King Sihanouk's Seaside Palace

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.”