Home > Phnom Penh > Historical Phnom Penh Small-Group Tour, including Genocide Museum and Killing Fields
USD $58.00
Historical Phnom Penh Small-Group Tour, including Genocide Museum and Killing Fields
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Discover the history and horror of Phnom Penh’s past on this half-day, small-group tour. Follow the path of one of the most tragic times of the 20th century – the rise and fall of the Khmer Rouge – and see how the country has been rebuilt.
Phnom Penh was once a jewel in the crown of Indochina and a bustling outpost of French colonialism. Discover how that all changed with the rise of the Khmer Rouge and the beginning of the darkest, most tragic period in Cambodia’s recent history.
Your tour starts as you learn about the fateful day of April 17, 1975, when Phnom Penh was taken by the Khmer Rouge. See where journalists camped out to witness the fall of Phnom Penh.
Visit the infamous Tuol Sleng High School, which was turned into the S-21 prison camp. It was here, at this unassuming high school in the heart of the city, that the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime unfolded. It was a detention center for prisoners of the regime, where detainees were tortured and executed on a regular basis. The school is now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and as you tour the museum, you’ll discover the brutality of the Khmer Rouge documented in the photos and memorabilia, including torture instruments.
Next, you’ll visit Choeung Ek, one of the most well-known sites of the Killing Fields. The Killing Fields are several sites in Cambodia where masses of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge. Choeung Ek was home to large graves filled with bodies of those executed at Tuol Sleng. The pits no longer remain, but a large stupa (shrine) filled with more than 8,000 human skulls acts as a memorial and a grim reminder of the atrocities of war.
Finish the tour on a happier note – by sampling local snacks and learning how the country is moving forward into the future. Although this tour is confronting, it offers great insight into Asian political history and the struggles of the Cambodian people.
Absolutely harrowing experience that I recommend to anyone visiting Phnom Penh. Our guide was very sweet and knowledgeable. It was heartbreaking hearing her childhood stories and having to experience what she does every day living with the past of the Cambodian Genocide. She gave a lot of helpful information in the bus rides and during the tour. As a solo traveler, it was great to be in a small group, and make a few friends during the tour.
Review by: Alex H, May 2018
Great tour. Guide was informative and the tour is a must do when in Phnom Penh. Be prepared to be emotional during the tour.
Review by: Erica D, March 2018
Da was a fantastic guide. Her personal insights and experiences made the tour very personal and meaningful. The content of the tour to raise awareness for the historical facts in Cambodian history is a must for anyone planning a visit to Phnomphen
Review by: Stacey-Lee R, March 2018
we had a wonderful tour, our guide was Reya and she was lovely, very knowledgable and friendly. It was a great tour, not to long in length it was all just perfect. would highly recommend
Review by: Louis S, March 2018
Great tour. Very moving walking about the Museum and the Killing fields.
Review by: Pierre-P V, March 2018
The tour was extremely interesting and our guide Reya is knowledgeable and very friendly. Maybe a bit more information during the visits would be beneficial some of the exhibitions were showing a audioguide sign and it is a bit frustrating not to have any info. Overall a must do if you are in Phnom Penh
Review by: Machiko A, February 2018
To being honest, 3 hours is not enough. I wanted to spend more time at each site and dig deeper the history. But on the other hand, maybe 3 hours are enough for me because I am not sure if i could handle my emotion facing tragic history of Cambodia.
Review by: Jamie D, February 2018
This tour was truly amazing. We felt informed and accomodated. The tour guide was kind, respectful, and extremely knowledgeable. We highly, highly recommend this tour--cannot say enough good things!
Review by: helen.broomfield, January 2018
Chanchesda made this tour for us. She was amazing, very knowledgable, funny and kind. If you can do the tour with her as your guide you will come away with a true insight into the suffering of the Cambodian people.
Review by: kelly, January 2018
I was collected by my guide, Da, along with my fellow trip guests. The trip was, as I expected, very emotional. Da was brilliant, she was very informative and knowledgeable and also giving us our own time to wander around both the Genocide Museum and Killing Fields to have our own thoughts and process what we had seen. At the end of the trip, we went back into Phnom Penh to the market where we were treated to some local food, which was delicious. Da is a great ambassador for Phnom Penh and would choose her every time should I be back in Cambodia.
Review by: Ellen d, December 2017
Yes Cambodia should not be about just the killing fields, and the Cambodia living arts dance was wonderful, but, you must take this tour. I would like to think its a lesson, but we havent learned a thing. But its important to learn history, and this tour gave me a chance to learn. Our guide, Da, was informative, honest and thoughtful.
Review by: Laura E, December 2017
This tour was fabulous. A confronting, moving and informative experience. Our guide Da was extremely knowledgeable, giving a comprehensive account of this period of time. Well worth the money.
Review by: Roselee B, December 2017
the guide, a young woman, was very engaged and informative. as usual, with such tours , I wish I had more time at the sites, though we were given free time at both. Nonetheless, a visit not to be missed. Meeting two of the survivors at S-21 was very moving. _br/_ traffic in The. Its is horrific. One needs to be patient about pick up times.
Review by: Ronald F, December 2017
One of the most moving experiences of my lifetime. Fellow travelers in tears as we visited the killing fields. HIGHLY recommended
Review by: sean s, December 2017
This is a very insightful trip about the Khmer Rouge,Pol Pot era.The trip is to very emotional but very interesting in terms of getting to know what really happened.I had Neang as my guide who was fantastic,he had great knowledge of the era and told it with great passion.If you go to Phnom Penh this is one trip i highly recommended.
Review by: Angela R, November 2017
Would highly recommend this trip. It's a must if visiting Phnom Penh. Our guide, Mr Neang, was very informative. It's a difficult subject matter but very important to be aware of the terrible things that once occurred in this lovely country.
Review by: Karl B, November 2017
This is not an easy tour to do and you should be prepared for some truly harrowing moments. The 'lowlights' that particularly got to me was the pictures of the children in one of the former cells of S21 and of course 'The Battering Tree'. How another human could behave towards human being will thankfully always be beyond me. That said and for the sake of clarity, this tour is a must do and I was very grateful to Da and the driver for their professionalism and fascinating insights and dignity of letting the facts speak for themselves.
Review by: Kamran E, November 2017
Reya, our tour guide, is a star! Loving and kind person with great knowledge! She answered all questions we had; we had 9 people in our group but everything was planned very well and we got the chance to learn about the dark history of Cambodia. Definitely recommend this tour.
Review by: LOIS B, October 2017
I would recommend this tour but be prepared for the history of this situation. The pictures and the sights depict the actual history. The guide was extremely knowledgeable and professional and was sensitive to the travelers and the history of this tour.
Review by: Anne B, October 2017
The trip was well organised and Raya our guide was extremely well informed and happy to share her knowledge. She also encouraged us to ask questions. She was approachable and friendly. The places we visited were obviously distressing and she was flexible in time keeping which helped deal with all we saw and read.
Review by: Phil B, October 2017
Our guide was great and gave us a great insight into these tragic places and the atrocities that occurred there. She did an amazing job in being able to lift the mood in between and after the tours.
Review by: Ronelle J, October 2017
After booking on line, I received no confirmation of pickup or time. After several phone calls we were given a 45 minute window. Advised our vehicle was new and well maintained, I thought otherwise. The museum and killing fields are a must see when in Phnom Penn but it's not necessary to pay top dollar, there are a lot of choices, I would choose differently now knowing what you get. The Tour guide was very knowledgeable, she shared a lot of the history and was happy to answer questions. I feel our tour was very expensive, I would not recommend it.
Review by: tracy.m64, September 2017
Our group of three were well looked after by our friendly and knowledgeable tour guide, Da. She was respectful of this period of Cambodian history whilst sharing the events with us. Ample time given to reflect by yourself on the events, both at the prison and the killing fields. A rather emotional tour, however felt the desire to pay respects to the Cambodian people who were lost during this tragic period. Again. Da our tour guide was excellent.
Review by: Siobhan M, September 2017
DU our tour guide was absolutely brilliant. She sensitively informed us of the facts regarding two quite heart-breaking and humbling tours of S21 and the Killing Fields. She gave us space to reflect and nothing was too much for her while guiding us through both sights. She is a credit to her company and I would like to thank her for such a humbling experience.
Review by: Haya g, September 2017
Had a great guide and had just enough time to get through everything.
Review by: Donald B, August 2017
I felt obliged to go on this trip in order to pay my respects to all the Cambodian people who died so horrendously. Our guide, a young lady name Da, gave us an excellent history and explained everything well as we toured the facility. She was excellent. It would not have been anything nearly as good had I just gone on my own and listened to the audio guide. It was also excellent to be picked up at the hotel and taken straight to the prison, and then taken straight to the graveyard. All you had to concentrate on was what you were seeing as opposed to how to get around the city.
Review by: Candice F, August 2017
This was a great trip with a really helpful and personable guide. There were just 4 of us in our group which was awesome and gave us plenty of time and flexibility. The only thing I noticed was that we missed out on some of the key information that other tourists experienced with their headsets which was a shame.
Review by: vaughanjudd, July 2017
Fantastic tour. Da provided us with a wealth of knowledge and personal experiences of the impact to her family.
Review by: Zhan Peng H, June 2017
This tour is supposed to be a small group tour but as i went during June low season, i have a private guide to myself. The guide, Rhea, is really knowledgeable and helpful. The tour can be quite slightly disturbing as she gave me a 3 hour lecture on the history of Cambodia, the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime as well as touring the museums. However, i really learned a lot from this short 4 hour trip to the museums and i appreciate the efforts of the tour guide to explain in detail the history of modern Cambodia.
Review by: Dayna G, May 2017
very informative tour
Review by: Elaine M, May 2017
Our guide was very informative, she new the answers to everything we asked! The trip was amazing to see where these horrific things took place and to hear how they covered them up was really eye opening! i would recommend this tour to anyone going to Cambodia
Review by: Lynette G, March 2017
This was n excellent tour which I would highly recommend to anyone interested in the history of Cambodia. The guide was very informative and charming. The tour left me feeling gutted at the inhumanity shown by the Pol Pot and the Kmer Rouge to the ordinary citizens of the country. It was wonderful meeting two of the survivors and hearing some of their story.
Review by: Dustin N, March 2017
This tour is a great eye opener for those not very familiar with Cambodia's dark past. Seeing the actual sites where the acts took place has its impact, while allowing the Cambodians to feel and move forward from the past. In the US, we learn all about the Holocaust, but are almost blind to acknowledge the other genocides in human history. Going on this tour is a good way for westerners to be some exposure to the background of a completely different history.
Review by: Doris E K, February 2017
I was the only person on this tour and they sent a big bus. I felt that they could have sent a smaller vehicle. My guide was nice. She spoke so quickly it was hard to understand. She was a very nice young lady but I was getting frustrated as it was difficult to understand her. Both at the museum and at the Killing Fields I feel that I would have gotten more out of it if I would have done the self directed tour. She didn't give me very touch time to go through so ended up taking longer as I wanted to readt everything to get a better understanding.
Review by: Julio L, February 2017
For the price, you could've done it on your own. Came to Cambodia not knowing anything and left like I learned a lot.
Review by: Hannah F, February 2017
Highly recommend this tour - you will get a really good understanding of the recent history and hardship of Cambodia.
Review by: mrs j, January 2017
This tour was very interesting and harrowing in places. A definite must do when visiting Phnom Penh. However, the tour felt rushed in places - I would have liked to have stayed longer in the prison to fully absorb the history. Our guide was very knowledgeable but slightly robotic in delivery.
Review by: Malcolm E, January 2017
An excellent tour with a lot of history and time to view exhibits.
Review by: Graham W, December 2016
We had a great guide who really added to our experience and understanding of the Cambodian history. A great trip and would recommend it
Review by: Andrew M, December 2016
Great tour . Excellent service . Only 3 on tour so personal experience . Lovely guide .
Review by: Margaret S, November 2016
Excellent tour
Review by: Mark C, October 2016
Very good but also very sad
Review by: steven b, September 2016
The tour itself is good but the way it is organised is quite bad and as value for money knowing what i know now would have done it myself would have cost less than half.
Review by: Christine L, August 2016
Very interesting and informative tour. Our guide was very knowledgable and answered all our questions. Very comfortable trip and well worth the money.
Review by: Aquariusshark, July 2016
The tour was enriching, the guide was good, she provided alot of information and was patience to explain any doubts we have during the tour. The van was also very new, clean and comfortable despite the hot weather.
Review by: Ashleigh A, June 2016
Our tour guide Da was wonderful and a wealth of information. The tour was so affecting and I often found it hard to keep back the tears. My Husband and I went on two different days and though I had three lovely people on my tour, he was the sole person on the tour. So, we really appreciated the tour
Review by: Ryan G, May 2016
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Christopher P, April 2016
Very good tour, Daro was our guide and he was very informative, helpful and took time to ensure he imparted lots of information to us... Good tour.
Review by: David W, March 2016
This is a top rate tour, and I highly recommend it. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and provided us with many details at the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields. The price was reasonable considering we were picked up and dropped off at our hotel and transportation was provided to both sites. The only glitch was the bus was 45 minutes or more late picking us up in the morning from our hotel, apparently due to traffic. I suggest either making the start time later or sending the bus out earlier as we sat in the lobby for an hour waiting.
Review by: Desmond T, February 2016
Old high school then a prison was very interesting but you could do it on your own a lot cheaper than this tour. The Killing Fields as such are probably not worth bothering to see as the most information is at the school/jail. Do it yourself.