“I think Phnom Penh has become far more confident in its own voice,” says Vanna Sann, founding father of the Phnom Penh-based moral clothes model Dorsu. “A few years ago, much of the retail and lifestyle scene felt either NGO-adjacent or heavily expat-driven. Now there’s a noticeable shift toward Cambodian-led creative businesses that are designing for a more discerning local audience.” Industry insiders ascribe this to a youthful technology of entrepreneurs who’re extra worldly and grew up with out reminiscence of the battle. “[They] are bringing a sharper design sensibility and a stronger understanding of global standards while rooting their work in Khmer identity,” says Sann.
Cambodia’s still-evolving regulatory framework additionally paints the capital with an electrifying sense of inventive freedom. “As a developing country, it’s a lot easier to implement change,” says Jan van Dyk, Rosewood Phnom Penh’s director of culinary, who’s constructing a sustainable supply-chain community of native producers that different companies at the moment are tapping on. “If you were, say, in Hong Kong or Singapore, it would be much more difficult.”
All of this has catapulted Phnom Penh into the limelight as a contemporary journey vacation spot—whilst site visitors lights stay a rarity on this compact metropolis of two.5 million, tai chi-performing aunties rule the parks, and tuk-tuks are the most typical mode of transport.
Here’s what to concentrate to on this rising—and vastly fascinating—inventive capital.
Where to drink in Phnom Penh
Perhaps nothing is evolving as rapidly in Phnom Penh as its cocktail scene, which has turned the town into one among Asia’s fastest-rising cocktail hubs. Industry gamers new and outdated are experimenting with what Cambodian identification appears like in a glass, from vibey Kravat Bar, a younger speakeasy tucked deep in an alley lined with laundry racks and motorbikes, to Mekong-themed craft gin distillery Seekers, the place a laid-back bar-in-a-shed ambiance often offers means to thumping underground raves. “When we arrived 13 years ago, there was no real cocktail scene to speak of,” says Tania Unsworth, co-founder of Seekers. “Now the city is full of cocktail bars that are locally owned. Everything has kind of leveled up.”
Speaking of up, Sora, Rosewood’s rooftop bar that in 2025 grew to become the primary in Cambodia to be included in Asia’s Best Bars, shouldn’t be to be missed. In this subtle present of native expertise and bounty, the drinks draw inspiration from conventional dishes, play off herbs plucked from an on-site backyard, and star spirits produced with native companions, together with Seekers and the nation’s first rum producer, Samai. It’s additionally the very best perch for unblocked skyline views. (From right here, I counted at the least six new skyscrapers that had mushroomed within the 12 months since my final go to.)