Three towns, eleven days, no forced marches
Most Cambodia itineraries run capital, temples, airport. This one adds Battambang in the middle, gives Phnom Penh three nights, and leaves four at Angkor so you can go twice in cool light rather than once in the heat.
Battambang is the difference. It is a river town of shuttered shophouses where a plank trolley still runs on old rails, where clay is turned and fired by hand in village yards, and where an arts school keeps young performers at work. At Angkor you take the outer sanctuaries and the forest carvings early, and stay out of the afternoon sun.
Day by day
Day 1
You land in Phnom Penh and your guide drives you in. If the hour allows, climb the small hill at Wat Phnom, which gave the city its name, then take the riverfront at dusk where the Mekong and the Tonle Sap meet. Dinner is your own. Night in Phnom Penh.
Day 2
The Royal Palace early, while the Silver Pagoda courtyard is still shaded, then the National Museum and its Angkorian sculpture, which sets up everything you will see later in stone. The afternoon goes to S-21. Your guide keeps the account plain. Breakfast at the hotel; night in Phnom Penh.
Day 3
A quieter day. You drive out to the memorial at Choeung Ek in the morning and come back for lunch. The afternoon is loose: the Russian Market for textiles and coffee, or a boat over to Koh Dach, where families weave silk under their houses. Night in Phnom Penh.
Day 4
West to Battambang, around 290 kilometres and five to six hours by road. You stop at the pottery villages near Kampong Chhnang, where pots are built up by hand and fired in open kilns. Battambang arrives in the afternoon, small enough to walk. Night in Battambang.
Day 5
A full Battambang day. The bamboo rail cart first, a plank on wheels that runs fast and low over the fields. Then Wat Kor village, where rice paper dries on racks and fish paste ferments in jars. Late afternoon at Phnom Sampeau for the bats leaving the cliff at dusk. Night in Battambang.
Day 6
Three hours north to Siem Reap on a good road, or, when water levels allow between roughly July and January, the slow boat down the Sangker river through floating villages instead. That is a full day on wooden benches and worth it if you have the patience. Night in Siem Reap.
Day 7
Angkor in order of age. You begin at the Roluos temples, the brick towers built a century before the great stone works, then move to Preah Ko and Bakong. In the afternoon, Ta Prohm while the tour coaches are elsewhere. Breakfast at the hotel; night in Siem Reap.
Day 8
The walled city of Angkor Thom, entered on foot through the south gate. The Bayon takes as long as you give it; the outer gallery carries eleven hundred metres of relief showing kitchens, cockfights and river battles. Then Baphuon and the terraces. Night in Siem Reap.
Day 9
An early start north to Banteay Srei, cut from pink sandstone and carved more finely than anything else at Angkor. Kbal Spean follows, a forty-minute climb through forest to a riverbed carved with lingas and reclining figures under running water. Lunch is included today. Breakfast at the hotel; night in Siem Reap.
Day 10
Angkor Wat itself, kept until now, with time for the full western gallery and the causeway at opening hour. In the afternoon you drive to the Tonle Sap and take a boat through the stilt village at Kampong Phluk and into the flooded forest. Night in Siem Reap.
Day 11
A slow last morning. There is usually time for the old market, for coffee, or for one short temple before the heat builds if you want a last one. Your driver then takes you out to Siem Reap airport for your flight home. Breakfast at the hotel.
What the price covers
- Ten nights in hotels agreed with you, twin or double, breakfast daily
- One lunch on Day 9
- Private English-speaking guide throughout
- Air-conditioned car with driver for every transfer and sightseeing day
- Entrance fees for the sites named above, including a three-day Angkor pass
- Bamboo rail ride at Battambang and the Tonle Sap boat
- Airport transfers on arrival and departure
- Drinking water in the vehicle and a local number to call at any hour
Not included
- International flights
- Cambodian visa
- Travel insurance, which we ask every traveller to hold
- Meals and drinks other than those listed
- The river boat from Battambang to Siem Reap, quoted separately if you want it
- Tips, laundry and personal spending
Good to know
At this spacing no day is punishing, but four of them involve three hours or more in a vehicle, and the temple mornings run long on foot. Kbal Spean is the only real climb: forty minutes up a forest path with tree roots for steps.
- November to February is dry and comfortable, March to May dry and hot, and the rains fall June to October.
- The Sangker river boat runs only when water levels allow, usually July to January.
- The bat exodus at Phnom Sampeau starts around half past five and depends on the weather.
- Bring long trousers or a long skirt for the upper level of Angkor Wat and for pagoda visits.
- Battambang has few large hotels; rooms are comfortable rather than grand.
- The Angkor pass carries your photograph and cannot be shared or transferred.
Plan this trip
- Days
- 11
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