Angkor in two days, three days, or five

Here is our answer, stated plainly before the reasoning: two days is enough for most people. Three is generous and is what we usually recommend. Five is too many for almost everyone.

Why five is too many

Angkor is an archaeological park of roughly 150 square miles (400 sq km) containing several hundred structures. Perhaps a dozen are worth your time. Four are genuinely extraordinary. That is not a criticism of the site, it is an accurate description of a very large park with a small number of masterpieces.

Three things work against a long visit.

Temple fatigue is real and it arrives on schedule. By the middle of day three most visitors are photographing carvings they can no longer tell apart. By day four they are walking past reliefs they would have stopped at on day one. This is not a failure of curiosity, it is what happens to anyone looking at variations on the same architectural vocabulary for four consecutive mornings.

The heat is cumulative. In the cool season, November to February, daytime highs sit around 86 to 90 Fahrenheit (30 to 32 C). In April it regularly passes 95 F (35 C) and can reach the low hundreds. You are on your feet on unshaded sandstone. Day one you will manage six hours. Day four you will manage three, and you will not enjoy them.

The days come out of somewhere else. Cambodia is a nine to twelve day country. Two extra temple days are two days not spent in Battambang, on the Kampot river, or on Koh Rong Sanloem. We would rather you left Angkor still interested.

If you are an architectural historian, or you have been before and want the outlying sites properly, five days can be justified. For everyone else, we will say so.

The two-day shape

For travellers adding Angkor to a Vietnam or Thailand trip, or on a tight schedule.

Day one, afternoon and the small circuit. Start at two in the afternoon rather than in the morning. Angkor Thom and the Bayon with its faces, then Ta Prohm with the strangler figs through the masonry, then Angkor Wat itself in the last two hours of daylight, when the western face is lit and the sunrise crowd left nine hours ago. This is the best light on Angkor Wat of the whole day and hardly anybody knows it.

Day two, early and out. Six thirty start. Banteay Srei, an hour from town, small, pink sandstone, and the finest carving in the park. Then Banteay Samre or Preah Khan on the way back, and stop by eleven. Afternoon at the pool. Late afternoon, Srah Srang or Pre Rup for the light.

Two days done this way covers everything most people came for.

The three-day shape, which is what we usually build

Days one and two as above, then:

Day three, the jungle temple. Either Beng Mealea, largely uncleared, about 90 minutes east, where you walk through collapsed galleries with the forest still in them, or the full day out to Koh Ker with its stepped pyramid, about two and a half hours each way.

The third day is the one that changes the trip, because it is the day that does not look like the other two. It is also the day people describe when they get home.

A useful detail: multi-day Angkor passes do not have to be used on consecutive days. We frequently put a rest day, a Tonle Sap morning or a cooking class in the middle of a three-day pass, which is the single easiest fix for temple fatigue.

The sunrise problem, specifically

The famous photograph of Angkor Wat reflected in still water is taken from the northern reflecting pool, a small body of water perhaps forty feet across on the left of the causeway as you approach. At sunrise, several thousand people stand at that one pool.

We are not against it. We are against pretending it is a serene experience. What actually happens: you leave your hotel at four forty five, you queue in the dark, you stand shoulder to shoulder on a bank three or four people deep, you hold a phone above your head, and if there is cloud, which there often is in the wet season, you have done all of it for a grey sky. It is the single most crowded moment in Cambodia.

If you want it, we get you there very early, we tell you exactly what it will be like, and we position you at the pool rather than the crowd behind it.

The better alternative, if you would rather not. Three of them, in fact.

• The Bayon at opening time. Around thirty people in it. The faces in low side light, and near silence. This is the best hour in Angkor and it is available to anyone who is at the gate when it opens.
• Srah Srang. A large royal bathing reservoir with a stone landing stage. Sunrise over open water, a dozen people, and no queue at all.
• Angkor Wat at the end of the afternoon. Better light on the building than sunrise gives, because at dawn you are photographing a silhouette.

Our usual recommendation is Srah Srang for the sunrise, the Bayon at opening, and Angkor Wat late. You get the light, the water and the temple, without the bank.

Tickets, honestly

Angkor passes come as one-day, three-day and seven-day tickets. They are bought in person at the official ticket office a few miles from the temples, with your photograph taken on the spot, and they are not transferable. The three-day pass is valid across a longer window, and the seven-day pass across longer still, so neither has to be used on consecutive days.

Prices are set by the authority that manages the park and they change. At the time of writing the one-day pass sits in the region of $37, the three-day around $62 and the seven-day around $72, with a portion going to a children’s hospital in Siem Reap. Treat those as guidance only. We confirm the current price and buy the passes with you on arrival rather than sending you to queue alone.

Two practical notes. Children under twelve are generally free with proof of age. And a pass bought after about five in the afternoon commonly admits you to the park that evening as well, which is a small piece of value that many visitors miss.

Outlying sites are ticketed separately from the main pass: Beng Mealea, Koh Ker and Preah Vihear each have their own fee, typically in the $5 to $10 range, and again we confirm the current figures.

Heat, and the hours that actually work

The single most useful thing we can tell you about Angkor is not which temple to visit. It is when.

• Gates open around five for sunrise areas and around seven thirty for most temples. Be there at opening.
• Stop by eleven. Not at noon, at eleven. The middle of the day on unshaded sandstone is the fastest way to lose the following day as well.
• Restart at three, not two, and stay until the light goes.
• In March, April and May, this is not optional. Temple mornings and pool afternoons, and we build the itinerary that way whether or not you ask.
• Bring more water than you think, and a hat. Shade at Angkor Wat is minimal.
• Dress code is enforced at Angkor Wat and several other temples: shoulders and knees covered, for everyone. This is checked at the upper level and people are turned away daily.

Which outlying temples justify the drive

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Keep reading

• Cambodia, the complete guide to planning your trip
• Classic Cambodia in 9 days
• Food and culture in Cambodia, 11 days
• Cambodia beyond Angkor: Battambang, Kampot and the coast
• Tailor-made Cambodia trips

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