The pass. Angkor Enterprise is the only seller: $37 for one day, $62 for three days used within a week, $72 for seven days within a month. Buy online at ticket.angkorenterprise.gov.kh with a card and a passport photo, and save the QR code offline, or at the office on Road 60, about 4 km from the center. A pass dated for tomorrow lets you in after 5 p.m. today for sunset without spending a day. Children under 12 are free.
Dress at the Bakan. Shoulders and knees covered inside every temple, and the guards at Angkor Wat’s upper level mean it: a scarf over a vest is turned away, and so are shorts above the knee. The Bakan opens around 7:40 a.m., closes on Buddhist holy days and has a line by nine.
Sunrise. Gates open at 5 a.m. and tuk-tuks leave town around 4:30 a.m. Stand by the moat or the south pool rather than the crowded north pool, then walk the galleries, which are empty between 6:30 a.m. and 8 a.m.
Tuk-tuks and apps. Hire one by the day: around $20 to $28 for the small circuit, $25 to $35 for the grand, $45 or so with Banteay Srei, waiting included. In town Grab and PassApp run $2 to $4 rides. Inside the park you walk from each gate to the temple; carry water and a hat.
The airport. Siem Reap-Angkor International (SAI) opened in 2023 about 50 km east; allow 45 to 60 minutes by road. The taxi counter charges around $30 to $35, Grab cars run from about $19, and a shuttle bus costs about $8 but stops short of the center.
Dollars and riel. US dollars are the tourist currency and riel the change, at 4,000 to the dollar; anything under a dollar comes back in riel. Bring clean, untorn notes; torn ones are refused.
Seasons and the lake. November to February is dry, coolest and busiest. March to May passes 95°F (35°C) by noon, so climb before 10 a.m. and sit out the middle of the day under a gallery. June to October brings short heavy afternoon storms, green moats and fewer people. The Tonlé Sap is highest from September to January, when the flooded forest at Kampong Phluk is worth the rowboat; in the dry months the stilts stand bare.
Phare. The circus plays nightly at 8 p.m. with food stalls from 5:30 p.m.; Section B at $28 sells out in high season.
Night before. Save the pass QR code and the Phare ticket in Waystop’s Documents, agree the tuk-tuk price and pickup points before you set off, and pack long pants, a shirt with sleeves and two liters of water.