What this trip is really like
The temples come first while you are fresh, Kulen gets its own day, and the trip ends in the capital with a sunset boat on the Mekong and a quiet morning at the palace.
Flip our other 6-night Cambodia route and you get this order instead — Siem Reap first, for three nights that take in the whole Angkor circuit plus a Phnom Kulen mountain trip, and only then an overland transfer on to Phnom Penh, where the trip's final two nights are spent.
Arrival in the capital brings a sunset cruise on the Mekong, with Diamond Island and the Royal Palace both visible from the water, and the day after works through Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the Silver Pagoda and the Royal Palace grounds before your flight out — closing the trip on history, once the temples are already behind you.
Highlights
- Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, then Bayon and Ta Prohm, closing with sunset at Pre Rup
- Phnom Kulen — River of a Thousand Lingas and reclining Buddha
- Overland transfer from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh
- Sunset cruise on the Mekong River past the Royal Palace
- Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda in Phnom Penh
- Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21)
The trip, day by day
Day 1 — Land in Siem Reap
Once you land in Siem Reap, a transfer takes you to the hotel, followed by a brief orientation drive to get your bearings ahead of the days built around Angkor and Phnom Kulen. Evenings are left open.
Day 2 — Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, sunset at Pre Rup
Angkor Wat, built for King Suryavarman II in the early 1100s, is where the circuit begins, continuing through the South Gate into the Khmer empire's final walled capital, Angkor Thom, and on to Bayon Temple with its stone faces carved in relief.
The Elephants' Terrace and the Leper King's terrace come next, then Ta Prohm, where banyan roots still grip walls recognised the world over because of the Tomb Raider film — the day winds down with the sun setting over Pre Rup temple.
Day 3 — Phnom Kulen
North of Siem Reap by roughly 58km lies Phnom Kulen, a mountain held sacred by Hindus and Buddhists and known as the place where King Jayavarman II declared Khmer independence in the year 804 CE. The visit takes in stone carvings of a thousand lingas set into the riverbed, along with a reclining Buddha cut from a single boulder.
A shaded picnic stop comes courtesy of a waterfall in Kulen National Park, and on the way back you stop at Banteay Srey village to watch traditional palm sugar being made, before returning to Siem Reap.
Day 4 — Road to Phnom Penh, Mekong at sunset
After checkout, a public bus carries you overland to Phnom Penh, roughly six hours on the road. There's free time once you check into the hotel, and later an hour-long sunset cruise on the Mekong passes the Royal Palace, glides along a riverside quarter of homes built over the water, and takes in the more recently developed Diamond Island.
Day 5 — Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, Tuol Sleng
Morning touring takes in the Royal Palace compound, home to Cambodia's monarchy since 1866, and next to it the Silver Pagoda, its floor laid with around 5,000 silver tiles and its interior home to a crystal Buddha figure as well as one cast in gold. Wat Ounalom, long regarded as the centre of Cambodian Buddhism, completes the morning.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum — better known by its wartime code, S-21 — takes up the afternoon. Once a school, it became a Khmer Rouge site for interrogation, and a guide leads you through that history before the return to the hotel.
Day 6 — Departure
Nothing is planned for the morning until a private car has you at Phnom Penh International Airport, in time for your onward flight or the flight home — no sightseeing on the departure day.
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
- 6 days / 5 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.