Despite being a bit rough on the edges, Phnom Penh retains its former charm as a leafy South East Asian capital with a nice riverside promenade and numerous beautiful Cambodian Buddhist wats, palaces, and other artifacts. A large infrastructure catering to tourists makes it easily accessible, and many consider it to be one of the friendliest capitals in Asia, as Cambodians have not yet become jaded by mass tourism. Widespread poverty can still be seen, as in all of Cambodia. Traffic jams (resulting from poor town planning) are a feature of city life, even till 9 PM.

It is a bit unfortunate that one of the tourist industry's selling points for Phnom Penh has to do with wars that took place in the 1970's (i.e. Killing Fields, Toul Sleng), as tourists may associate the city with these historical events when in fact Cambodian culture, including its art and music is quite remarkable and modern day Cambodia is a friendly and youthful place that has nothing to do with remote dark chapters in the country's history.