Solo female travel in Cambodia: arrivals, tuk-tuks, dress and help

What the UK, German and French advice says about women

Female travellers, including British nationals, have been sexually assaulted in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, says the UK Foreign Office (FCDO; advice updated 19 March 2026). Take extra care at night and in isolated areas, keep to well-used, well-lit roads and carry a personal alarm if possible.

Germany's Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt; page unchanged since 18 August 2026) asks for special care, above all when travelling alone, and not to go out alone at night if possible; it says foreign women have occasionally been sexually assaulted, mainly on lonely night-time beach walks in Sihanoukville. France Diplomatie (updated 21 September 2026) reports sexual assaults every year and asks women travelling alone to take care, particularly at night and in some districts: the bar streets of Phnom Penh, but also provincial towns.

The only areas the three advise against lie along the Thai border: all but essential travel within 20 km of the land border for the FCDO, the 20 km border area for Germany, and up to 30 km for France (its red zone). Canada advises against all travel within 50 km of the border, the line our health and safety guide uses. Other governments may draw their lines elsewhere, so read your own before you book.

Prices and times checked 8 November 2026

Landing in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap after dark

Phnom Penh's Techo International Airport (KTI) lies about 20 km south of the city centre. The airport recommends its official taxi counters or trusted ride-hailing apps (Grab, WowNow, PassApp), at about US$10 to US$20 depending on the drop-off, so after a late landing take the taxi counter or an app car. Bags and phones are occasionally snatched from tuk-tuk and moto-taxi passengers, including on the way to and from the airport. Grab lets you share the ride details with someone you trust and call for emergency help from the app.

The Airport Express Bus runs daily from 05:30 to 23:30 for 1,500 KHR (about US$0.37); its stop is a 5-to-10-minute walk through the main terminal car park.

Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (SAI) lies about 50 km from Siem Reap provincial town, so settle the transfer before you land. The official airport shuttle bus costs US$8 from a counter on the left as you leave arrivals, where free Wi-Fi is available while you wait; it ends at 7 Makara Road and drops passengers at hotels within 2 km free. Its last departure is at 22:00. For a later landing, book a car before you fly: Royal Angkor Tours, available 24/7, charges US$45 one way for 1–3 passengers between SAI and your Siem Reap hotel, with free cancellation until 48 hours before pickup. Our entry guide covers visas and arrival.

Prices and times checked 8 November 2026

Tuk-tuks, moto-taxis, buses and boats

On the street, the risk the governments describe most often is bag snatching, often by thieves riding past on motorbikes, from people on foot, in tuk-tuks and on motorbikes. The hotspots named are the riverfront and BKK areas of Phnom Penh and the beaches and tourist areas of Sihanoukville and the nearby islands. Choose tuk-tuks with metal grills on the back and side, which offer some protection, and carry bags on the side away from the road. Better still, carry no handbag or shoulder bag in a tuk-tuk at all, and do not resist a robbery.

After dark, take a car rather than a tuk-tuk, and take particular care on foot, by cyclo, tuk-tuk or moto-taxi in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, France advises. Skip motorcycle taxis (moto dop): the FCDO calls riding one as a passenger dangerous. For sunrise at Angkor Wat, which opens at 05:00, book a car with a hotel pickup the day before. Angkor Friendly Driver, for example, picks up at 4:30 or 5:00 depending on the time of year and charges US$55 per car (maximum 3 passengers) for a full day starting with sunrise, the Angkor ticket not included; our Angkor guide covers the options.

Between towns, plan to arrive before dark where possible; travel after dark significantly increases the risk of accidents. On any bus, keep your passport, cards and phone on you: items have been taken from bags while passengers slept, and from luggage holds, especially between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. For the islands, avoid the local boats, which rarely meet safety standards, and choose speedboat companies with renewed fleets. Never leave your passport as a deposit when you hire a scooter. Our transport guide compares the routes.

Prices and times checked 8 November 2026

Pub Street, bars, island parties and drinks

The FCDO's most specific warning concerns Siem Reap: incidents of lone women sexually assaulted by men claiming to be motorbike-taxi drivers in the Pub Street area, so book the ride back in an app before you go out. Police have also reported drink spiking in some bars visited by foreign nationals, so do not leave a drink unattended; rape drugs also work in coffee and tea, so seek help if you feel strange, sick or drunk after only a small amount. Our Siem Reap guide covers the town.

Methanol in alcoholic drinks has caused deaths and serious illness in Cambodia and cannot be identified by taste or smell. Choose branded drinks in sealed bottles and cans, avoid free shots and unusually cheap drinks, and buy from licensed bars, shops and restaurants. Get urgent medical help if abdominal pain, vertigo or blurred vision follow 12 to 48 hours after drinking.

France says meetings arranged through dating apps or social networks are regularly used to drug victims who are then robbed, so take great care and secure your mobile banking apps; romance scams through dating sites or social media also occur. Be wary of strangers who approach you, offer you transport, are helpful and friendly, or befriend you quickly and invite you to their home or hotel to meet their family; accept no rides from them, and meet new acquaintances in a secure, familiar place.

Watch your money as well as your drink. Scams include card games, and the criminals sometimes take travellers to ATMs and force them to withdraw money; in Phnom Penh, travellers invited into private homes have been drawn into rigged card games.

On the islands, parties, including organised dance parties, may put you at risk of sexual assault and robbery, and the islands are often isolated, with emergency help limited or non-existent. Keep off unattended beaches. Our Koh Rong guide covers the islands.

What to wear at the temples and around town

The temples set the strictest dress rules, for men and women alike. You may be refused entry to religious sites, Angkor Wat included, in skirts or shorts above the knee, and should cover bare shoulders; France notes a strict temple dress code since 1 August 2016. A scarf and long trousers or a long skirt cover every site below.

Away from the temples, France advises avoiding very light clothing in general; respect the traditions and Buddhist values that are still very much alive. None of the three governments' pages sets a street dress rule beyond that.

• Angkor: the Angkor Enterprise visitor code of conduct prohibits shorts and skirts above the knee and bare shoulders in sacred places, discourages high heels inside the temples, and asks women not to touch monks or stand or sit too close to them.
• Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh: still an active place of worship, so cover shoulders and knees.
• Photographs: ask before taking pictures of people, especially monks and other religious figures.

Prices and times checked 8 November 2026

Female-only dorms and choosing a room

A dorm bed does not have to mean sharing with men. Onederz, for example, offers its four-bed and six-bed dorms in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh as either mixed or female-only, with a 24-hour reception; the Siem Reap hostel, within a five-minute walk of Pub Street, provides lockers with padlocks. Choose a room labelled female-only when you book.

Lock up wherever you sleep. Canada says some of the reported sexual assaults happened in hostels, and reports thefts from locked rooms, particularly in low-cost accommodation, so keep doors and windows locked. Use the hotel safe or a locker for valuables, and never leave your passport with a hotelier. Our where-to-stay guide compares the towns.

If something happens: the numbers to save

Save these before you land. The FCDO warns that the police response to a crime is often limited, and that foreigners have found stations closed, emergency numbers unanswered and officers unable to speak English. The Ministry of Tourism reissued its 24-hour emergency contacts on 31 August 2026.

• 117: the police.
• 119: ambulance; fire is 118 on the FCDO and Canadian lists.
• 016 654 736: the Ministry of Tourism's Tourism Police Department; the ministry also lists a Rapid Response Team for Foreigners on 031 201 2345 or 031 601 2345.
• Tourist Police offices: in Phnom Penh at Street 598 (+855 (0)12 942 484), and in Siem Reap next to the Angkor ticketing booth. A police report should be free.
• Your embassy: British nationals can reach a trained officer at the British Embassy in Phnom Penh 24 hours a day on 061 300 011 or 061 300 012; other travellers should save their own embassy's number.

Prices and times checked 8 November 2026

After a sexual assault: reporting, clinics and medicine

The FCDO's guide for survivors of rape and sexual assault in Cambodia, last updated on 16 June 2023, says that if you choose to report, call the Criminal Investigation Police at the Provincial Police Headquarters or go there as soon as possible, so forensic evidence can be kept, and to tell them if you think you were drugged. A female officer may not be available, and officers may sometimes ask for a fee to file a complaint, which is illegal; you will not be required to surrender your passport. The guide lists the Provincial Police Headquarters on 097 778 0002 in Phnom Penh, 097 778 0013 in Siem Reap, 097 778 0008 in Preah Sihanouk, 097 778 0010 in Kampot, 097 778 0011 in Kep and 097 778 0014 in Battambang.

Emergency contraception should ideally be taken within 24 hours and no later than 72 hours; most pharmacies sell it over the counter without a prescription. PEP medication must be started within 72 hours; private clinics and hospitals may have it, so phone ahead. The guide names Raffles Medical Centre (+855 (0)23 216 911) and Royal Phnom Penh Hospital (+855 (0)23 991 000) in Phnom Penh, and Royal Angkor International Hospital (+855 (0)63 761 888) in Siem Reap, which might not have PEP.

Hospital treatment is not free for foreigners. Canada notes that hospitals may ask for cash or an insurer's guarantee in advance and that evacuation to Thailand or Singapore is often needed, so take travel insurance that covers local treatment and medical evacuation, and contact your insurer quickly if you are referred to a medical facility.

Prices and times checked 8 November 2026