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Things to Do in Phnompenh in January
January weather, activities, events & insider tips
Shoulder Season · Good Value
January Weather in Phnompenh
Temperature, rainfall and humidity at a glance
88°F (31°C)
High Temp
71°F (21°C)
Low Temp
0.5 inches (13 mm)
Rainfall
70%
Humidity
Is January Right for You?
Weigh the advantages and considerations before booking
Advantages
- + Cooler mornings at 24°C/75°F turn the 6 AM bike rides along the Tonlé Sap riverbank into pure pleasure, a habit locals have kept since the 1980s when petrol shortages left bicycles as the sole option.
- + January marks the height of Cambodian wedding season - expect gold-painted Lexus convoys inching past Wat Phnom each Saturday afternoon, horns blasting Khmer pop songs that bounce between colonial facades.
- + A brief, warm drizzle strikes around 3 PM and vanishes within 20 minutes, leaving the air thick with frangipani and incense drifting from riverside pagodas - January alone delivers this daily ritual.
- + Riverfront restaurants haul their tables onto Sisowath Quay at 5 PM when the temperature dips just enough for locals to claim sidewalk seats, sparking spontaneous street dining impossible in other months.
Considerations
- − UV index climbs to 8 by 9 AM - the sort of sun that slices through SPF 50 in under two hours, which is why tuk-tuk drivers sport hoodies even when the mercury reads 30°C (86°F).
- − Chinese New Year triggers a week-long accommodation squeeze around January 25-31, with riverside hotels doubling rates and the typically quiet rooftop bars at Phnom Penh Tower turning into no-go zones.
- − Seventy percent humidity keeps cotton shirts wet for hours - locals swapped to linen decades back. Yet tourists still arrive in polyester blends that trap heat like greenhouse sheeting.
Year-Round Climate
How January compares to the rest of the year
| Month | High | Low | Rainfall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°C | 21°C | 0.5 inches (13 mm) |
| Feb | 33°C | 22°C | 0.3 inches (8 mm) |
| Mar | 34°C | 24°C | 1.4 inches (36 mm) |
| Apr | 35°C | 25°C | 3.1 inches (79 mm) |
| May | 34°C | 25°C | 4.7 inches (119 mm) |
| Jun | 33°C | 24°C | 5.7 inches (145 mm) |
| Jul | 32°C | 24°C | 6.4 inches (163 mm) |
| Aug | 32°C | 24°C | 7.2 inches (183 mm) |
| Sep | 32°C | 24°C | 10.7 inches (272 mm) |
| Oct | 31°C | 24°C | 9.8 inches (249 mm) |
| Nov | 31°C | 23°C | 4.7 inches (119 mm) |
| Dec | 30°C | 21°C | 1.3 inches (33 mm) |
Best Activities in January
Top things to do during your visit
January in Phnom Penh feels like a sigh of relief. The monsoon has gone. The city is scrubbed, its streets hard, its sky a pale blue plate. Warm air still hangs, yet a cool breeze slips off the Tonle Sap most afternoons and knocks the edge off the sun. Locals slow down. They eat outside, stroll the riverfront, enjoy weather they can trust. Walk or take a cyclo now; March will fry you and September will drown you. No festivals clog the calendar, so everyday sounds rule: morning coffee clatter, dusk charcoal smoke, saffron robes against grey temple stone.
Phnom Penh: The Killing Fields & Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
culturalA guide through the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum gives the bleak context every visitor needs. At the Killing Fields you will stare at glass stupas of skulls and walk paths that dip between old mass graves. Only leaves and distant birds break the hush. Tuol Sleng, once a high school, keeps its classroom-turned-cell layout. Mugshots of the dead still line the walls.
The visit is hard. Yet it explains Cambodian resilience.
Insider tip: Hire a certified on-site guide. Their own stories turn silent bones into living memory.
Phnom Penh: Silk Island Bike Tour / E-Bike or Tuk Tuk
adventureThe Silk Island Bike Tour trades city concrete for Mekong river life in minutes. You will ride narrow dirt tracks under banana shade, tyres crunching dry earth, looms clacking in open workshops. Most trips pause while dyers dunk silk into steaming colour vats and a farmer presses sugarcane juice for you on the spot.
In under an hour you reach stilt villages and hand-looms that feel centuries away from the capital.
Insider tip: Pick the e-bike if you are not used to tropical heat. The motor lets you watch the river, not your heartbeat.
Phnom Penh: Royal Palace, S21, Killing Fields & More Tour
culturalThis single-day circuit nails the must-sees of Phnom Penh without wasting a minute. It runs from the glittering spires and silver-tiled floor of the Royal Palace, where marble cools your feet, to the raw history of Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields. One smooth arc: kingdom, collapse, survival, with transport and commentary laid on.
It is the fastest way to feel the scale of both the city's royal glory and its recent wounds in one coherent narrative.
Insider tip: Cover shoulders and knees for the Palace. Choose slip-on shoes, you will remove them before entering several pavilions.
Where to Stay in Phnompenh in January
Hand-picked hotels across price tiers for January travellers.
January Events & Festivals
What's happening during your visit
January 7th
Victory Day Celebrations
January 7th celebrates the 47th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge fall. T-55 tanks from the 1979 liberation roll past Independence Monument starting 8 AM - locals grab curb space from 6 AM while hotels lay out special Khmer breakfast buffets built from 1979-era recipes.
Late January (varies by lunar calendar)
Chinese New Year
The week before Lunar New Year turns Central Market into a maze of red paper and fireworks. Khmer-Chinese lion dancers weave through Phsar Thmey at 6 PM nightly, their firecrackers loud enough to trigger car alarms across the district.
Packing Checklist
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Climate-specific gear, brand recommendations, and what to leave at home.
View Phnompenh Packing List →Essential Tips
Insider knowledge and common pitfalls to avoid
Insider Knowledge
Riverside beer gardens along Sisowath Quay run happy hour 5-7 PM because January's cooling evenings make outdoor drinking irresistible - locals dub it 'beer o'clock' and it begins the instant sunlight touches the palace roof.
Street food vendors at Phsar Thmey shift their positions every January, following Chinese New Year crowd flows, the finest num pang cart relocates to the north entrance during festival week, a practice dating back to 2014.
Hotel rooftop pools are heated in January because 24°C (75°F) nights feel chilly to locals accustomed to tropical warmth, the pool at Phnom Penh Tower holds 28°C (82°F) year-round, drawing expats like clockwork.
The Russian Market food section shuts at 6 PM sharp in January while vendors head to evening Chinese New Year festivities, arrive before 5 PM or you'll miss the num banh chok (Khmer noodles) prepared by the same woman since 1992.
Avoid These Mistakes
Booking riverside rooms for an 'authentic' stay, the Chinese New Year fireworks kick off at 11 PM and blast hourly until 6 AM, a detail hotel websites conveniently omit.
Wearing shorts to temples, even January's hot days see guards refusing entry at Wat Phnom for bare knees, a policy unchanged since the 1990s.
Hopping tuk-tuks without agreeing the fare first, January's tourist increase lets drivers charge double. Yet locals still hand over 2,000 riel (50 cents) for short hops, the same since 2010.
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