Editorials
Battambang Turned a French Colonial Grid and a Homemade Railway Into Cambodia's Quiet Arts Town
Cambodia's second city has kept a low-rise French colonial grid along the Sangkae River that Siem Reap and Phnom Penh have largely built over, and paired it with a circus and fine-arts school that has quietly made Battambang the country's most active arts scene outside the capital.
Sep 27, 2026 · BigTravel.in
Battambang rarely appears on a first Cambodia itinerary, which tends to run Siem Reap's temples to Phnom Penh's museums and stop there. That leaves Cambodia's second-largest city, a few hours from either by road, comparatively overlooked, despite holding some of the country's best-preserved French colonial-era architecture and a homegrown arts scene that has grown well beyond its size.
A colonial grid that survived
Battambang's town centre, laid out along the Sangkae River during the French protectorate period, still holds rows of shuttered shophouses, a former governor's residence and an art deco market hall, largely intact because the city avoided the heaviest damage and building booms that reshaped Phnom Penh. Riverside Street runs the length of this old quarter, and much of it is still in ordinary daily use, as shops and homes, rather than restored purely for visitors.
The bamboo train, kept alive by necessity and then by tourism
Just outside the city, a short stretch of war-damaged single track still carries the Norry, or bamboo train: a bamboo platform set on two axles with a small engine, built by locals decades ago to move people and goods when proper rolling stock was unavailable. It has since become one of Battambang's best-known outings, running through rice paddies at a modest but exposed speed, and it survives today largely because visitors now pay for the ride that once served a practical purpose.
An arts school with an outsized reach
Phare Ponleu Selpak, an arts school and social enterprise founded in Battambang in the early 1990s, trains young Cambodians in visual art, music and circus performance, and its graduates make up much of the touring Phare Circus troupe now based in Siem Reap. The school's presence has drawn a small but genuine cluster of galleries and studios into the town, giving Battambang a working arts community rather than one built purely for a tourist evening out.
Traveller tips
- Battambang is roughly 3 hours by road from Siem Reap and around 5 hours from Phnom Penh; both routes are served by shared taxis and bus operators.
- Bamboo train rides run from a station a short tuk-tuk ride outside the town centre; agree the fare and duration before boarding.
- Phare Ponleu Selpak holds occasional public performances in Battambang itself, separate from the nightly Phare Circus shows in Siem Reap.
- The old French quarter is best explored on foot or by bicycle in the cooler early morning or late afternoon hours.
Where this is
Battambang, Cambodia