiting at your hotel when you arrive, and within minutes you're moving through Phnom Penh's streets toward the Royal Palace complex. The palace grounds open up around you—tropical gardens, gleaming spires catching the light, the whole thing built as a working home for Cambodia's royal family and a symbol of the nation itself. You walk into the Throne Hall first, the room where coronations happen, where state receptions are held. It's the kind of space that makes you stand still for a moment. Then there's the Napoleon III Pavilion, an iron structure gifted by the French emperor in the 19th century, sitting there like a piece of European history transplanted into Southeast Asia.

The Silver Pagoda comes next, and this is where the tour gets specific. Five thousand silver tiles cover the floor—each one weighs a kilogram. Inside are treasures the country has held onto: a life-size gold Buddha studded with 9,584 diamonds, the largest stone weighing 25 carats. You're looking at something most people never get close to, and your English-speaking guide walks you through the history without rushing. After the palace, you head to Wat Phnom Temple, built in 1372 when a widow named Daun Penh found five Buddha statues in a log pulled from the river and decided to build a temple to house them. The temple sits on a hill—phnom means mountain in Khmer—and the story behind it is woven into how Phnom Penh itself got its name.

The last stop is Independence Monument, finished in 1958 and inaugurated in 1962. It's a quieter place than the palace, built to honor people who died for Cambodia's independence. The air feels different there—cooler, more still. Your driver brings you back to your hotel after, and the whole thing takes about four hours from start to finish. Hotel pickup and drop-off are included, so you don't arrange transport yourself or negotiate with taxis. The vehicle is air-conditioned, and your guide carries bottled water for the walk.

What’s included

Hotel pickup and drop-off.
private air-conditioned transportation.
private English-speaking tour guide.
bottled drinking water.
travel insurance.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePublic transport nearby

Operated by Tour Guide-Siem Reap

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see Phnom Penh's three most important sites in a single morning without arranging your own transport or timing—the fixed itinerary and included pickup mean you show up at your hotel and the logistics are handled.