Day Trips from Siem Reap: Which Ones Work in a Day and What Each Really Costs (2026)

Most day trips from Siem Reap are sold as a list of ten destinations and should be sold as a question with two parts: how many hours in a vehicle, and whether the ticket is already in your pocket. Answer those two and the list sorts itself. Banteay Srei is 45 minutes and inside the Angkor Pass. Phnom Kulen is 90 minutes and $20 extra. Koh Ker is two and a half hours each way and $15 extra. Battambang is not a day trip at all.

The pages that rank for this search stack the same ten names, rarely give a drive time from the center of town, and almost never say which sites the Angkor Pass does not cover. The result is a traveler who books a Beng Mealea tuk-tuk for a $10 ticket they did not know existed, or who plans Kampong Phluk in April when the stilt houses stand over dry mud. The road and the ticket decide the day more than the temple does.

This guide groups every worthwhile trip by hours on the road from Pub Street, says what each ticket costs and who sells it, names the pairs that fit in one day and the two destinations that need a night. Prices, hours and transport times below were checked against Angkor Enterprise, the operators’ own pages and official sources in October 2026.

Two Questions Before Any Destination

The first question is hours in a vehicle, measured from Pub Street, because a 7:00 a.m. departure and a 4:00 p.m. return leave nine hours, and the road eats most of them. The second is the ticket. The Angkor Pass covers the main park plus Banteay Srei, Banteay Samre, the Roluos group and Phnom Krom. It does not cover Phnom Kulen, Koh Ker, the Chong Kneas boat, Banteay Chhmar or anything in Battambang. Angkor Enterprise, the state ticketing company, lists Koh Ker at $15, Beng Mealea at $10 and Kbal Spean at $5 as separate one-day tickets with entry from 6:00 a.m. and closing at 6:30 p.m. Recent sources disagree on whether the Angkor Pass is accepted at Beng Mealea and Kbal Spean, so carry the cash and ask at the gate.

Hours from Pub Street, one way	Destinations	Ticket
Under 1 hour	Roluos group, Phnom Krom, Banteay Samre, Banteay Srei, Chong Kneas, Kampong Phluk	Angkor Pass, except the lake boats
1 to 2 hours	Phnom Kulen, Kbal Spean, Beng Mealea, Kampong Khleang, Prek Toal (by boat)	Separate tickets, $5 to $20, plus boats
2 hours and more	Koh Ker, Battambang, Banteay Chhmar	Separate tickets, $3 to $15

Everything in the first row works by tuk-tuk. The second row is where the tuk-tuk stops being sensible and the third row is where it stops being possible. That line, drawn roughly at Banteay Srei, is the single most useful thing to know before talking to a driver.

Under One Hour from Pub Street

Roluos Group

The honest verdict: the right half day for anyone with a three-day pass who wants to understand where Angkor came from, and a poor one for a first-timer with a single day. Roluos is 15 km east of Siem Reap along National Road 6, about 25 minutes by tuk-tuk, and holds the three temples of Hariharalaya, the capital before Angkor: Bakong, the first great temple mountain, Preah Ko with its six brick towers and the small island temple of Lolei. All three are inside the Angkor Pass. Mornings are quiet here even in December, and the whole group takes two hours. The limitation: the carving is early and worn, and after Banteay Srei the brick towers can look plain. The Roluos group guide covers the order to see them in.

Phnom Krom

The honest verdict: the best sunset within 20 minutes of town, and nearly empty because it needs the Angkor Pass most people have let lapse by their last evening. Phnom Krom is a 140 m hill 12 km southwest of Siem Reap, 20 to 25 minutes by tuk-tuk on the road to the Chong Kneas pier. A ruined 9th-century temple sits on the summit, and the view west of the temple’s gate is the Tonle Sap, which in November stretches to the horizon and in April is a sheet of green rice with the lake a thin line beyond. The pass is checked at the bottom of the hill, so time the visit inside a pass day or buy a one-day pass after 4:45 p.m. the day before. The limitation: the climb is a steep road and a stair in late-afternoon heat, and there is no shade and no stall at the top. Phnom Krom at sunset has the timing by month.

Banteay Samre

The honest verdict: the quietest temple in the Angkor Wat style, and the natural first stop on any morning headed north. Banteay Samre stands 400 m east of the East Baray, about 35 minutes by tuk-tuk from Pub Street on the Banteay Srei road, and was built in the first half of the 12th century under Suryavarman II, the king of Angkor Wat, which it resembles in miniature. It is inside the Angkor Pass. Few coaches stop, so the inner courtyard is often empty at 8:00 a.m. The limitation: it has no story the guidebooks tell and no single famous carving, so without a guide it can feel like an exercise. Banteay Samre and East Mebon together make a coherent half day east of the park.

Banteay Srei

The honest verdict: the one temple outside the main park that every visitor should give a morning. Banteay Srei is 37 km north of Siem Reap, about 25 km northeast of the main Angkor group, 45 minutes by car and about an hour by tuk-tuk. It is covered by the Angkor Pass. It was consecrated on April 22, 967, by courtiers of Rajendravarman II rather than by a king, and is built of a hard red sandstone that holds the deepest carving at Angkor. The central tower is only 9.8 m tall and the sanctuary door 1.08 m high. The site opens at 7:30 a.m. and the first hour is the one to have, because coaches arrive from about 9:00 a.m. and the enclosure is small. The limitation: the inner enclosure has been roped off since the 2010 reopening, so the carving is seen from a few meters, and midday here is brutal with no shade in the courtyards. Shoulders and knees covered, as everywhere in the park. The Banteay Srei guide argues the case in full.

Kampong Phluk

The honest verdict: the Tonle Sap village to choose, in the right months, and a mistake in the wrong ones. Kampong Phluk is a village of about 3,700 people on the northern shore of the lake, 45 minutes to an hour southeast of Pub Street by tuk-tuk on a road that is paved for most of the way. The houses stand on stilts of 6 to 9 m, which is the point: in October and November the water laps the floorboards and in April the same houses stand over dry ground and a long causeway. The community boat is paid at the village ticket office, not to the driver. Reports from 2025 and 2026 give $20 per person plus a $2 eco-tourism fee, and one local guide updated in January 2026 lists the $20 as a price per boat of up to six, so ask which applies before paying. A paddle through the flooded forest at the far end is $5 per person more. The best window is August to January, with afternoon light and a sunset on the water. The limitation: drivers sometimes forget to mention the boat fee until the pier, and the village has begun to pick up the hard sell that ruined Chong Kneas. The three villages are compared in Kampong Phluk, Kampong Khleang and Chong Kneas.

Chong Kneas

The honest verdict: the closest lake village and the one to skip unless a sunset cruise is all you want. Chong Kneas is 15 km south of Siem Reap by paved road, 30 minutes by tuk-tuk past Phnom Krom, and it is the only lake trip with an official price list. Angkor Enterprise sells the boat tickets at the pier counter and not online: a small boat for 1 to 5 people costs $28 in total, 6 to 8 people $38, and a medium boat for 9 to 14 people $70. Sunset cruises are advised to leave between 4:30 and 5:15 p.m. The limitation is everything else: a decade of coach groups, a floating school that solicits rice donations, a crocodile farm and a village that has stopped pretending the visit is about the village. For the lake itself, with the villages weighed honestly, read the Tonle Sap lake guide.

One to Two Hours

Phnom Kulen

The honest verdict: the best second-day pairing with Banteay Srei, and the one day trip where a swim is part of the plan. Phnom Kulen is 48 km north of Siem Reap, about 90 minutes by car from Pub Street, and the sacred mountain where the Angkorian empire was proclaimed in 802. The ticket is $20 per person, sold at the checkpoint on the road up, and the Angkor Pass is not accepted. Tuk-tuks do not go up: the mountain road is steep and long, drivers refuse it, and the trip is by car, shared minivan or motorbike. Traffic on the mountain road runs one way: up from 7:00 to 11:00 a.m., down from about 11:45 a.m., so the day is structured for you: Preah Ang Thom with its 8 m reclining Buddha carved into a boulder in the 16th century, the carved riverbed at the top, then the two waterfalls, the first 4 to 5 m high and the second 15 to 20 m, with a swimming pool below it that is deepest from August to December. The limitation: the waterfall is crowded with picnicking Cambodian families on weekends and public holidays, which is part of the appeal and all of the noise, and in March and April the second fall thins to a trickle. The Phnom Kulen guide covers the route and what the $20 buys.

Kbal Spean

The honest verdict: a 40-minute uphill walk to a carved riverbed, worth adding to Banteay Srei only in the rainy season when water runs over the lingas. Kbal Spean is 8 km north of Banteay Srei and about 45 km from Siem Reap, roughly an hour by car. From the car park a 2 km forest path climbs to a stretch of river carved with about a thousand lingas, a reclining Vishnu and Brahma on a lotus. Angkor Enterprise sells a separate $5 one-day Kbal Spean ticket. Recent sources disagree on whether the Angkor Pass is accepted there, so carry $5 in cash and ask at the gate. Last entry to the forest path is at 3:00 p.m. according to a guide updated in January 2026, so plan to be at the car park by 2:30 p.m. The limitation: from February to May the river is nearly dry and the carvings are a set of shallow grooves in grey rock.

Kampong Khleang

The honest verdict: the lake village for people who have a half day and want fewer boats, not the one for people with two hours. Kampong Khleang is the largest settlement on the lake’s northern shore, about 55 km east of Siem Reap on National Road 6 and then south, one hour to one and a half hours by car in 2025 and 2026 reports, and longer by tuk-tuk. The stilt houses are taller and more numerous than Kampong Phluk’s, the floating section farther out, and the coach groups that reach Kampong Phluk mostly do not come this far. The boat is sold at the village per person, not per boat: 2025 and 2026 reports give $20 to $25 per person for entry and boat together. The limitation is the road: a long, flat drive each way for a village that offers, in the end, the same experience as Kampong Phluk with less company. It fits well as the afternoon after a Roluos morning, since both are on the same road east.

Beng Mealea

The honest verdict: the temple to see if Ta Prohm left you wanting the version without the crowds, the ropes and the restored courtyards. Beng Mealea is about 40 km east of the main Angkor group and roughly 65 km from Siem Reap, 90 minutes by car on a paved road, longer by tuk-tuk. It was built in the early 12th century, probably under Suryavarman II, inside a moat 1,025 m by 875 m, and it has largely collapsed into itself under forest. The ticket is $10, sold by Angkor Enterprise as a one-day ticket at the entrance. Recent sources disagree on whether the Angkor Pass is accepted, so carry the $10 and ask at the counter. A 250 m wooden walkway crosses the fallen center. Its first 189 m were rebuilt between October 2025 and April 2026 and widened from 1.30 m to 1.70 m, so the route that older guides describe as rickety is now stable and a little less atmospheric. The limitation: there is almost nothing to read, the climb over the stones off the walkway is discouraged and in places forbidden, and a tuk-tuk ride of 90 minutes each way on this road is tiring in a way the fare does not suggest. Beng Mealea in detail explains the ticket change and the transport choice.

Prek Toal

The honest verdict: the only day trip in this guide that is about wildlife rather than stone, and worth it only in the dry season and only with an operator who knows the colonies. Prek Toal is the core zone of the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve on the northwest shore of the lake, a Ramsar site since October 2, 2015, covering about 42,000 hectares. There is no road: the trip is a tuk-tuk or 4x4 to the Chong Kneas pier, a motorboat across the lake of about 90 minutes, then small boats through the flooded forest to the waterbird colonies. Sam Veasna Conservation Tours lists its Tonle Sap waterbirds day at 11 hours 30 minutes and $295, runs it November to March, and says December to February is best. Osmose, the conservation organization based at Prek Toal, offers half-day, full-day and two-day visits with a bird-watching supplement of $60 per person for two or $35 per person for three or more. Both start before dawn. The limitation: the cost is the highest of any trip here, water levels change daily and decide which colonies can be reached, and in the wet season the birds disperse and the trip is not sold. The Prek Toal guide has the species and the 5:00 a.m. logistics.

Two Hours and Beyond

Koh Ker

The honest verdict: the most rewarding long day from Siem Reap, and the one that depends entirely on a car. Koh Ker is 120 km from Siem Reap and about two and a half hours each way on a paved road that continues past Beng Mealea. It was the capital of the empire from 928 to 944 under Jayavarman IV and his son Harshavarman II, and its center is Prasat Thom, a seven-tiered pyramid about 36 m high that looks like nothing else in Cambodia. The original north staircase is closed and a newer wooden staircase takes visitors to the top. The site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on September 17, 2023. The ticket is $15, sold by Angkor Enterprise as a one-day ticket. More than 180 sanctuaries lie in the 81 km² protected area but only about two dozen are open, and the area is not fully cleared of mines, so marked paths are the rule. The limitation: five hours in a car for about three on site, few facilities beyond the ticket office and a handful of stalls, and in the rainy season some tracks between the outlying sanctuaries flood. The Koh Ker guide lists the sanctuaries that justify the stops.

Battambang

The honest verdict: not a day trip, and a good one night. Battambang is about 170 km west of Siem Reap on National Road 6 and then 5, three to four hours by bus. Giant Ibis runs the route in both directions at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Its regular fare was $12 in 2025, and booking sites list seats from about $10. The old boat across the Tonle Sap leaves at 7:00 a.m. for about $20, takes six to twelve hours depending on the water, and does not run at the end of the dry season. What draws people are two things outside the town: the bamboo train, which since January 2018 runs a 4 km tourist line near Wat Banan more than 20 km south of the city at $5 per person, and Phnom Sampeau, 11 to 12 km southwest, where the Khmer Rouge killing caves sit below the summit and millions of bats stream out of a cliff cave at dusk. Entry to Phnom Sampeau is $3 and includes Wat Banan. The limitation: a day trip means eight hours on the road, no bats and a bamboo train ride that lasts ten minutes. The town’s French shophouses, riverside and small arts scene are the reason to stay. Battambang from Siem Reap has the overnight plan hour by hour.

Banteay Chhmar

The honest verdict: the remote temple with the best reason to sleep in a village, and the wrong place for anyone who needs a hotel. Banteay Chhmar is about 170 km northwest of Siem Reap in Banteay Meanchey province: two hours on National Road 6 to Sisophon, then an hour north on a paved road to the village. It was built by Jayavarman VII in the late 12th and early 13th centuries in the style of the Bayon, with face towers and carved walls, including a multi-armed Lokesvara relief that survived the looting of the 1990s. The community-based tourism group, coordinated by Tath Sophal, publishes a price list: temple entry $5 per person with children under 12 free, a local guide $15 per tour, homestay rooms from $8 a night for most houses up to $16 with air conditioning, breakfast $3 and lunch or dinner $6, and a dinner served inside the temple for $6 per person plus a $5 supplement for groups of up to five. The CBT taxi from Siem Reap costs $120 round trip, and public transport is a $4 to $5 bus to Sisophon and a $5 share taxi onward. The list is marked valid through December 2025, so expect small changes in 2026. The limitation: six hours on the road for a day trip, basic shared bathrooms in most homestays, and no restaurant beyond the CBT’s own kitchen. The Banteay Chhmar guide describes the homestay night.

The border warning. Banteay Chhmar sits in Banteay Meanchey province, close to the Thai land border. Every land crossing with Thailand has been closed since June 2025, after a border dispute turned into armed clashes in July 2025 and again in December. A ceasefire was agreed at the end of December 2025. In February 2026 the UK government advised against all but essential travel within 20 km of the border, and the US rated the 50 km border zone at its highest warning level. Read your own government’s current advice before planning the trip, and check that your travel insurance covers the area.

The Countryside Without a Temple

Not every day out of Siem Reap needs a ruin. The land south and west of town is rice, sugar palms and villages that have not changed their rhythm for the tourists, and two formats work for it.

Cycling

The honest verdict: the best way to see the countryside, in the dry season, before 10:00 a.m. Angkor Cycling Tour, based in Siem Reap, runs half-day countryside rides of 25 to 30 km at $35 per person, departing at 7:30 a.m. or, for the sunset version, at 2:30 p.m., with e-bikes available and a 20 percent discount for children under 12. Guesthouses and rental shops near the Old Market hire bicycles by the day for a few dollars for anyone who prefers to ride alone to the West Baray or the Roluos road. The limitation: from March to May the heat makes any ride after 10:00 a.m. a mistake, and in the wet season the dirt tracks between the paddies turn to mud that stops a bicycle in ten meters. Cycling around Siem Reap covers routes and bike hire.

Quad Biking

The honest verdict: loud, dusty, enjoyable and the right choice for a sunset with teenagers. Quad Adventure Cambodia operates from Svay Dangkum commune on the western edge of town, with rides from a 1 hour 15 minute Easy Ride through 2 hour 15 minute and 3 hour tours to a full day of 8 hours, and departures through the day from 7:30 a.m. with sunset slots in the mid afternoon. The operator does not publish prices on its tour pages and quotes on request. Its pottery-and-quad half day, sold through Khmer Ceramics, starts at $55, and other Siem Reap operators list a one-hour ride from about $32 per person in 2026. The limitation: the trails are dusty from December to May, the villages get a procession of engines every afternoon, and the activity has nothing to say about Angkor. Quad biking in the Siem Reap countryside compares the operators.

The Combinations That Fit in One Day

The destinations above are not ten separate days. They fold into five.

Banteay Srei and Phnom Kulen. The classic. Leave at 7:00 a.m. by car, Banteay Samre at 7:45, Banteay Srei at 8:30 before the coaches, then north to the Kulen checkpoint by 10:30 and up the mountain for the Buddha, the lingas and lunch by the waterfall. Down after midday, back in town by 4:00 p.m. Tickets: Angkor Pass for the two temples, $20 for Kulen. One car, because of the mountain.

Beng Mealea and Koh Ker. The long one. Leave at 7:00 a.m., drive straight to Koh Ker for 9:30, two hours there, then Beng Mealea on the return around 1:00 p.m. when its trees shade the walkway, and back by 4:00 p.m. Tickets $15 and $10. Car only.

Roluos in the morning, Kampong Phluk in the afternoon. The tuk-tuk day. Roluos at 8:00 a.m., back to town for lunch and a pool, then out to Kampong Phluk at 3:00 p.m. for the boat and the sunset. Tickets: the Angkor Pass for Roluos and about $20 to $25 for the boat. Works by tuk-tuk for the whole day. In the dry season swap Kampong Phluk for Kampong Khleang only if the water is still reasonable, and if it is February or later swap the lake for Phnom Krom at sunset.

Banteay Srei and Kbal Spean. The rainy-season version of the north. Banteay Srei at 7:30 a.m., then 8 km on to Kbal Spean for the climb while the air is still cool and the river is running. Tickets: the pass, plus $5 in cash for Kbal Spean in case the pass is not accepted there. By tuk-tuk or car.

Prek Toal alone. It takes the whole day and cannot be combined with anything. Nor can Battambang or Banteay Chhmar, which is why they get a night.

Tuk-Tuk or Car: The Rule Beyond Banteay Srei

Drivers price by destination and the published ranges are consistent: a tuk-tuk for the main temples at about $15 to $20, $20 to $30 for the outlying ones, $3 extra for a 5:00 a.m. sunrise start and about $10 extra for the Banteay Srei road. A car with driver and an English-speaking licensed guide is listed at $45 to $50 a day for the park. Beyond Banteay Srei the arithmetic changes. Kulen is a car, van or motorbike: about $50 to $70 for a car and $60 to $80 for a van. Beng Mealea is possible by tuk-tuk at the $40 to $47 that drivers’ published lists show, or by car at $60 to $80. Koh Ker with Beng Mealea starts at about $95 for a car on operators’ published rates, which for a party of four comes to about the price of a Kampong Phluk boat per head.

The practical rule: a tuk-tuk is the right vehicle for anything in the first row of the table above and for Beng Mealea if saving $20 to $30 matters more than two hours of dust. It is the wrong vehicle for Kulen because the road forbids it in practice, and for anything beyond because the driver will not make the fare back. Agree the destinations, the total and whether waiting time is included before leaving, in dollars, and carry small riel for stalls and boat fees. Tuk-tuk, car or bicycle at Angkor goes through the hiring conversation line by line, and the scams that still work in Siem Reap includes the one where a boat fee appears at the pier.

Season and Time of Day

The temples do not change with the season. The lake and the mountain do. The Tonle Sap shrinks from about 16,000 km² in November to 2,500 to 3,000 km² at the end of the dry season, from 9 to 14 m deep to about 1 m. Kampong Phluk, Kampong Khleang and Chong Kneas are at their best from August to January and lose their point from March to June, when the boats run along a canal to reach open water. Prek Toal reverses that: the birds concentrate as the water falls, so December to February is the season. Phnom Kulen’s waterfall is fullest from August to November and weakest in April. Kbal Spean needs running water, which means the rainy season.

Heat sets the clock. From March to May no one should be in an open temple between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., which is why every combination above puts the temple first and the water or the car second. Beng Mealea is the exception that tolerates afternoon because of its canopy. In the rainy season, from May to October, storms arrive mid to late afternoon and last an hour, which suits a morning temple and an afternoon on a covered boat and punishes a 4:00 p.m. climb up Phnom Krom. The best time to visit Siem Reap sets this out month by month, and what the rainy season does to the temples is more encouraging than most people expect.

By Situation

You have a three-day Angkor Pass and one spare day

Banteay Srei and Phnom Kulen by car, with Banteay Samre at the start. The pass covers two of the three temples, and the three-day pass does not need consecutive days, so a lake or a Kulen day in the middle costs nothing against it.

You have seen Angkor before and want ruins without people

Koh Ker and Beng Mealea in one car day, leaving at 7:00 a.m. Budget $25 in tickets and from about $95 for the car, and split it four ways if you can.

You are traveling with children

Kampong Phluk in the late afternoon in the high-water months, or Phnom Kulen for the swim. Both have an obvious payoff within the first hour and neither asks a child to read a bas-relief. Siem Reap with kids has the heat and stair warnings.

You are on a tuk-tuk budget

Roluos in the morning and Kampong Phluk in the afternoon, or Banteay Samre and Banteay Srei together. Both days stay inside the pass and inside the first row of the table. Skip Kulen unless you can share a minivan.

You have five days and want to leave the temples once

Battambang for a night, out on the 8:30 a.m. Giant Ibis, back on the 1:30 p.m. the next day. The four-to-five-day itinerary shows where the night fits.

You want wildlife, not stone

Prek Toal between December and February with Sam Veasna or Osmose, booked ahead. Nothing else in this guide is about animals.

What It Actually Costs

All prices in US dollars. Tickets are per person unless marked. Vehicle figures are for the whole vehicle and are drivers’ ranges, not posted rates.

Trip	Ticket	Vehicle for the day	Extras
Roluos group	Angkor Pass	Tuk-tuk $15 to $20	None
Phnom Krom sunset	Angkor Pass	Tuk-tuk $8 to $12 round trip	None
Banteay Samre and Banteay Srei	Angkor Pass	Tuk-tuk $25 to $30, car $45 to $50 with guide	None
Kbal Spean add-on	$5 (Angkor Enterprise one-day ticket)	Included in the Banteay Srei day	None
Phnom Kulen	$20	Car $50 to $70, van $60 to $80	Lunch at the waterfall stalls $3 to $5
Beng Mealea	$10 (Angkor Enterprise one-day ticket)	Tuk-tuk $40 to $47, car $60 to $80	None
Koh Ker with Beng Mealea	$15 plus $10	Car from about $95	Guide optional, $30 to $50
Chong Kneas boat	$28 per boat for 1 to 5 people, $38 for 6 to 8	Tuk-tuk $13 to $20 round trip	Donation requests on board
Kampong Phluk	Boat $20 per person plus $2 village fee	Tuk-tuk $20 to $25 round trip	Flooded forest paddle, $5 per person
Kampong Khleang	Entry and boat $20 to $25 per person	Tuk-tuk $30 to $35 round trip	None
Prek Toal	Included in tour	Sam Veasna $295 per person, Osmose on request plus $35 to $60 bird-watching supplement	Lunch usually included
Battambang, one night	Phnom Sampeau $3, bamboo train $5	Giant Ibis $12 each way, tuk-tuk in Battambang $15 to $20 for the afternoon	A hotel night
Banteay Chhmar, one night	$5	CBT taxi $120 round trip, or bus and share taxi about $10 each way	Homestay $8 to $16 per room, meals $3 to $6, guide $15
Countryside cycling	None	Angkor Cycling Tour half day $35 per person	Bike hire alone, a few dollars a day
Quad biking	None	Quad Adventure Cambodia on request, other operators from $32 per person	None

Nothing above includes the Angkor Pass itself, which is $37 for one day, $62 for three and $72 for seven, or a tip for a driver who waits five hours in the Koh Ker car park, which is customary and in the $3 to $5 range. Dollars are taken everywhere on these roads. Change comes in riel below one dollar, and a torn note will be handed back.

What Other Guides Get Wrong

1. Settling the Beng Mealea ticket in one line. Angkor Enterprise sells a separate $10 one-day ticket, and Kbal Spean has one at $5. Recent sources disagree on whether the Angkor Pass is accepted at either, so carry the cash and ask at the gate.
2. Giving distances in kilometers and no drive times. Koh Ker at 120 km reads like a morning. It is two and a half hours each way on a road shared with trucks, and the kilometers are the least useful figure.
3. Treating Kampong Phluk as a year-round trip. From March to June the stilt houses stand over dry ground and the boat follows a canal to find the lake. The village is the same. The visit is not.
4. Calling Battambang a day trip. Eight hours on the road for three hours in town, and the bats, the only time-fixed event there, leave at dusk when a day-tripper is already on the bus home.
5. Sending tuk-tuks up Phnom Kulen. They do not go. The mountain road is a car, van or motorbike, and the budget has to allow for it.
6. Pricing Chong Kneas per person. The official boat tickets are priced per boat, $28 for up to five, and a traveler who pays $20 a head has paid a driver’s margin, not a fare.

Detailed Guides

• Beng Mealea: the jungle temple, the new ticket and how to get there settles whether the $10 ticket and the 90-minute road are worth it after Ta Prohm, and whether to go by tuk-tuk or car.
• Phnom Kulen: waterfall, reclining Buddha, the river of 1,000 lingas and the $20 ticket decides what to see on the mountain in what order and in which months the waterfall justifies the drive.
• Tonle Sap floating villages: Kampong Phluk vs Kampong Khleang vs Chong Kneas picks the village by month and by how many hours you have, and says what the boat should cost.
• Koh Ker: Cambodia’s pyramid temple, now UNESCO, and the long day it takes lists the two dozen open sanctuaries and which ones deserve the stop.
• Battambang from Siem Reap: bamboo train, bat caves and whether to overnight answers the overnight question and plans the afternoon around the 6:00 p.m. bats.
• Banteay Samre and East Mebon: half a day east of the main park builds the quiet morning most three-day passes leave room for.
• Banteay Chhmar: the remote temple with a community homestay explains the homestay night, the CBT price list and the Sisophon route.
• Siem Reap countryside: rice fields, villages and which tours are not staged separates the village visits that are real from the ones built for the bus.
• Banteay Srei: why the smallest temple is worth the drive argues for the 7:30 a.m. arrival and explains the roped-off enclosure.
• Tonle Sap Lake: seasons, villages, boats and the tours to avoid covers the lake’s annual swing from 2,500 to 16,000 km² and what it means for every village trip.
• Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary: season, cost and the 5 a.m. start names the colonies, the species and the two operators who reach them.
• Phnom Krom: the sunset hill nobody visits explains the pass check at the bottom of the hill and the best months for the lake view.
• Cycling around Siem Reap: routes, bike hire and the heat maps the flat routes to the West Baray and Roluos and says when to be back.
• Quad biking in the Siem Reap countryside: operators, dust and sunset routes compares the operators and the sunset slots.

Where to Go Next

Every trip above assumes the ticket question is answered, so start with the Angkor Pass: tickets, prices, hours and where to buy if it is not, and in particular with the rule that a pass bought after 4:45 p.m. gives a free sunset, which is how Phnom Krom gets paid for. The hiring conversation that decides whether a day costs $20 or $120 is in tuk-tuk, car or bicycle at Angkor. For where these days fit among the temple days, the four-to-five-day itinerary places Kulen, Beng Mealea and the lake in sequence, and the best time to visit Siem Reap says which of them your travel month allows. If the idea of a day away from the temples is the point, Siem Reap without temples takes it further.