Morning
Land at Siem Reap-Angkor (SAI)
The replacement airport opened in October 2023 and sits about an hour east of town, so arrange the hotel transfer before you fly.
Afternoon / Day
Check in: Jaya House River Park
River Road, Treang Village. Thirty-six rooms, two pools, and a six-minute tuk-tuk from town in the direction of the temples.
Buy the Angkor pass
Angkor Enterprise is the only authorised seller - the office on Road 60, 4 km out, or its website. Three-day pass $62, and the three days need not be consecutive.
Angkor National Museum
Vithei Preah Sihanouk Ave. Galleries A to G plus a hall of 1,000 Buddha images - the context that makes the temples legible. Open daily; check the closing time before you set out.
Evening
Dinner at The Sugar Palm
Street 27, opposite Pannasastra University. Chef Kethana cooks the home-style Khmer food she grew up on. Dinner service only, and worth booking; check the day it closes.
Psar Chas, the Old Market
Siem Reap's old market on the riverside, with the Pub Street lanes right behind it. An easy first walk after dinner.
Morning
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
Park gates open at 5:00 AM. The largest religious monument in the world at 162.6 hectares; the reflecting pools north of the causeway are the classic view.
Bayon
At the exact centre of Angkor Thom. Jayavarman VII's Buddhist state temple, built around 1200; the face towers are the reason to come.
Baphuon
Northwest of the Bayon, inside Angkor Thom. A mid-11th-century temple mountain to Shiva; the long raised causeway is the part you remember.
Afternoon / Day
Lunch at Malis Siem Reap
Pokambor Avenue on the riverside. Come back into town for the air conditioning and a plate of nouvelle Cambodian cooking.
Ta Prohm
The temple left much as it was found, silk-cotton roots gripping the galleries. A one-way route runs through it; late afternoon thins the crowd.
Phnom Bakheng at sunset
King Yasovarman's late-9th-century temple mountain, on the hill between Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Start the climb well before dusk.
Evening
Dinner at Trorkuon
The all-day Khmer restaurant at Jaya House River Park. A long first temple day ends better back at the hotel than out in town.
Morning
Drive out to Banteay Srei
Roughly 25 km northeast of the main group - about 45 minutes by car, longer by tuk-tuk. Leave early; the temple is small and fills fast.
Banteay Srei
A 10th-century Shiva temple near the hill of Phnom Dei. Pink sandstone cut so finely the lintels look carved out of wood.
Afternoon / Day
Preah Khan
Northeast of Angkor Thom, just west of the Jayatataka baray. Built in the 12th century by Jayavarman VII for his father; long collapsing corridors, few people.
Pre Rup for late light
A 10th-century laterite temple mountain just south of the East Baray. The stone goes deep orange at the end of the day, and it is quieter than Bakheng.
Evening
Dinner at Cuisine Wat Damnak
In Wat Damnak village between Psa Dey Hoy market and Angkor High School. Joannès Rivière's Cambodian cooking with French technique, dinner only from 6:30 PM, closed Sundays, and no under-12s.
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Morning
Drive to Kampong Phluk
About 30 km southeast of town toward the lake, then a boat out through the flooded forest. Roughly an hour each way on the road.
Kampong Phluk stilt village
Houses standing several metres up on stilts above the Tonlé Sap floodplain. In January the water is falling, so the full height of the posts is exposed.
Afternoon / Day
Artisans Angkor workshops
Chantiers-Ecoles Stung Thmey Street. Guided tours daily 07:30-18:00 through the stone carving, lacquer and silk-painting workshops.
Artisans Angkor boutique
The shop at the end of the workshop tour, on the same site. Silk scarves, lacquerware and stone carving made by the apprentices you just watched.
Evening
Early dinner at HAVEN
Chocolate Road, Sala Kamreuk. A training restaurant for young adults from shelters and poor rural provinces. Tuesday to Sunday, closed Mondays.
Phare, The Cambodian Circus
Big top on Ring Road just south of Sok San Road. Doors 5:30 PM, show at 8:00 nightly; ticket money funds the Phare Ponleu Selpak arts school.
Morning
Giant Ibis bus to Phnom Penh
Pick-up behind the Old Stadium on Khmer Pub Street. 320 km down National Road 6, about six hours, with a driver-swap stop at Kampong Thom.
Afternoon / Day
Check in: Penh House
Street 240, a few minutes on foot from the Royal Palace. New-Khmer design, hidden gardens, and a rooftop pool to wash the bus off.
Wat Phnom
The wooded hill the city takes its name from, at the north end of Norodom Boulevard. A short climb to the shrine and a park to decompress in.
Evening
Sisowath Quay at dusk
The promenade along the confluence where the Tonlé Sap meets the Mekong. Busiest at sunset, when half the city seems to be walking it.
Dinner at Malis Phnom Penh
136 Norodom Boulevard. Cambodian cooking around a courtyard fish pond; book if you want the terrace.
Morning
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
Street 113. The high school the Khmer Rouge ran as the S-21 detention centre. Open 8:00-17:00 daily; the $5 audio guide is worth it. Cash only.
Afternoon / Day
Tuk-tuk out to Choeung Ek
About 15 km southwest of the centre, 40 minutes each way. Agree a waiting fee with the driver; there is nothing else out there.
Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre
The orchard where prisoners from S-21 were taken to be killed. The memorial stupa holds remains exhumed from the mass graves; keep to the marked paths.
Evening
Independence Monument after dark
Vann Molyvann's 1958 lotus tower at the Norodom and Sihanouk crossing, lit at night. A short, quiet walk to close the day.
Dinner on the Penh House rooftop
The hotel's own rooftop bar and restaurant above the Street 240 gardens. After a day like this one, not going out again is the right call.
Royal Palace, Market, Flight Home
Morning
Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda
Sothearos Boulevard. The Throne Hall and the silver-tiled pagoda beside it. Shoulders and knees must be covered, and it shuts for a midday break.
National Museum of Cambodia
Ticket booth at the corner of Streets 13 and 178, next door to the palace. Open daily, with the last tickets sold well before closing; no photography inside the galleries.
Afternoon / Day
Psar Toul Tom Poung
The Russian Market, Street 163 at Street 444. Silk, silver and carvings under a low tin roof that turns into an oven by noon - go early.
Lunch in the market food lane
The stalls inside Psar Toul Tom Poung do kuy teav noodle soup and iced coffee for a couple of dollars. Sit at the counter and point.
Evening
Fly out of Techo International
Cambodia's new Techo International sits south of the city in Kandal province. Allow a full hour for the drive out of Phnom Penh.
