9 days 8 nights
Specific Tour
14 people
English
Quick answer
A nine-day private tour from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. You spend four nights at Angkor, including Banteay Srei, Tonle Sap, Beng Mealea and Koh Ker, two nights in Battambang for the bamboo train, Phnom Banan and Phnom Sampeau, and finish with the Royal Palace and history sites of Phnom Penh.
From US$1,070 per person for the whole tour, based on 4 travellers sharing double rooms in 4★ hotels as listed (couples travelling alone pay a little more). It changes with hotel level, season and group size, and is confirmed in your tailor-made quote.
| Day | Route and highlights | Overnight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrive in Siem Reap | Siem Reap |
| 2 | Angkor Wat sunrise, Angkor Thom and a monk blessing | Siem Reap |
| 3 | Banteay Srei, Preah Dak and Tonle Sap | Siem Reap |
| 4 | Beng Mealea and Koh Ker | Siem Reap |
| 5 | Drive to Battambang and ride the bamboo train | Battambang |
| 6 | Phnom Banan and Phnom Sampeau | Battambang |
| 7 | Drive to Phnom Penh via Kampong Chhnang | Phnom Penh |
| 8 | Royal Palace, Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek | Phnom Penh |
| 9 | Departure from Phnom Penh | — |
Private tour with your own English-speaking guide · 9 days / 8 nights · Siem Reap – Angkor – Tonle Sap – Beng Mealea – Koh Ker – Battambang – Kampong Chhnang – Phnom Penh
This Cambodia tour runs nine days from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh with a private guide and driver, and lunch included on every touring day. You begin with Angkor at its best: sunrise over Angkor Wat, the faces of the Bayon, Ta Prohm's tangled roots and the fine carvings of Banteay Srei, followed by a boat trip through a fishing village on Tonle Sap.
A full day takes you deeper into the countryside to Beng Mealea, a vast temple swallowed by the jungle, and to Koh Ker, a 10th-century capital hidden in the northern forest. Then you head west to Battambang, a gentle riverside city of colonial houses, where you ride the bamboo train, climb to Phnom Banan and watch the evening flight of bats at Phnom Sampeau.
The journey ends in Phnom Penh with the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, and a thoughtful visit to Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek.
Easy to moderate. Temple days mean two to three hours of walking with some steep steps; Phnom Banan has a long stone stairway. Road days are Siem Reap to Battambang (about three hours) and Battambang to Phnom Penh (about five to six hours with stops). Suits families with children over 10 and active older travelers.
Eight nights at 4-star level: Saem Siem Reap (Deluxe) or similar in Siem Reap, Battambang Resort (Garden Room) or similar in Battambang, among the best in town, and Anik Palace (Deluxe Urban) or similar in Phnom Penh.
November to March is the best time, dry and cooler for temple walks. April and May are the hottest months, so we start early and rest at midday. From June to October expect short rain showers, green rice fields and fewer visitors; Tonle Sap is fullest from about August to November and low in the late dry season.
Your guide and driver are yours alone for the whole trip, so the pace, the stops and the start time each morning follow you. The standard version has an English-speaking guide; guides who speak French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese or Vietnamese can be arranged on request.
More ideas: All private tours in Cambodia · Cambodia Explore: Phnom Penh, Angkor and Koh Rong Beach in 9 Days · Treasure of Cambodia: Phnom Penh, Battambang and Angkor in 8 Days · Mystical Temples of Cambodia: Angkor, Preah Vihear and the Mekong in 10 Days
Photos: Reinhard Onasch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Radosław Botev, CC BY 3.0 pl, via Wikimedia Commons; Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Arian Zwegers, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Marcel40chaudron, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; David Sim, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Marcin Konsek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Your guide and driver welcome you at Siem Reap airport and take you to your hotel near the town center. The rest of the afternoon is free to rest after your flight, enjoy the pool or take a first stroll along the river and through the lanes around the Old Market. In the evening your guide joins you again for dinner at a local restaurant, a chance to try Khmer dishes such as fish amok and to talk through the days ahead.
Overnight: Siem Reap · Meals: D
Rise early to watch sunrise at Angkor Wat, then return to the hotel for breakfast. Explore Angkor Thom through its South Gate: the Bayon, with 54 towers and their serene faces, the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas and the Terrace of the Leper King, then Ta Prohm, held in the grip of giant trees. In the afternoon, take your time at Angkor Wat itself. As the light softens, a tuk tuk carries you through the outskirts of town to a pagoda where monks offer a blessing for your journey.
Overnight: Siem Reap · Meals: B, L
Follow a country road to Banteay Srei, a small 10th-century temple famous for its finely carved pink sandstone. Stop at Preah Dak village, known for rice noodles and palm sugar, then visit Banteay Samre, rich in reliefs from the Vishnu and Krishna legends. In the afternoon, drive about 18 km to Tonle Sap and board a private boat through a fishing village of floating homes, schools and shops that move with the level of the lake through the year.
Overnight: Siem Reap · Meals: B, L
Drive about two hours through villages and rice fields to Beng Mealea, an 11th to 12th-century temple strangled by the jungle, where you climb over fallen blocks and peer into mossy galleries. Another hour brings you to Koh Ker, capital of Jayavarman IV in the 10th century. More than 30 major monuments lie scattered in the forest here, including a tall stepped pyramid, and some of the finest statues in the National Museum in Phnom Penh came from this site. Return to Siem Reap in the late afternoon.
Overnight: Siem Reap · Meals: B, L
After breakfast, drive about three hours west to Battambang and check in at your hotel. In the afternoon, follow the Sangker River to Wat Slaket, the residence of the province's senior monk, and Wat Ek Phnom, an 11th-century temple beside a modern pagoda. Visit a market where prahok, the Cambodian fermented fish paste, is made. Back near town, end the day at Oudambong village with a ride on the bamboo train, a simple platform on rails that clatters through the fields.
Overnight: Battambang · Meals: B, L
This morning drive to Phnom Banan, where five sandstone towers crown a hilltop above the plains; climb the stone stairway for one of the best views in western Cambodia. In the afternoon, visit Phnom Sampeau, a hill of legends topped by a pagoda and dotted with caves. Your guide explains the site's history from the Khmer Rouge years, and you also explore natural caves. If you wish, stay until dusk to watch millions of bats stream out of a cave in long ribbons across the sky.
Overnight: Battambang · Meals: B, L
Today you travel southeast to Phnom Penh. Along the road, stop at a silversmith village, see clay pots shaped by hand in the pottery villages of Kampong Chhnang, and visit a local fish market on the Tonle Sap River. Arrive in the capital in the afternoon and check in at your hotel. The rest of the day is free to relax or wander the riverfront promenade, where locals gather in the evening to walk, exercise and eat.
Overnight: Phnom Penh · Meals: B, L
Begin at the Royal Palace, the home of the King, and the Silver Pagoda, which holds a solid gold Buddha set with more than 2,000 diamonds. Continue to Wat Phnom, built in 1373 on the hill that gave the city its name. In the afternoon, your guide accompanies you to the Choeung Ek memorial and Tuol Sleng, the former school used as the S-21 prison, for a respectful look at the Khmer Rouge period. If time allows, finish at the Russian Market for silk and crafts.
Overnight: Phnom Penh · Meals: B, L
Enjoy a relaxed breakfast and some free time this morning, perhaps for a coffee by the river or a last look around the Central Market. At the agreed time, your driver transfers you to Phnom Penh airport for your flight home or onward journey.
Meals: B
Yes. Teens tend to love Beng Mealea, the bamboo train and the bats at Phnom Sampeau, while lunches and hotel breaks keep the pace comfortable. Steep steps at Phnom Banan and Angkor Wat are optional.
The longest are Siem Reap to Battambang, about three hours, and Battambang to Phnom Penh, about five to six hours including craft village stops. The Koh Ker day has around five hours of driving in total.
Yes. The route works in either direction. Starting in Phnom Penh and ending at Angkor is a popular choice if you fly in from Vietnam.
Yes. This is a private tour with your own English-speaking guide. We also arrange private guides who speak French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese or Vietnamese: tell us when you enquire and we confirm your guide in the quote. Book early for the December to April high season.
Nothing is payable until you approve your written quote. We then ask for a 30% deposit to confirm, and the balance 45 days before arrival, by bank transfer or card. Bank details come with your booking confirmation; always confirm them with us by phone or WhatsApp (+84 812 247 572) before any transfer.
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