Cambodia in 5 days: four nights in Siem Reap and Angkor

Book one room, two temple outings and the right pass

The five days run from arrival on Monday 16 November to departure on Friday 20 November 2026, with four nights in Siem Reap. The model room is Mad Monkey’s Superior Double: one double bed, an ensuite bathroom and capacity for two. Staying there also puts you at the meeting place for day 2’s sunrise tour. Choose another central room if you prefer, then allow for the ride to its lobby.

For a tourist visa, carry a passport with at least six months remaining when you enter Cambodia.

For arrival by air, complete Cambodia e-Arrival even if you already have a visa. Submission is free and opens seven days before arrival; the immigration department also permits submission on arrival.

Use the Cambodia entry guide and official visa portal to match your nationality and document to the entry permission before paying for flights.

On 15 October 2026, Angkor Enterprise listed an Angkor pass at US$37 for one day, US$62 for three visiting days with expiry in seven days, or US$72 for seven visiting days with expiry in 30 days.

Choose 17 November as the first temple date and use the pass again on 18 November. Two one-day passes would cost US$74 per person, so the three-day pass saves US$12 even with its third visiting day unused. The town day does not need an extra temple outing.

Buy your Angkor pass on Angkor Enterprise’s official website, select the pass and visit date, enter the quantity and nationality, and pay by credit or debit card or KHQR. Save the emailed e-ticket; digital and printed copies are accepted at entry.

The World Bank and Asian Development Bank climate profile describes Cambodia’s dry season as November to April, with cooler weather particularly from November to January.

The November dates are a worked booking example, not a weather guarantee. In hotter months, retain the early temple starts and afternoon rest. In wet weather, move the museum into the wettest available half-day and rearrange the two temple outings within your pass validity after checking operator availability; keep all four nights in Siem Reap. Stay in town when heavy rain makes temple steps slippery.

Day 1: arrive at SAI and settle into Siem Reap

For Siem Reap, use Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (SAI). Book the Bangkok–Siem Reap leg by air.

On 15 October 2026, the UK FCDO advised against all but essential travel within 20 km of Cambodia’s land border with Thailand; Germany warned against travel within 20 km, and France formally advised against travel within 30 km on the Cambodian side. France’s Thailand advice uses 50 km on the Thai side. Our routes keep at least 50 km from the border and use flights from Bangkok; the land crossings are closed. Check your own government’s advice before booking.

Airport operator YACA places SAI 50 km from Siem Reap provincial town. No operator or official page publishes a bus journey time, so leave room for the road transfer as well as your airline’s check-in deadline.

On 15 October 2026, Siem Reap Airport Bus listed US$8 each way between Siem Reap Angkor International Airport and its town stop on 7 Makara Road in front of ACE School. The airport counter is on the left after leaving arrivals. Book on the operator’s website.

The airport-to-town timetable on the same page listed 09:30, 11:00, 12:30, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00, 17:30, 19:00, 20:00 and 22:00. Choose the departure after allowing time for immigration and baggage collection. If the flight lands outside the bus window, book a private transfer for that flight.

For a direct hotel connection, Royal Angkor Tours publishes an air-conditioned car for one to three passengers at US$45 one way or US$85 return between SAI and your Siem Reap hotel, with 24/7 availability. Book through its own transfer page with both flight details and the Mad Monkey address; the model below uses the US$85 return car. The operator lists free cancellation until 48 hours before pickup.

If choosing the cheaper bus instead, its ticket ends at the 7 Makara Road stop. The operator separately offers free hotel drop-off within 2 km; establish whether your exact hotel address qualifies. Otherwise obtain a local ride quote. Leave the afternoon for check-in, the Old Market area and a short riverside walk.

Book day 2’s breakfast box before the early start and keep dinner simple at HAVEN. Sleep in Siem Reap for night 1.

Day 2: Angkor Wat sunrise, Bayon and Ta Prohm

Take Mad Monkey’s Sunrise Angkor Wat Temple Tour from its Siem Reap lobby at 04:15. The operator lists daily departures and a 04:15–12:30 window, with the return towards the hostel beginning at 12:00. Book the date on its own tour page. The published tariff checked on 15 October 2026 was US$15 per person for the tour only or US$18 with a family lunch and drink on return; this plan uses the lunch option. Add a US$6 breakfast box per person, ordered the previous day.

The tour includes a guide, transport and water; the Angkor pass is separate. Its route visits Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm. Angkor Wat is the place to look beyond the sunrise photograph: its moat, raised galleries, central towers and carved bas-reliefs give the temple its scale. Angkor Enterprise lists it at 05:00–17:30.

At Bayon, the smiling stone faces cluster above the terraces, while the reliefs show mythological, historical and everyday scenes. The official opening time is 07:30–17:30, so it belongs after the Angkor Wat start. Ta Prohm brings a different texture: trees and vegetation grow among the largely unrestored ruins, a contrast Angkor Enterprise also draws with Preah Khan.

Cover your shoulders and knees at sacred sites, follow restricted-area signs, and keep off loose stones and fragile structures. Do not touch carvings, remove objects, smoke or litter. Ask before photographing monks, and do not give money or sweets to children.

Stay on the marked visitor paths at rural sites. After the included lunch back at Mad Monkey, use the afternoon for a rest. Have dinner in town and keep the same room for night 2.

Day 3: the Grand Circuit by private car

After breakfast, take Angkor Friendly Driver’s Big Circuit Option 1. The operator lists hotel pickup at 08:30 and a finish around 15:00 with return to the hotel. Request the date and your hotel through its own tour-page form. On 15 October 2026, its private air-conditioned SUV tariff was US$50 per vehicle for a maximum of three passengers, so one car fits this two-adult plan.

The route visits Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon and Pre Rup. Preah Khan is the main place to slow down: successive rectangular galleries enclose a Buddhist sanctuary, with satellite temples and trees growing through the ruins. Angkor Enterprise lists it at 07:00–18:30. The wider circuit changes the day from three major temple visits to a sequence of separate sites.

The remaining stops each add something specific. At Neak Pean, look at the central pool and four surrounding ponds: the water-based layout contrasts with Preah Khan’s corridors. Ta Som rewards a walk to its eastern gate, enveloped by a sacred fig tree. At East Mebon, seek the stone elephants guarding the terrace corners. Pre Rup changes the silhouette again with its towering brick temple-mountain. These features are described by Cambodia Tourism Board; this morning circuit returns before sunset.

The fare includes an English-speaking driver, parking, fuel, cool drinks or water and towels. The driver gives brief explanations and waits outside the temples. An accompanying English-speaking guide costs another US$50; the model uses the driver-only option. Admission and meals are separate.

The operator schedules a lunch stop around Srah Srang; pay for lunch separately. Return to your hotel after the circuit, have dinner in town and sleep in Siem Reap for night 3.

Day 4: the museum and town; day 5: fly out

Day 4 — put the temples in context. Visit Angkor National Museum in the morning. Its eight galleries cover Khmer civilisation, religion, kings, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and costume, with a Gallery of 1,000 Buddha Images. The museum suggests one to two hours; on 15 October 2026 its seasonal hours were daily 08:30–18:30 from October to March and 08:30–18:00 from April to September. The museum’s website publishes no admission price, so admission is not included in the budget below; ask at the ticket booth. The optional audio guide is separate: the museum lists English and eight other non-Khmer languages at US$5 per set, rented at its ticket booth.

Have lunch at SPOONS, then leave the afternoon for the Old Market area and riverside, without another fixed departure. The food choices below make this a useful town day between temple walking and the flight. Sleep in Siem Reap for night 4.

Day 5 — breakfast and departure. Use the booked return car from your hotel to SAI. Confirm pickup against the flight time and leave the check-in margin your airline requests; change the breakfast plan if departure is too early for SPOONS. If using the bus instead, town departures from 7 Makara Road were 05:30, 07:00, 08:00, 10:00, 12:00, 13:30, 15:00, 16:00, 17:30 and 19:00.

The bus operator offers a tuk-tuk pickup from any town hotel for US$2 but does not say whether that is per ride or per person, so ask for a quote if you choose the bus. The budget uses the hotel-to-airport car, so it needs no bus connection; day 2 starts at your own Mad Monkey lobby and day 3 includes hotel pickup and return.

Plan breakfasts, lunch and four town dinners

For the 04:15 departure, use the tour’s ordered breakfast box. On days 3–5, SPOONS Café Restaurant’s menu serves breakfast daily from 07:00 to 11:00; num banh chok is KHR14,000 or US$3.50, with both prices printed. A flight earlier than this breakfast window needs a different breakfast arrangement.

Day 2’s lunch comes with the chosen Mad Monkey package. Day 3’s circuit lunch is extra, and day 4’s town lunch can be beef saraman at SPOONS. The model uses one amok and one lok lak at HAVEN for each evening’s two main courses.

Cambodia’s currency is the riel (KHR), and cash payments use both riel and US dollars. Check dollar change before accepting it: damaged notes may be refused.

HAVEN includes 10% VAT and adds no service charge. SPOONS does not state its tax or service basis on these menus. Tell either restaurant about allergies when ordering.

A four-night model for two adults

Prices checked on 15 October 2026, for two adults sharing the Superior Double at Mad Monkey from 16 to 20 November. Mad Monkey’s own rate for the four nights was US$105.50 in total; taxes and breakfast are not included. The two outings use published operator tariffs; select the travel date and check the price before paying.

On 15 October 2026, Cambodian government news agency AKP’s published fee update listed the tourist e-Visa (T) at US$30 and the ordinary e-Visa (E) at US$35.

• Four room nights: US$105.50 for one Superior Double sleeping two.
• Angkor admission: 2 × US$62 three-day passes = US$124.
• Airport–hotel return car: US$85 for one Royal Angkor Tours car carrying one to three, including both SAI–hotel directions; the airport bus is an alternative, not an additional charge.
• Day 2 sunrise outing: 2 × US$18 = US$36 with lunch and a drink, plus 2 × US$6 = US$12 for breakfast boxes.
• Day 3 Big Circuit: US$50 for one SUV, with the driver and listed vehicle inclusions; no inside guide.
• Other meals: six num banh chok breakfasts × US$3.50 = US$21; day 4 lunch, 2 × US$8.99 beef saraman = US$17.98; four dinner pairs × (US$7.50 amok + US$8 lok lak) = US$62.
• Published-price subtotal: US$513.48 for two. This covers all four room nights and the priced services above.
• Not included: room taxes, breakfast and service charges, museum admission (no published price), day 3 lunch, local restaurant and museum rides, any additional SPOONS charges, an optional Big Circuit guide, extra drinks and purchases, flight-dependent arrival or departure meals, flights, insurance and mobile data.
• Visas: if both adults need and qualify for tourist e-Visas (T), 2 × US$30 adds US$60, taking the known subtotal to US$573.48. Use the applicable entry permission for each nationality.