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Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum: Our most recommended tours and activities

Phnom Penh Killing Fields and Prison S21 Joint Tour

1. Phnom Penh Killing Fields and Prison S21 Joint Tour

Choose between a morning or afternoon 4.5-hour of the Killing Fields and the Security Prison S21. Start with a ride to the Genocide Museum (also known as Prison S21). The prison comprises 4 buildings with exhibitions in several rooms. Prison survivors are sometimes present to talk to visitors and share their experiences. After an hour and 15 minutes at the museum, meet the tour assistant at the main entrance to continue the tour. During a 30-40-minute drive to the Killing Fields, watch a documentary on the Khmer Rouge regime. There will be around 1 hour and 15 minutes to explore the site. Audio guide is available in 15 languages along with a map of the fields.

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

2. 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.

Phnom Penh: Tour of Tuol Sleng Prison and Choeng Ek Memorial

3. Phnom Penh: Tour of Tuol Sleng Prison and Choeng Ek Memorial

You will be picked up from your hotel at the preferable time you selected by a shared A/C transport to visit the highlights of Phnom Penh and learn more about the history of Cambodia from our professional tour guide, starting with S-21(Security Prison 21)of Tuol Sleng that was In 1975, Tuol Svay Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot’s security forces and turned into a prison. Spend time discovering the harrowing truths of the prison, and then drive to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, located about 16 kms south of Phnom Penh. 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. Transfer you back after this half day tour completed.

Half Day Tour of Tuol Sleng and Choeng Ek Killing Field

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

5. 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.

Phnom Penh: Guided Historical Day Tour by Cyclo and Tuk Tuk

6. Phnom Penh: Guided Historical Day Tour by Cyclo and Tuk Tuk

08:00 AM: Pick up from disembarkation point in Phnom Penh by Cyclos. Visit the Royal Palace, built by King Norodom in 1866 on the site of the old town, and the Silver Pagoda. Located within the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda is so named because of its floor, which is made up of 5,000 silver tiles. The treasures found inside include a solid gold Buddha encrusted and weighing 90 kilograms and a small 17th century emerald and baccarat crystal Buddha. Then walk to the National Museum, also called Musee des Beaux-Arts. A French archaeologist and painter, Georges Groslier, designed it in Khmer style in 1917. The museum contains a collection of Khmer art - notably sculptures - throughout the ages. Continue by walk to the restaurant. Lunch at local restaurant. After lunch, continue to visit by Tuk Tuk the notorious Tuol Sleng Museum (S 21 prison). This former school was used as a prison by Pol Pot’s security forces and became the largest center for detention and torture during the rule of the Khmer Rouge. If time permits, end your afternoon with a visit to Wat Phnom temple, Phnom Penh’s namesake. Founded in 1373, the pagoda was built to house Buddhist relics washed ashore by the river.

Other Sightseeing Options in Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

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What people are saying about Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Overall rating

4.5 / 5

based on 337 reviews

an extraordinary tour I can highly recommend. I was alone with my tour guide Channak and we had fantastic talks and discussions. He gave me so many background informations. Before this tour I KNEW a lot about Cambodia and its cruel history. After this tour, I UNDERSTAND Cambodia‘s history. Channak helped me to combine my knowledge dots and connect them in order to see the whole picture. And thank you very much, Channak, to share your very personnel history with me. It was a great pleasure and honor for me.

Sok Channak was the perfect Guide! We really enjoyed our tour with him. He experienced the dark times of Cambodia at first hand and could tell us all about it. It was a real life history lesson and I learned so much. He also answered all our questions and showed us a really nice restaurant in the end. Our driver was also really nice and provided us always with towels and water. I would definitely recommend to do this tour. Thank you

This trip was very educational, our first time to Cambodia, we did not know anything about it or the history. You can either have a your guide or you can listen to the story's via headphones. When you walk around it's very quiet, and people are respectful. My partner and I were upset after the tour, it is to be expected its such a sad story, especially if at the end you get to dpeak to people who managed to escape.

We had around 1 hour and a quarter at each location, which was perfect. We were picked up and dropped off at our hotel which was great. Overall it was great value for money.

It was a good tour. Nice driver, knowledgeable guide. Very sad and somber places. My only concern is that the price initially listed was $20 less than what I got billed.