Wat Phnom

Wat Phnom tickets and tours: which one to book

No ticket for Wat Phnom alone is sold online, and none is needed: foreigners pay a small fee at a booth at the foot of the hill, and Cambodians enter free. The temple stands in a little park in the north of the riverside district of Phnom Penh, so most visitors simply arrive by tuk-tuk or on foot from the riverside promenade, about 15 minutes' walk away. If you prefer company, Wat Phnom is a regular stop on half-day city tours that also take in the Royal Palace with its Silver Pagoda and the National Museum, usually with a guide and a tuk-tuk or minivan included, and on scooter tours of the city by vintage Vespa, which typically add markets, colonial buildings and street food.

Fuller day tours combine it with the Tuol Sleng genocide museum and the killing fields of Choeung Ek, which is emotionally demanding, so allow time to absorb it. Many visitors also use Phnom Penh as a base for long trips to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor, and these appear alongside city tours in search results; they do not visit Wat Phnom. Check what a city tour includes: entry fees for the palace and the museum are often extra, and some itineraries only stop briefly in front of the hill.

Visiting Wat Phnom: what to see and how to behave

Wat Phnom is the temple from which Phnom Penh takes its name. Legend says that in the late 14th century a wealthy widow called Penh found a floating tree in the river containing four bronze Buddha images and a statue of Vishnu, and had villagers build a small artificial hill, phnom in Khmer, with a shrine on top to house them. The present vihara dates from the 20th century, the latest of several rebuildings. A broad staircase on the east side, guarded by bronze lions and long naga serpents, leads up through the trees. At the top, the vihara has a central bronze Buddha and walls painted with scenes from the life of the Buddha and Khmer legends.

Behind it rises a large white stupa holding the ashes of King Ponhea Yat, who moved the royal capital here in the 15th century. Just below the vihara, a small shrine to Lady Penh is always busy with people asking for luck in exams, business and love, and leaving offerings of flowers, incense and fruit. The temple is an active place of worship, so dress modestly, take off your shoes in the vihara, never point your feet at a Buddha image, and ask before photographing people at prayer. Monkeys live in the park and grab food. At the foot of the hill, look for the giant clock face laid out in flowers, and the colonial buildings around, including the former Hotel le Royal nearby.

Wat Phnom: opening hours, ceremonies and the best time to go

The temple is open daily from early morning until early evening. The best time is early morning, when worshippers bring offerings and it is still cool, or late afternoon, when the light softens and families gather in the park below. The dry, relatively cool season from November to February is the most comfortable time to visit Phnom Penh; March to May is very hot, and the rainy season from June to October usually brings heavy afternoon showers.

The temple is especially lively at Khmer New Year in mid-April and during the Pchum Ben festival of the ancestors in September or October, when crowds bring food for the monks. The Water Festival, usually in November, fills the riverside nearby with boat races and huge crowds. Thirty minutes to an hour is enough. Combine it with the riverside promenade, the Central Market, the National Museum and the Royal Palace.