Siem Reap & Angkor travel guides

Guides & tips

Plan your trip like a local

Honest answers to the questions travellers ask us most.

Sandstone gallery at Angkor with a row of square pillars and a visitor's ticket check point in the shade at the entrance

The Angkor Pass: 1, 3 or 7 Days – Which One Fits Your Trip

37, 62 or 72 US$, and the middle one is cheaper than buying two single days. What the pass covers, what it does not, and the evening rule most visitors miss.

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One of the huge stone faces on a Bayon tower, lit from the side by low morning sun, with more towers blurred behind it

Angkor in Two Days: The Order That Actually Works

Angkor Wat faces west, which changes everything about when to visit it. A two-day plan built around light, heat and where the coaches are – not around the map.

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The five towers of Angkor Wat as dark silhouettes above the reflecting pond, the sky behind them still orange before the sun clears the horizon

Angkor Wat at Sunrise: Small-Group Tour or Your Own Tuk-Tuk?

Both get you to the pond before dawn. The difference is what happens after 06:30 – and what the Angkor pass costs you either way.

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Two squatting guardian figures on plinths flanking a temple doorway, the surrounding pink sandstone covered in carved foliage and baluster windows

Banteay Srei: The Pink Temple, and Why It Is Never Sold on Its Own

The best carving at Angkor is in a temple you can walk around in an hour. Which is exactly why every offer bolts it onto something else – and which combination is the right one.

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The stepped stone pyramid of Prasat Thom at Koh Ker rising above the forest, grass and a dirt path in front, a visitor photographing it

Beng Mealea and Koh Ker: The Two Jungle Temples, Honestly Compared

One needs your Angkor pass, the other a 15 US$ note at the gate. Which of the two remote temples is worth the drive – and why almost nobody should do both in one day.

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Wooden houses on tall thin stilts along a brown channel, a narrow longtail boat passing beneath them with washing hung on a rail

Kampong Phluk: The Right Month, the Right Hour, and What the Boat Fee Covers

The same booking shows you two completely different places depending on the month. What the stilt village looks like in April against November – and the on-board costs nobody mentions.

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A cooking class in progress: participants in aprons at a long worktop with portable gas burners, the host in a branded polo shirt, greenery beyond the open side of the room

A Khmer Cooking Class in Siem Reap: What You Actually Learn, and Which Class Suits You

Four dishes, a market and three hours – and one dish on the menu is not Cambodian at all. How the classes differ, and the age limit the most-booked one sets.

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A wide waterfall dropping into a brown pool ringed by jungle, a few people standing on the wet rocks at the bottom

Phnom Kulen: The Waterfall, the Lingas, and Whether the Day Is Worth It

48 km, a separate 20 US$ ticket and a road that only goes up until 11:00. Also: the thousand lingas on Kulen are not the famous ones – those are somewhere else, and free with your pass.

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An open-sided tuk-tuk with a canvas roof waiting in tree shade on a red earth road, the driver sitting sideways on the bench

Siem Reap with Children: Heat, Temples and What Kids Actually Like

Under-12s get into Angkor free but cannot climb the top tier. The honest version of temples with children – including when a tuk-tuk is the wrong answer.

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An evening eating place under a roof strung with bunting and light bulbs, guests at wooden tables with grasses planted in crates between them, a hand-painted Khmer sign above

Street Food by Tuk-Tuk in Siem Reap: What You Try, and What to Watch For

Ten tastings in three hours, and the best stop is a street most visitors never reach. What a guided food tour gets you that Pub Street does not – and what the insects actually cost on your own.

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