Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport to the City: Taxi, Bus, Prices and the 50 km Problem (2026)

The airport that serves Siem Reap is not near Siem Reap. Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport, code SAI, opened on October 16, 2023, about 50 km east of the Old Market in Sotr Nikum district, and the old airport 7 km from town, the one with a 15-minute tuk-tuk ride that every older guide describes, is closed. The transfer that used to cost $7 and a quarter of an hour now costs $35 at the taxi counter and 50 to 70 minutes of highway, or $8 and an hour on a shuttle that stops 2 km from Pub Street. Planning around the old numbers is the single most common arrival mistake in the city.

Search results are still a mix of three eras. Pages written before 2023 give the old distance and the old fares. Pages written in the first months after the move describe a shuttle that has since changed its timetable and a Grab pickup that worked for some and not for others. Agency pages list “airport transfer from $25” without saying which airport, which vehicle or which part of town. None of them tell you that the drive enters Siem Reap from the east, so a hotel on the Wat Bo side is reached 10 minutes before a resort on the Airport Road strip, which is on the far side of town and no longer near any airport.

This guide covers each way into town with the price, the time and the stop, the visa and cash you need before leaving the terminal, the night arrival, the trip back, and where the buses from Phnom Penh drop you if you arrive by road. Prices, hours and transport times below were checked against operator websites and official sources in October 2026.

The Airport Moved and Half the Internet Did Not Notice

The distinction that decides your arrival: there are two Siem Reap airports in the written record and one in operation. The old Siem Reap International Airport, code REP, sat 7 km northwest of the center on the road still called Airport Road, 5 km from Angkor Wat. The new one, SAI, sits 50 km east, 40 km east of Angkor Wat and 18 km northeast of Damdek, the market town on National Road 6 halfway to Kampong Thom. It was built by Yunnan Investment under a 55-year build-operate-transfer agreement, cost about $1.1 billion, has a 3,600 m runway that takes wide-body aircraft, and is designed for 7 million passengers a year in its first phase. All scheduled flights moved there in October 2023.

The consequences are practical. Hotels on Airport Road and Charles de Gaulle Boulevard, which once sold themselves as close to the airport, are now the farthest hotels in town from it. The tuk-tuk, the correct vehicle for every other journey in Siem Reap, is the wrong one for this road. Grab and PassApp, reliable inside the city, lose that reliability at a terminal 50 km out. And a 2:00 p.m. flight no longer means leaving the hotel at 12:30 p.m.

What has not changed: the visa on arrival, the US dollar as the arrival currency, and the fact that everyone who lands ends up on National Road 6 heading west. The guide to getting around Siem Reap by tuk-tuk, PassApp and Grab covers the city once you are in it. This one covers the 50 km before.

The Road: 50 Kilometers, One Toll Highway, One National Road

Every vehicle takes the same route. From the terminal, the Angkor Highway runs 24.5 km southwest as a four-lane toll road to National Road 6. Since January 1, 2026, cars with up to seven seats pay $4, or 16,000 riel, per round trip, collected at the toll station at the highway entrance. From the junction, National Road 6 runs west for roughly 25 km through Roluos, past the three Roluos temples that predate Angkor, and enters Siem Reap at Phsar Leu, the big wholesale market on the eastern edge of town.

From Phsar Leu, the geography of where you are staying takes over:

• National Road 6 east and Sala Kamreuk: the first hotels reached, 40 to 50 minutes from the airport in a car.
• Wat Bo and the east bank of the river: 45 to 55 minutes. The driver turns south off National Road 6 before the river.
• Old Market, Pub Street and the west bank: 50 to 60 minutes. Crossing the river at the Old Market bridge or the stone bridge by the Royal Gardens adds the slowest 5 minutes of the trip in the late afternoon.
• Sok San Road and Kandal Village: 55 to 65 minutes.
• Airport Road, Charles de Gaulle Boulevard and the resort strip toward Angkor: 60 to 70 minutes. These are the farthest hotels from the new airport, a fact their older web pages do not mention.
• Hotels inside or beside the Angkor park boundary: 55 to 70 minutes via the Charles de Gaulle side, or less if the driver uses the Road 60 bypass.

Rain changes the arithmetic. From May to October a late-afternoon storm floods the junctions around Phsar Leu for an hour and a shuttle that is scheduled for 60 minutes takes 90. In the dry season, from November to April, the only slow point is the 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. rush on National Road 6 into town. Which part of town suits you is a separate question, settled in the guide to Siem Reap’s neighborhoods.

Every Way Into Town, Compared

The official taxi counter

The honest verdict: the right choice for two or more people with bags, and for anyone landing after 8:00 p.m. The counter is inside the arrivals hall, past the SIM card stands, and sells a fixed-fare ticket to the city center: $35 for a sedan carrying 1 to 3 passengers, 142,000 riel on the posted board, and $40 to $45 for a minivan carrying up to 5 with luggage, since 2026 sources give both figures. You pay in US dollars at the counter, receive a slip, and a dispatcher walks you to the car. The drive takes 50 to 70 minutes to the Old Market. Cars are available from about 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., which covers every scheduled arrival in the current timetable. The limitation: the fixed fare covers Siem Reap city only. Trips beyond it, to Svay Leu or Koh Ker for example, are priced by negotiation with the driver, so name the hotel before you pay.

The Official Airport Shuttle Bus

The honest verdict: the cheapest way to town for one person who does not mind a tuk-tuk at the end, and the only scheduled public transport. The service is branded Official Airport Shuttle Bus, run by a Siem Reap company called Be Nice Tourism, and its ticket counter is on the left as you walk out of the arrivals terminal under an Airport Bus sign, with a waiting area and free Wi-Fi. The fare is $8 one way, $15 return, bought at the counter or online at siemreapairportbus.com. Departures from the airport are at 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. The ride takes about an hour and ends at the company’s bus station on 7 Makara Road, in front of ACE School, in Wat Bo village on the east bank of the river, near Angkor High School and within walking distance of Pub Street.

Luggage is two pieces and one hand bag per passenger. Hotel pickup and drop-off are not part of the fare, but the station offers a free tuk-tuk drop to hotels within 2 km and a $2 pickup from any hotel in town for the trip back. In practice a tuk-tuk from 7 Makara Road to an Old Market or Wat Bo hotel costs $2 to $3 and takes 10 minutes.

The limitation: the first bus leaves at 9:30 a.m., so a flight landing at 7:00 a.m. means a two-hour wait or a taxi, and the schedule thins in the rainy season. Check the day before, not the month before. If a bus is full, the next one is 90 minutes away.

The Cambodia Post shuttle

The honest verdict: the better shuttle if you are staying around the Old Market, because it ends on the riverside rather than 2 km north. Cambodia Post runs a minivan shuttle from the airport to the Siem Reap Post Office on Pokambor Avenue, the main post office on the west bank between the Old Market and the Royal Gardens. The fare is $8 to $9 one way with one piece of luggage included. Airport departures are at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and the trip takes about an hour. From the Post Office, Pub Street is a 5-minute walk and the Wat Bo side is a short walk across the bridge. The limitation: seven departures with gaps of up to two and a half hours, advance booking is advised because the van is small, and the last airport departure at 8:00 p.m. is earlier than the Official Airport Shuttle’s 10:00 p.m. These times match an October 2026 listing, but the timetable has changed before, so confirm on the shuttle’s Telegram channel.

Shared minivans and Siem Reap Shuttle

The honest verdict: the compromise for one or two people who want the hotel door without paying for a car. Several companies run shared minivans that wait for a load and then drop passengers hotel by hotel. Siem Reap Shuttle, a local operator at siemreapshuttle.com, sells a shared transfer from $9 per person with hourly departures on the half hour from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., a limit of two suitcases and one hand bag, and online booking with flight details. Other shared minivans sold through booking platforms cost $9 to $12 per person. The ride takes 60 to 90 minutes because of the stops. The limitation: you wait at the airport for the van to fill and then in town while others are dropped first, there is no service after 7:30 p.m., and a group of three pays almost what the fixed taxi costs.

Pre-booked private cars

The honest verdict: the best value for a couple with luggage, and the only option that puts a driver at arrivals holding your name. Siem Reap taxi companies and independent drivers quote $25 to $30 for a sedan and $30 to $40 for a minivan from SAI to any hotel in town, booked by WhatsApp or Telegram a day or two ahead with the flight number. The driver tracks the flight and the fare is agreed in advance. Sedans here are small: two people with two large suitcases fit, three do not, so ask for a van if the group has more than two big bags. The limitation: you are relying on a stranger’s punctuality at the end of a long flight, and the cheaper independents may try to sell a temple day for the following morning on the way in. A polite no is enough.

Hotel transfers

The honest verdict: worth it when the hotel charges $25 to $35, not when it charges $60 to $70 for the same road. Almost every hotel in Siem Reap offers an airport pickup, and the price tracks the hotel’s rate more than the vehicle. Guesthouses and mid-range hotels in Wat Bo and around the Old Market generally quote $25 to $35 for a car. Resorts on the Charles de Gaulle strip and the five-star houses quote $50 to $70 for a larger vehicle with cold towels. The advantage is accountability: the hotel knows the flight, the driver is on payroll and a late arrival is the hotel’s problem to solve. The limitation: a $65 transfer is nearly two nights in a good guesthouse, and the road is identical to the $35 counter taxi. Which hotels earn the surcharge is covered in where to stay in Siem Reap by area and traveler type.

Grab and PassApp at the airport

The honest verdict: do not build an arrival around either app. Both work well inside Siem Reap, where a car across town costs $3 to $5 and a tuk-tuk $2 to $3, fixed in the app. At the airport the picture is different. Drivers who pick up on airport grounds face access charges and compete with the fixed-fare counter, so many wait on the road outside the gates or decline the job. Travelers in 2025 and 2026 report three outcomes: a car accepted within minutes and a $20 to $30 fare to the Old Market, a twenty-minute wait with cancellations, or a walk out to the main road to meet the driver. Grab lists a ride-hailing pickup area at the terminal and shows the meeting point as a photo in the app. A tuk-tuk booked through either app costs $15 to $18 for the 50 km, and the remorque option is the one to pick if two people have bags. The limitation: after about 9:00 p.m. driver supply at the airport drops to almost nothing, and the app is useless without a working SIM or eSIM, so buy one at the arrivals counter before you try.

Tuk-tuks over 50 kilometers

The honest verdict: possible, legal, and a mistake unless the budget is the only consideration. A tuk-tuk, whether the motorbike-drawn remorque or the three-wheel auto rickshaw that has taken over the city, is allowed to pick up at the airport, but few wait there because the empty run out from town is 50 km. Those that do quote $15 to $20 to the Old Market, and the ride takes 75 to 90 minutes on the Angkor Highway and National Road 6 beside trucks, in dust from November to April and in rain from May to October. Luggage sits in the open on the seat beside you, and there have been reports of bags taken from tuk-tuks on this road. Most tuk-tuk airport runs that do happen are with a driver booked from town to meet a known arrival. The limitation is the whole proposition: the vehicle that is right for the temples is wrong for a highway. For the temples, the tuk-tuk, car, bicycle and e-bike comparison for Angkor settles the choice.

Arriving: Visa, e-Arrival Card, Cash and SIM Before You Leave the Terminal

The arrivals sequence at SAI, in order: e-Arrival card check, visa on arrival counter if you need one, immigration, baggage, customs, then the arrivals hall with the ATM, the bank counter, the SIM stands, the shuttle counter and the taxi counter. The terminal is on two levels, with arrivals on the lower floor and international departures above, and no point in the building is more than 400 m from the exit.

The e-Arrival card. Every passenger, including those holding an e-Visa and Cambodian citizens, completes the Cambodia e-Arrival card at arrival.gov.kh within seven days before landing. It is free and replaces the paper arrival card. Do it on the phone before the flight: the kiosks at the airport work, but the queue behind a full Singapore Airlines or Emirates aircraft is long.

Visa on arrival. Most nationalities buy the T-class tourist visa at the counter before immigration: $30 for 30 days, single entry, one passport photo of roughly 4 by 6 cm, passport valid for six months. Payment is in US dollar cash. Some travelers report card payment being accepted for air arrivals, but the counter staff ask for exact cash and the ATM beside the visa counter is the fallback, so land with $30 per person in clean notes. A torn or marked bill is refused in Cambodia, at this counter as everywhere else. Business visas cost $35.

The e-Visa. The alternative is the e-Visa from evisa.gov.kh, the only official site, at $30 with processing included since January 1, 2025, not the $36 older pages quote. It is normally issued within three business days and valid for entry within three months. Print two copies, one for entry and one for exit. SAI is an approved e-Visa port, and the e-Visa skips the counter queue, which matters most if you land in the same half hour as two wide-body flights. Which to choose, the lookalike sites to avoid and what happens if your passport has five months left are in the Cambodia visa guide: e-Visa vs visa on arrival. ASEAN passport holders enter visa-free for set periods.

Cash. The arrivals hall has a Bred Bank ATM that dispenses US dollars and accepts contactless payment, plus a Cambodia Asia Bank exchange counter. Airport exchange rates are worse than town rates by a few percent. Withdraw $100 to $200 in dollars for the first day and let the change come back in riel. ATMs here dispense large notes: ask the taxi counter or the SIM stand to break a $100 before you leave, because a tuk-tuk driver at 7 Makara Road cannot change one. The dollar-and-riel system, including why a $1 note matters more than a $100 note, is explained in money in Siem Reap: dollars, riel and the torn-note problem.

SIM cards. Metfone, Smart and Cellcard have counters at the arrivals exit, about 20 m from the international door, and the prices match town prices. Smart’s tourist SIM was $5 for 15 days and 30 GB in 2026, and all three need a passport to register. Buy one here if you plan to use Grab or PassApp for the ride in, or if you need to message a driver. An eSIM bought before departure works as soon as the aircraft door opens, which is the quieter option. The networks, the eSIM providers and the coverage at the temples are compared in SIM cards and eSIM in Siem Reap.

The terminal itself. Arrivals has coffee and a few counters. The departures level has the food outlets and the Angkor Lounge, open 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The airport closes between the last departure and the first arrival of the day: it is not a 24-hour terminal and there is nowhere to sleep. Lounges, food, luggage storage and the departures side are covered in the Siem Reap airport guide.

Arriving at Night

The current timetable at SAI has most arrivals between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. The Bangkok flights from Bangkok Airways, Thai Airways and Thai AirAsia land through the day. Singapore Airlines, Vietnam Airlines from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, VietJet from Hanoi, AirAsia Cambodia from Kuala Lumpur and Air Cambodia from Phnom Penh fill the rest. A handful of arrivals land after 9:00 p.m., and that is when the options narrow.

What works after 9:00 p.m., in order of reliability:

1. A pre-booked private car or hotel transfer. The driver tracks the flight. This is the arrangement for any flight scheduled to land after 8:00 p.m., because a one-hour delay then pushes you past the shuttle and past the Grab drivers.
2. The taxi counter, open until about 11:00 p.m. A delayed 9:45 p.m. arrival still finds cars. A midnight landing may find the counter closed and a few drivers outside quoting whatever they like, so have the hotel’s number and a pre-booking as backup.
3. The 10:00 p.m. Official Airport Shuttle Bus. The last run. Only for a flight that lands by 9:15 p.m., allowing for immigration and bags.
4. Grab or PassApp. Thin after 9:00 p.m., empty by 11:00 p.m. A plan, not a backup.

The road at night is lit along the Angkor Highway and dark along stretches of National Road 6. It is not dangerous, but the tuk-tuk is out of the question after dark with luggage, and the hotel should know the arrival time: many Wat Bo guesthouses lock the gate at 11:00 p.m. and open it for a known arrival only. The general safety picture, including what to watch at bus drop-offs and on late rides, is in is Siem Reap safe.

Going Back: When to Leave for the Airport

The return is where the 50 km catches people who have been using tuk-tuks all week and have adjusted to a town where everything is 10 minutes away.

The time to leave. From the Old Market or Wat Bo, allow 3 hours before an international departure and 2.5 hours before a domestic one: about an hour of road, 15 minutes of margin for Phsar Leu, and 2 hours at the terminal. Airlines at SAI close international check-in 45 to 60 minutes before departure. Add 15 minutes if you are leaving between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., when National Road 6 out of town is slowest, and 30 minutes in a rainy-season storm. From the Charles de Gaulle resort strip, add 10 minutes to all of the above.

The vehicles. A pre-booked car from the hotel or a taxi company costs $25 to $35 and is the default. PassApp and Grab work far better in this direction, because the driver starts in town where the supply is: a car to SAI through the app runs $25 to $30 and a booked tuk-tuk $15 to $18, and travelers report an average of about $28 for the car. The Official Airport Shuttle Bus leaves 7 Makara Road at 5:30 a.m., 7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., with the $2 tuk-tuk pickup from any hotel bookable with the ticket. The Cambodia Post shuttle leaves the Post Office at 7:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Siem Reap Shuttle runs hourly to the airport from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The arithmetic for a shuttle. For a 1:00 p.m. international flight, the 10:00 a.m. Official Airport Shuttle arrives at 11:00 a.m., two hours early, which is right. For a 7:30 a.m. flight, the 5:30 a.m. bus has no margin if it runs late, and a car at 4:30 a.m. is the safer choice. Early flights are the case where the $35 is not optional.

Sunrise and a flight on the same day. Angkor Wat sunrise finishes by 6:30 a.m., the tuk-tuk is back at the hotel by 7:15 a.m., and a car can leave for a 12:00 p.m. flight at 9:00 a.m. A flight before 11:00 a.m. does not combine with sunrise. The 4:30 a.m. logistics are in the Angkor Wat sunrise guide.

For onward travel by bus or flight to Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Laos and Vietnam, including the routes that avoid the airport altogether, see leaving Siem Reap: onward travel.

Arriving by Bus From Phnom Penh or Bangkok

A large share of visitors never see SAI. They arrive by road from Phnom Penh, 320 km and 5.5 to 6 hours to the south. The other road, from Bangkok through the Poipet border, about 410 km and 8 to 9 hours, has been shut since land crossings between Thailand and Cambodia were suspended in June 2025, and the UK government’s travel advice still listed them as suspended in March 2026. The buses do not use a central terminal. Each company drops at its own office, and none of them is on Pub Street.

Giant Ibis. The premium operator, $17 to $25 from Phnom Penh depending on the departure, with day buses at 8:45 a.m., 9:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and sleeper buses at 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., each about 6 hours. Its Siem Reap terminal is behind the Old Stadium on Khmer Pub Street, in the Sala Kamreuk area on the east side of the river, 10 minutes and $2 to $3 by tuk-tuk from the Old Market. Drivers wait at the terminal. Giant Ibis still lists a direct Bangkok service on its schedule page, departing Phra Sumen Road in Bangkok’s Phra Nakhon district at 7:45 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. for the same Khmer Pub Street terminal. The route crosses at Poipet, and that border has been closed since June 2025. Until it reopens, the way in from Bangkok is a flight.

Cambodia Post VIP van. The state postal service’s minivan leaves the Wat Phnom post office in Phnom Penh and ends at the Siem Reap Post Office on Pokambor Avenue, the same riverside building the airport shuttle uses, which makes it the only intercity arrival within walking distance of the Old Market. The last detailed review, from 2022, gave $10.50 and departures at 7:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., about 5.5 hours with a stop in Kampong Thom. No 2025 or 2026 timetable is published online, so confirm the times at the post office.

Larryta Express, Virak Buntham and the rest. Larryta runs minibuses from about $15.50 roughly every half hour through the day and full-size sleepers at $18.75 into the night. Virak Buntham runs sleeper and hotel buses on the same road. Each drops at its own office on the approach roads into town, with tuk-tuks waiting and quoting $3 to $5 for the ride to a hotel, which is $1 to $2 more than the fair rate because the drivers know you have just arrived. Mekong Express, a name that appears in many older guides, has no schedule in a Phnom Penh to Siem Reap bus roundup updated in March 2026, and no current timetable of its own is published online. Check before planning around it.

The flight. Air Cambodia, the former Cambodia Angkor Air, flies Phnom Penh to SAI about twice a day in 50 minutes at $80 to $200 one way, and then you are at the 50 km problem again. Door to door, the flight saves about three hours over the bus and costs five to ten times as much.

The routes, operators and tricks of each approach are their own guides: Phnom Penh to Siem Reap by bus, flight or boat and Bangkok to Siem Reap while the land border is closed. The one-sentence version for the Bangkok road in 2026: the land border is closed, so fly, and check whether it has reopened before any overland plan.

By Situation

You are two people with suitcases landing in the afternoon

The taxi counter at $35, or a pre-booked car at $25 to $30 if you planned two days ahead. Either is 50 to 70 minutes to the door. The shuttle saves $19 and costs a tuk-tuk, a transfer and 30 minutes.

You are one person with a backpack and a daytime flight

The Official Airport Shuttle Bus at $8 to 7 Makara Road, then a $2 to $3 tuk-tuk, or the Cambodia Post shuttle at $8 to $9 if your hotel is within a walk of the Old Market. Check the departure times against your landing time: a 90-minute wait for the next bus erases the saving for anyone who values an afternoon.

You land after 9:00 p.m.

A pre-booked private car or a hotel transfer, confirmed by message the morning of the flight, with the taxi counter as the backup. Not the app, not the shuttle after a delay, and never a tuk-tuk in the dark on National Road 6.

You are a family of four with a stroller and two large bags

The minivan at the taxi counter for $40 to $45, or a pre-booked van at $30 to $40, and nothing else. Sedans here are small and a shared shuttle with two children, four bags and a stroller is a bad hour. The full family picture, including which hotels have connecting rooms, is in Siem Reap with kids.

You have a 7:30 a.m. flight out

A car at 4:30 a.m., booked the day before, $25 to $35. The 5:30 a.m. shuttle arrives at 6:30 a.m. with no margin and you cannot afford the one morning it runs late. Have the hotel pack breakfast.

You are arriving by bus, not by plane

Know the company’s drop point before you book. Giant Ibis and Cambodia Post leave you closest to the center. From any office, the fair tuk-tuk fare to an Old Market or Wat Bo hotel is $2 to $3, and the first quote will be $5.

What It Actually Costs

Option	Price	Per	Time to Old Market	Drops at	Hours
Taxi counter, sedan (1 to 3 pax)	$35 (142,000 riel)	Vehicle	50 to 70 min	Hotel door	6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Taxi counter, minivan	$40 to $45	Vehicle	50 to 70 min	Hotel door	6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Pre-booked private car	$25 to $30	Vehicle	50 to 70 min	Hotel door	Any time, by arrangement
Pre-booked private minivan	$30 to $40	Vehicle	50 to 70 min	Hotel door	Any time, by arrangement
Hotel transfer	$25 to $70	Vehicle	50 to 70 min	Hotel door	Any time
Official Airport Shuttle Bus	$8 one way, $15 return	Person	60 min plus tuk-tuk	7 Makara Road, ACE School	9:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. from airport
Cambodia Post shuttle	$8 to $9	Person	60 min	Siem Reap Post Office, Pokambor Ave	10:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. from airport
Siem Reap Shuttle, shared	From $9	Person	60 to 90 min	Hotel or meeting point	6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Grab or PassApp car	$20 to $30	Vehicle	50 to 70 min plus wait	Hotel door	Unreliable at the airport, thin after 9:00 p.m.
Grab or PassApp tuk-tuk	$15 to $18	Vehicle	75 to 90 min	Hotel door	Daylight only in practice
Tuk-tuk, arranged	$15 to $20	Vehicle	75 to 90 min	Hotel door	Daylight only in practice
Tuk-tuk from shuttle stop to hotel	$2 to $3	Vehicle	10 min	Hotel door	Any time

The taxi counter fare is fixed. For a pre-booked car, ask whether the quote includes the $4 Angkor Highway toll. They do not include a tip, not expected for a fixed-fare taxi and welcome at $1 to $2 for a driver who loads four bags, or the tuk-tuk at the end of a shuttle ride. Riel is accepted everywhere on this list at roughly 4,000 to the dollar, and change under $1 comes back in riel. The visa on arrival adds $30 per person in cash, the e-Visa $36 paid online in advance, and a SIM $5 to $10. Where these numbers sit in a daily budget is in what Siem Reap costs per day.

What Other Guides Get Wrong

1. “The airport is 7 km from town, 15 minutes by tuk-tuk.” That was Siem Reap International Airport, REP, which closed in October 2023. The airport that takes your flight is SAI, 50 km east, 50 to 70 minutes by car. Any page, hotel listing or map pin that gives the short distance was written for an airport that no longer operates.
2. “Take a tuk-tuk from the airport for $7.” The $7 fare belonged to the 7 km road. The new road is 50 km of highway, the tuk-tuk takes 75 to 90 minutes, costs $15 to $20 and exposes your luggage to the weather and to theft. It is the wrong vehicle for this trip.
3. “Just grab a Grab.” The apps are excellent inside Siem Reap and unreliable at the airport, where drivers avoid access fees and wait outside the gates. Treat an airport Grab as a possibility, not a plan, and never as the plan after 9:00 p.m.
4. “The shuttle takes you downtown.” The Official Airport Shuttle Bus ends at 7 Makara Road, in Wat Bo on the east bank, within walking distance of Pub Street, and the Cambodia Post shuttle at the Post Office on the riverside. Neither stops at hotels. Budget the tuk-tuk and the extra 15 minutes.
5. “Airport Road hotels are convenient for the airport.” Airport Road and the Charles de Gaulle strip were convenient for the old airport. They are now the farthest hotels in town from the one in use, 60 to 70 minutes away, on the opposite side of the city from the road you arrive on.
6. “Leave the hotel 90 minutes before the flight.” The old habit. From the Old Market, 3 hours before an international departure: an hour of road, a margin for Phsar Leu and two hours at a terminal where check-in closes 45 to 60 minutes before the flight.

Detailed Guides

• Cambodia visa for Siem Reap: e-Visa vs visa on arrival settles which of the two to use, what the e-Visa buys over the counter at the same $30, and which lookalike sites to avoid.
• Phnom Penh to Siem Reap: bus, flight or boat compares the operators, the sleeper buses, the 50-minute flight and the lake boat that only runs in high water.
• Bangkok to Siem Reap while the land border is closed covers the flights while the land border stays closed, and what to check before trusting any overland plan.
• Getting around Siem Reap: tuk-tuks, PassApp, Grab and what a ride should cost gives the fair fares in town, how the apps behave and when to negotiate instead.
• Is Siem Reap safe? covers bag snatching from tuk-tuks, the bus-stop touts, the health picture and the honest level of risk.
• Money in Siem Reap: dollars, riel, ATMs and the torn-note problem explains why a clean $1 note matters more than a $100 note and which ATMs charge what.
• SIM cards and eSIM in Siem Reap: Smart, Cellcard, Metfone compared picks a network for the temples and the airport counter prices.
• Leaving Siem Reap: onward travel to Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Laos and Vietnam plans the exit, including the routes that skip the airport.
• Siem Reap airport guide: lounges, food, timing and the 50 km problem covers the departures side, the Angkor Lounge, luggage storage and how early is early enough.
• Tuk-tuk, car, bicycle or e-bike: how to get around Angkor decides the vehicle for the temples, the one trip where the tuk-tuk wins.

Where to Go Next

With the 50 km solved, the next decision is where in town the car should stop: the neighborhoods of Siem Reap explained describes what the Old Market, Wat Bo, Sok San and the resort strip each feel like, and where to stay in Siem Reap turns that into hotels by traveler type. If the flight lands at midday, the three-day Siem Reap itinerary starts with an arrival afternoon built around the heat rather than the temples, and the Angkor Pass guide explains why buying the ticket after 4:45 p.m. on arrival day is the best-value hour of the week.