What this trip is really like
Four nights in one hotel and four very different days: the main temples, a private boat into a Tonle Sap floating village, the town's craft workshops and old market, and the sacred mountain of Kulen.
Four nights in one hotel and three full days of touring make this our most thorough Siem Reap-only route: the classic Angkor circuit first, a boat trip to a Tonle Sap floating village paired with a city tour next, and an excursion up Phnom Kulen mountain to close — temples, water and mountain each get their turn.
Pick this route when Siem Reap itself is the point of the trip and staying put in one base appeals more than dividing nights with Phnom Penh — you can always visit the capital on a later trip.
Highlights
- Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, then Bayon and Ta Prohm, closing with sunset at Pre Rup
- Tonle Sap floating village by private boat
- Les Artisans d'Angkor stone- and wood-carving workshop
- King's Residence shrine and Old Market shopping
- Phnom Kulen — River of a Thousand Lingas and waterfall
- Banteay Srey village palm sugar-making visit
The trip, day by day
Day 1 — Land in Siem Reap, town and markets
Landing in Siem Reap, you head straight to the hotel, and a brief city orientation follows — just enough to get your bearings around the riverside district and the Old Market ahead of the three big days of touring still to come. Evenings are unplanned.
Day 2 — Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, sunset at Pre Rup
Angkor Wat, raised for King Suryavarman II in the early 1100s, is the circuit's starting point. From there you enter Angkor Thom — the last walled capital of the Khmer empire — through its South Gate, arriving at Bayon Temple with its faces carved into stone.
The Elephants' Terrace and the Leper King's terrace lead into a walk toward Ta Prohm, where tree roots still grip walls made known worldwide by the Tomb Raider film; the day then closes with the sun going down over Pre Rup temple.
Day 3 — Tonle Sap by private boat, craft workshops in town
From Chong Khneas, a private boat takes you out onto Tonle Sap, the biggest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, to reach a floating village where a pagoda, a small crocodile farm, a school and family houses all rest on stilts above the lake. From there it's on to Les Artisans d'Angkor, a school where young Cambodians learn traditional wood sculpture and stone carving.
Back in town, you call at the pagoda of Wat Preah Prom Rath, then the shrine inside the King's Residence, where jasmine and lotus flowers are left as offerings by local worshippers. Free time afterward suits browsing — try the Old Market or head to the Art Market in Siem Reap.
Day 4 — Phnom Kulen
Roughly 58km north of the city, Phnom Kulen rises as a mountain sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists, notable as the spot where King Jayavarman II announced Khmer independence in the year 804 CE. Carvings of a thousand lingas cut into the riverbed, plus a boulder shaped into a reclining Buddha, are among the things you see there.
Inside Kulen National Park a waterfall provides a shaded spot for a picnic lunch, and the route back takes in Banteay Srey village, where traditional palm sugar is still made, before Siem Reap comes back into view.
Day 5 — Departure
Nothing else is planned until a private transfer has you at Siem Reap International Airport, ready for the flight that takes you onward or home — the departure day carries no sightseeing of its own.
What's included
- Rooms with breakfast in the grade you choose — we favour Khmer-owned hotels and guesthouses
- Meals named in the day-by-day, taken where possible at family-run places rather than hotel dining rooms
- A Cambodian guide who speaks English and knows the temples as more than a checklist
- Private air-conditioned transport for transfers and touring days
- Angkor passes and every other entrance fee on the route
- The Mekong sunset boat and Tonle Sap boat where the plan includes them
- Two bottles of drinking water per person on every touring day
- Taxes and service charges
Not included
- International and domestic flights
- Cambodian visa (on arrival or e-visa) — we tell you which suits your passport
- Single-room supplement if you are travelling alone
- Meals not named in the day-by-day, drinks, laundry and optional outings
- Travel insurance
- Tips for guide and driver
- Early check-in and late check-out (rooms are normally ready from 14:00 and given up by 12:00)
- Bank transfer charges
Book this trip
- Days
- 5 days / 4 nights
Sending this does not charge you. We hold the space and confirm within 24 hours.
How we handle visas, payment and cancellations is written out on our Cambodia travel information page — no surprises later.
Send us your dates and who is travelling. We check the hotels and guide we would use, suggest changes if the season calls for them, and come back with a firm price. Nothing is charged until you say yes.