What does a trip to Cambodia cost?

Every figure below is in US dollars, per person, based on two people sharing a room, land only, excluding international flights. They cover accommodation, most meals, private ground transport, entrance fees including Angkor passes, and the guiding we would normally build in. Where a number moves year to year, we say so, and we confirm the current figure for your dates when we quote.

The four anchors we price against

These are the same daily numbers used in our complete Cambodia guide, because the guide and the magazine should not contradict each other.

Applied to the lengths we actually build:

Nine days is our most-booked length and it is the honest minimum for a Cambodia trip rather than an Angkor trip. Twelve gives you the same route without compression.

Accommodation, which is where the budget is decided

Rates below are per room per night for two people sharing, as planning ranges rather than quotes. Siem Reap in December and January carries a real premium, and the same room can be a third cheaper in June.

The four star tier is where Cambodia is unusually good value. A hotel in Siem Reap at $120 a night would cost three times that in most of Asia, and the service is often better. Above roughly $320 you are paying for scarcity rather than for a better room, which is a legitimate thing to buy and worth knowing you are buying.

Food, which is the cheap part

Khmer food is one of the least expensive good cuisines in Asia. Per person, as a guide:

• Kuy teav, the morning noodle soup, at a market stall: $1.50 to $2.50
• Num banh chok, rice noodles with green fish gravy, from a basket seller: about $1
• Market lunch with a drink: $3 to $5
• Dinner at a good local restaurant: $8 to $15 a head
• Dinner at a serious modern Khmer restaurant in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap: $30 to $60
• Draught beer: 75 cents to $2, depending entirely on the street

A realistic daily food budget for someone eating well and eating widely is $20 to $30. At $45 you are eating at the best tables in the country most nights. There is very little you can do to spend more than that without trying.

Transport, passes and guiding

Private car with driver. Cambodia is a private car country. A full day with a car and driver runs roughly $50 to $80 for the vehicle, not per person, and long transfers cost more because of the distance rather than the hours. Phnom Penh to Siem Reap is about 200 miles (320 km) and five to six hours.

Internal flights. Phnom Penh to Siem Reap takes about 45 minutes and typically runs $60 to $110 one way per person depending on how far ahead it is booked. On a nine-day trip we usually fly one leg and drive the other.

Angkor passes. One-day, three-day and seven-day tickets are sold at the official ticket office with your photograph taken on the spot. They currently sit in the region of $37, $62 and $72, the authority reviews them periodically, and we confirm the live price and buy them with you on arrival rather than sending you to queue alone. Our view on how many days you need is set out in Angkor in two days, three days, or five, and the short version is that the three-day pass is usually the right purchase and the seven-day pass almost never is.

Guiding. A licensed English-speaking guide with the car is roughly $45 to $70 a day. We use one on the Angkor days and in Phnom Penh, and we leave Kampot, Kep and the islands unguided, because a guide there adds cost and subtracts freedom.

Three complete budgets, line by line

The careful nine-day trip, about $855

Good local three star hotels, guides on two days, one internal flight, and eating where Cambodians eat.

The compromises here are all in the hotel, not in what you see.

The comfortable nine-day trip, about $1,440

Strong four star hotels with pools, a private car and driver on every transfer and every temple morning, three guided days, one flight.

This is the most common shape of Cambodia trip we build and it maps onto classic Cambodia in 9 days.

The boutique ten-day trip, about $2,800

The small hotels worth their rate, private guiding on four days, a driver throughout and a couple of dinners we book by phone.

See boutique Cambodia in 10 days for what those nights actually are.

What moves the number most

1. The hotel tier. Between careful and boutique, accommodation is about 80 percent of the difference.
2. The month. December and January in Siem Reap carry the year’s highest rates. June to September can be a third less. Our month by month article sets out what you trade for that saving.
3. How far east or how far into the Cardamoms you go. Remote days are cheap in accommodation and expensive in vehicle hours.
4. Flights versus drives. Flying both long legs saves a day and adds roughly $100 a person.

Money, practically

Cambodia runs on US dollars and Cambodian riel together. Prices are quoted in dollars, machines dispense dollars, and change under a dollar comes back in riel at roughly 4,000 to the dollar. Bring clean, unmarked notes in small denominations, because torn or heavily worn dollars are frequently refused. Cards work in city hotels and better restaurants and nowhere else you will want to spend money.

Plan this trip

Tell us your dates, your rough budget and the shape of the trip you have in mind, and a Cambodia specialist will build a first outline with real hotels and real numbers. Free, and with no obligation.

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Keep reading

• Cambodia, the complete guide to planning your trip
• Angkor in two days, three days, or five
• Cambodia beyond Angkor: Battambang, Kampot and the coast
• Cambodia month by month
• Classic Cambodia in 9 days
• All our Cambodia trips

Frequently asked questions