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 Traveller's Tales: Shopping suggestions in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Get the best advice on shopping in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. You may read about shopping malls, souvenir items and best buys in the area. Also, you might want to read our
Angkor / Siem Reap city guide,
and Phnom Penh city guide.
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| C Evans |
24 May 2005 |
Stayed at Cambodiana Hotel - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Booked taxi driver who took me from airport, to go to Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Prison -- dirt road to Killing Fields VERY potholed, so would recommend car. Haunting experience, to be in such places -- but essential for any visit to Cambodia. Read a book called 'Stay Alive My Son' to get the full picture of the horror of the Pol Pot years! After that, hired a tuk-tuk from outside Hotel Cambodiana to take me around for 2 days -- ask for a driver called Bhu, who is brilliant. In tuk-tuk you get the 'feel' of Phnom Penh in a way you don't in a car -- but be careful with possessions. I was warned all the time to hang on to my bag. Must-do's are Russian Market, Wat Phnom, cocktails in Elephant Bar of Le Royal, lunch at Friends restaurant and Le Rits (both helping disadvantaged Phnom Penhois), shopping at Centre for Disabled Persons (Norodom Boulevard, near Wat Phnom), lunch / sundowners at Foreign Correspondents' Club. Khmer Surin restaurant (street 57) offers great food for dinner in lovely old Khmer house with lots of atmosphere -- also surprisingly cheap! Take plenty of dollars, as money flies through your hands in Phnom Penh! I loved it there (you can still see lots of raw Indochina, rather than the sanitised version available in Asian cities such as Bangkok) and will certainly be going back.
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| D Hagerman |
05 September 2004 |
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Street 240 is an attractive alternative to the somewhat seedy riverfront area for drinks and dinner. Excellent Khmer food at the pleasant Sugar Palm --- amok, Khmer chicken salad, and green mango salad among other items --- and, if you're tired of Asian food outstanding sandwiches, home-baked bread, housemade ice cream, and other deli items at The Shop (open till 7p only). Street 240 and 178 (next to National Museum) have a lot of interesting shops if you're looking for something other than the usual copies of Angkor-era stone figures, etc.
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| G Brown |
27 August 2004 |
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Great little restaurant is Rega's, just near the Holiday International hotel, itself just near the French and British embassies. Enjoy a wonderful three course French meal for just US$5. The chocolate mousse is superb. And a great place for massage is Bliss on Street 240. The treatment rooms are in a stunningly renovated colonial building. Have a steam and plunge in their pool as well. And if you like organza, measure your windows and have curtains made here very cheaply at the Russian market. Organza is a buck fifty a metre and it costs about the same to ask a seamstress to sew curtains to your design.
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| L Chye seng |
13 June 2004 |
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Phnom Penh is actually not a great city to tour, besides Royal Palace, muzeum, killing fields, there are no other interesting tourist spots to visit. Of course, a walk along the river bank is a must at night where there are rows of restaurants and night spots to linger around.
For shopping spree, just go to Russian market, though stuffy and dusty, it is still a worthwhile visit as there are various types of goods to buy from local handcrafts, antiques, garment products, tapes, VCD, food and etc etc.
The holiday value for Phnom Penh doesn't really look good as there are more and more direct flights to Siem Reap from all over the world. One of the staffs in Le Royal hotel also admitted this fact as most of the holidaymakers now bypass Phnom Penh since their main destination is Angkor Wat.
Lastly, if you do not go to Angkor Wat, please patronise Artisan D'Angkor outlet at the airport, they produce fantastic sand stone carvings and also silk products. But if you go to Siem Reap, just visit their workshop.
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| K Cooper |
20 January 2004 |
Stayed at Juliana Hotel - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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S21 and the Killing Fields are a must for everyone....a very moving experience. The Silver Pagoda, Russian Market and Central or Old Market were also worth a visit. Some nice looking restaurants along the sea front.
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| K Yeow |
25 July 2003 |
Stayed at Tai Seng Hotel - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Took a 15 minute walk down town one afternoon to the Riverside and then to the Central market. Bought an excellent quality mandolin (paid $100) from one of the guitar shops near the Central market.
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| J Waiss |
30 March 2003 |
Stayed at FCC Phnom Penh - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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FCC has a great restaurant. Good location to all the better restaruants, walking distance. Places to visit Royal Palace, National Museum and also Tuol Museum (Khmer Rouge S-21 Prison). Russian Market....you may be surprised.
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| T Ryan-pefianco |
04 February 2003 |
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Recommended restaurants: Foreign Correspondents Club, The Globe.
Visited the Killing Fields and Toul Sleng Museum....interesting but depressing. Went to the Russian Market and the Central Market but was not very impressed. Generallly, shopping was not good.... items overpriced. Best part of Phnom Penh was staying at the Raffles and eating at the nice restaurants along the river. 2 days here is plenty.
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| M Stelbrink |
17 September 2002 |
Stayed at Regent Park Hotel - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Phnom Penh is very worth visiting for 1-2 days and offers more than Tuol Sleng and Killing Fields (even though the presentation of the latter two is very professional, educational and really worth the visit). Hire a driver as public transport is very unorganized and individual movements within the city are sometimes difficult.
Good crafts and fabrics shopping at the Russian Market, but if you're European or American be prepared for a lot of attention by every shop owner and moving salespeople and beggars.
Overall a friendly, but also very poor city of a country that struggles to get to it's feet again after decades of war.
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| N England |
27 July 2002 |
Stayed at Sunway Hotel Phnom Penh - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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What a great city to see!
Aside from the obvious, and very grim S-21 prison and killing fields, which are an important and harrowing must see, the city has a great buzz to it.
The museum is lovely and houses some great Angkorian pieces, the Russian market is fun to wander around, the moped racing drivers provide a fun white knuckle US$ 1 tour, the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda are breathtaking and well worth seeing, and most importantly, the people are really cool.
Sundowners at the Foreign Correspondents club are a must, the Heart of Darkness bar is worth a look at. The Ponlok restaurant does a great Cambodian lunch overlooking the Mekong, and need we mention how we enjoyed Happy Herbs pizza?
Fantastic place to visit.
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