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Phnom Penh Educational activities

Our most recommended Phnom Penh Educational activities

Phnom Penh: S-21 Prison and Killing Fields Half-Day Tour

1. Phnom Penh: S-21 Prison and Killing Fields Half-Day Tour

At 8:00 AM, depart from your hotel and drive to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, located about 16 kms south of Phnom Penh. Here,you will experience a very moving and confronting experience. The Killing Fields were the final resting place for over 17,000 men, women, children and infants between 1975 and 1978. It is estimated the Khmer Rouge Regime took the lives of between 2 and 4 million Cambodians during their destructive and devastating time in control between 1975 and 1979. Your guide will provide you with a detailed tour of the fields. Continue to Tuol Sleng Museum. In 1975, Tuol Svay Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot’s security forces and turned into a prison known as Security Prison 21 (S-21). It rapidly became the largest center of detention and torture in the country. Prisoners were repeatedly tortured and coerced into naming family members and close associates, who were in turn arrested, brought to S21, tortured and eventually killed. Spend time discovering the harrowing truths of the prison. At 12:00 PM, your tour comes to an end and your guide will transfer you back to your hotel.

Half Day Tour of Tuol Sleng and Choeng Ek Killing Field

2. Half Day Tour of Tuol Sleng and Choeng Ek Killing Field

Your Euro-Khmer guide will pick you up from the hotel that you stayed in Phnom Penh and our guide & driver drive you to the killing fields of Choeung Ek – 15 km south of Phnom Penh. The infamous killing fields have a bloody history. Once an orchard and a Chinese cemetery, the Khmer Rogue, lead by Pol Pot, turned the place into what became known as the killing fields. Over four years they massacred and buried 2.5 million people. After remembering the dead, return to Phnom Penh to visit Tuol Sleng Prison. Meaning hill of the poisonous trees, Pol Pot turned a once popular high school into a high security prison. 20,000 people were imprisoned there, many of whom were tortured for information. Today it serves as a museum and a reminder of darker days. Your Euro-Khmer guide will return you to your hotel or guesthouse in the early evening.

Phnom Penh's Killing Fields: 4-Hour Guided Tour

3. Phnom Penh's Killing Fields: 4-Hour Guided Tour

The peaceful stretch of green fields at Choeung Ek hide the horrors that occurred at the site in the 1970s. Located 17 kilometers from Phnom Penh, Choeung Ek was made famous in the movie called The Killing Fields. On this 4-hour guided tour you’ll visit the memorial built in memory of the more than 17,000 victims who were killed at Choeung Ek by the Khmer Rouge. The remnants inside the memorial and the mass graves that dot the area are reminders of the suffering of the victims. This journey into Cambodia’s past will provide you with a background on the cruelty of the Khmer Rouge regime. It will also give you an appreciation of the struggle that Cambodian people have faced and their tremendous courage to move on and rebuild their nation.

Phnom Penh Private Tour: Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, S-21

4. Phnom Penh Private Tour: Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, S-21

Explore the troubled, but fascinating history of Cambodia on a 6-hour sightseeing tour in Phnom Penh, and visit some of the city’s most beautiful pagodas and palaces, as well as the infamous genocide museum of Tuol Sleng. Following a hotel pick-up, your guide will take you to the Royal Palace, built in 1866 by the French after King Norodom relocated the royal capital from Oudong. Located on the western banks of the Tonle Sap River and Mekong River, the palace complex features stunning Khmer architecture, divided into 4 main compounds. The grounds of the Palace are also home to the Silver Pagoda, which received its name because its floor is made of 5,329 silver tiles. Learn about the Khmer kings, resident at all times, with the exception of the period when the Khmer Rouge took control in 1975. See gold and jeweled Buddha statues in the Silver Pagoda, and the Angkor Wat style Bell Tower. Then, learn about the turbulent years of the Khmer Rouge at the infamous Tuol Sleng Museum. Located in a former high school that was used as the notorious Security Prison 21, the Genocide Museum traces the story of the Killing Fields and the torture and executions that took place from 1975-79. See exhibits that tell the stories of some of the estimated 20,000 prisoners that were killed. Return to the city center for a drop off at your hotel, or a riverside café or bar if you want to take in the sunset.

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Frequently asked questions about Phnom Penh Educational activities

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Other Sightseeing Options in Phnom Penh

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What people are saying about Phnom Penh

Overall rating

4.5 / 5

based on 194 reviews

Thank you Get your guide we had a great tour. Chaanak was our guide for the day and he was amazing. He brought to life the sad history of your country in a very compelling and engaging way. His personal stories and family history made the whole tour even more engaging. He couldn’t have been more helpful. Very well informed and good fun to spend a half day with. The itenrary was exactly right for us the car and driver was also excellent. A very moving tour. We would thoroughly recommend it and a big thank you to Chaanak!

Kim was a great tour guide. the car was beautiful and felt luxurious with great air con and my partner and I felt we got more out of this tour with the personal experiences of our incredible guide. there was a lovely balance of history and purpose intertwined with giving us some space to look in our own time. Kim's English was fantastic also and his knowledge of the survivors and relationship also made this tour special

Channak was a fantastic guide. We felt so honoured and privileged that he shared his personal experience with us. The tour shows a difficult part of Cambodia’s history and we were able see and listen to the stories of people who were there. It’s so sad but touching and a very important tour. Highly recommend. Thank you Channak.

We really enjoyed our tour. Our guide Sophy was extremely helpful, kind and very informative. He also gave us lots of nice recommendations of things to do and places to eat in Phnom Penh after our tour. We would really recommend this tour. Thanks Sophy.

Excellent tour with even better guide and driver. Highly recommend. Although heart wrenching, this is a piece of history that must be shared widely so it is not repeated.