Trip overview
The main sightseeing day mirrors our shortest Angkor trip, working through the great western temple, the walled city beyond it and the root-bound ruin further out, ending with a quieter sunset stop. What makes this version different is the extra night, set aside entirely for Phnom Kulen, a mountain about 58 km north of Siem Reap that tradition credits as the Khmer empire’s birthplace.
Local tradition holds that King Jayavarman II declared independence from this mountain in 804 CE, and the day’s stops trace that history alongside a river carved with a thousand small lingas, a boulder shaped into a reclining Buddha, and a waterfall inside the surrounding national park. Choose this trip if temples alone feel incomplete and you want a change of scenery built in.
Trip highlights
- Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon Temple and Ta Prohm in one circuit
- Sunset from Pre Rup, one of Angkor’s lesser-visited eastern temples
- Phnom Kulen mountain, tied to the founding of the Khmer empire in 804 CE
- The River of a Thousand Lingas, carved directly into the riverbed
- A reclining Buddha cut from a single boulder, and a waterfall for a shaded lunch stop
- Banteay Srey village, where palm sugar is still made by hand
Your day-by-day itinerary
Day 1: Arrive Siem Reap, orientation drive
Landing brings a hotel check-in and a brief loop through town by car, enough to fix the riverside, the Old Market and Pub Street in your mind before the two full days that follow. Evenings are left free.
Day 2: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm
Angkor Wat opens the day, a monument King Suryavarman II commissioned early in the twelfth century. Passing through the South Gate takes you into Angkor Thom, the Khmer empire’s last walled capital, on toward Bayon Temple, where dozens of calm stone faces look out from its towers.
The route continues past the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King before reaching Ta Prohm, left deliberately half-claimed by strangler fig and silk-cotton roots and familiar to many from the Tomb Raider film. The day ends with sunset at Pre Rup, quieter than the more famous viewpoints nearby.
Day 3: Phnom Kulen mountain
About 58 km out of town, Phnom Kulen holds religious weight for both Hindu and Buddhist Cambodians alike, and local tradition names it as the spot where King Jayavarman II proclaimed independence from Java in 804 CE. A stretch of riverbed carved with small votive lingas gives the site its popular name, the River of a Thousand Lingas, and nearby a boulder has been shaped into a reclining Buddha figure.
Lunch is taken beside a waterfall inside the surrounding national park, shaded from the midday sun, and the return drive routes through Banteay Srey village, where you can watch families reducing palm sap over an open flame into blocks of sugar.
Day 4: Departure from Siem Reap
A private transfer takes you to Siem Reap–Angkor International Airport, about 50 km out of town, for your onward or homeward flight. No sightseeing is scheduled, so allow extra time for the drive.
What’s included
- Hotels in the class you choose, twin or double occupancy, with breakfast each morning, or an equivalent property if the one named is full.
- All meals written into the day-by-day programme below.
- A private air-conditioned vehicle for every transfer and excursion in the programme.
- An English-speaking local guide at each stop on the route.
- Every boat trip, river crossing and cruise named in the itinerary.
- Entrance fees for the sites listed in the programme.
- Drinking water in the vehicle and on boat days.
- Government tax and service charge.
Not included
- International and domestic flights, and rail tickets.
- Visas, and any fee collected at a border post.
- Travel insurance.
- Meals and drinks that are not written into the programme.
- Personal spending such as laundry, phone calls, minibar, souvenirs and watersports.
- Early check-in, late check-out and room upgrades.
- Anything added on the day at your request outside the printed programme.
- Gratuities for your guide and driver.
- Costs arising from weather, flooding, road closures or other events beyond our control.
- Bank transfer charges.
Booking this trip
- Days
- 4 days / 3 nights
Sending this does not charge you. We hold the space and confirm within 24 hours.
For visa rules, payment terms and what to expect on the ground, see our [Cambodia travel information](cambodia/travel-information) page.
Tell us when you would like to go and the size of your party, and we will check rooms and write back with pricing.