Your 15-Day Cambodia Itinerary

This fifteen-day loop is for travelers who want the full arc of Cambodia: Angkor at a pace that leaves room for the jungle-wrapped outliers, a pre-Angkorian brick city most visitors skip, a proper reckoning with Phnom Penh, and a slow finish through pepper country and onto an island. The pace is relaxed, with no transfer longer than about 4 hours and at least two nights in nearly every stop. You will use intercity buses and minivans, one speedboat, and plenty of tuk-tuks and rented bicycles or scooters for local exploring.

Days 1-4: Siem Reap and the Angkor Park

Four nights in Siem Reap lets you split the temples into half-days and retreat to a pool when the midday heat hits 35°C. Buy the 3-day pass (US$62, valid over 10 days) and start with Angkor Wat at sunrise, then the 216 carved faces of Bayon Temple while the light is still soft. On day 2, rent a bicycle (US$2 to 4) and ride to Ta Prohm Temple before the tour groups arrive around 9 a.m. Day 3 is for Banteay Srei Temple, 37 km north, … read more 👉

This fifteen-day loop is for travelers who want the full arc of Cambodia: Angkor at a pace that leaves room for the jungle-wrapped outliers, a pre-Angkorian brick city most visitors skip, a proper reckoning with Phnom Penh, and a slow finish through pepper country and onto an island. The pace is relaxed, with no transfer longer than about 4 hours and at least two nights in nearly every stop. You will use intercity buses and minivans, one speedboat, and plenty of tuk-tuks and rented bicycles or scooters for local exploring.

Days 1-4: Siem Reap and the Angkor Park

Four nights in Siem Reap lets you split the temples into half-days and retreat to a pool when the midday heat hits 35°C. Buy the 3-day pass (US$62, valid over 10 days) and start with Angkor Wat at sunrise, then the 216 carved faces of Bayon Temple while the light is still soft. On day 2, rent a bicycle (US$2 to 4) and ride to Ta Prohm Temple before the tour groups arrive around 9 a.m. Day 3 is for Banteay Srei Temple, 37 km north, whose pink sandstone carvings are the finest detail work in the whole complex. Keep day 4 for Kulen Mountain: the river bed carved with lingas, a giant reclining Buddha and a waterfall you can swim under. The separate Kulen ticket is US$20, and a car with driver runs US$50 to 70.

Day 5: Kampong Thom and Sambor Prei Kuk

Instead of the 6-hour run straight to the capital, break the trip after 2.5 to 3 hours in Kampong Thom, a plain market town that works as a launch pad. A tuk-tuk takes you 30 km north to the Temple Zone of Sambor Prei Kuk (Ancient Ishanapura), a 7th-century capital of brick towers in shaded forest, older than Angkor and nearly empty by comparison. Entry is US$10, and local guides from the community center explain the octagonal towers better than any signboard.

Days 6-8: Phnom Penh

A 3- to 4-hour bus delivers you to Phnom Penh for three nights. Give the first morning to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda (US$10), with its floor of more than 5,000 silver tiles, and plan the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center for a quieter day; the audio tour (US$6) is among the best in Asia and deserves an unrushed visit. Balance it the next afternoon by taking the local ferry to Silk Island and cycling past stilt houses and backyard looms, then end with a Cambodian Living Arts Performances show of classical dance in the evening.

Day 9: Kep

Head south 3 to 4 hours to Kep, where the crab market sells blue swimmer crab fried with fresh Kampot green pepper for US$6 to 10 a plate. Walk the 8 km loop in Kep National Park in the late afternoon for sea views toward Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island and plenty of monkeys.

Days 10-11: Kampot and Bokor

Kampot is only 30 to 45 minutes away, so you arrive early and settle into the riverside. Rent a scooter (US$5 to 8 a day) for Preah Monivong Bokor National Park, climbing to roughly 1,000 meters where the ruined French hill station, with its old church and abandoned Bokor Palace hotel, often sits in cloud. Keep the second day loose for a pepper farm visit and a sunset river cruise.

Days 12-15: Koh Rong Sanloem

A 2- to 3-hour minivan to Sihanoukville, then a 45-minute speedboat, puts you on Koh Rong Sanloem for three nights. The island is quieter than its bigger neighbor, with shallow Saracen Bay for swimming and jungle paths to smaller coves. On day 15, take the morning boat back and the expressway bus to Phnom Penh (about 4 hours) for your flight.

If you have one spare day near the capital, ride out to Phnom Chisor, an 11th-century hilltop temple about 60 km south of Phnom Penh with views across flat rice country.