King Sihanouk's Seaside Palace

A young girl charging $1 apiece entrance fee Nichali Ciaccio (Used with Permission)

Of Kep’s many abandoned villas, formerly owned by Cambodia’s bourgeois elite of the 1960s—one building has the best view.

Near the top of the hill bisecting the town sits the unfinished palace of Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia’s mercurial Prince, King, and Prime Minister. Called the “Queen’s Palace,” the mansion was never completed and Sihanouk never stayed there.

The mansion itself is largely gutted and enjoyable to explore and there is a nice view of the sea. Visitors may bribe a guard or pay whichever local family is squatting the palace a dollar or two for “entrance.”

Know Before You Go

This is an easy walk from the Kep beach, turn left at the roundabout and you will come to a gate about 150m up the road, it will probably be closed but not locked. The house is another 100 up the road.