--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Cambodia (City Guides) Wimup" description: "Browse Wimup's Top 10 guides across Cambodia, Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and more cities, mapped and filmed. When to go, what a day costs, and where to start." url: https://wimup.com/country/cambodia type: Country guide updated: 2026-10-06 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10s across Cambodia The Khmer Empire left a capital in the forest and a river system that still sets the rhythm. Cambodia is **small, flat and far richer in ruins than its size suggests**. ## Quick answer Most trips run **Siem Reap** to **Phnom Penh**: three days for Angkor, two for the capital, and a short flight or a long bus between them. Add the **southern coast** for Kampot's pepper farms and the crab market at Kep, or **Battambang** for the shophouses and the countryside behind them. **Kratié** puts you on the Mekong, and the **northeastern highlands** at Sen Monorom and Banlung are the part of the country almost nobody books. **November to February** is the dry, cooler window worth planning around. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** Nov · Dec · Jan - **Ideal length:** 8–12 days - **Budget per day:** $40–120 - **Language:** Khmer - **Getting around:** Buses, boats & tuk-tuks - **2** City guides - **17,280,543** People - **2** Video guides - **24** Provinces Siem Reap and the Angkor temples open almost every Cambodia itinerary, and most travellers pair them with Phnom Penh for the modern half of the story. The Tonlé Sap sits between the two, and the southern coast adds beaches at the end. ## 2 Cambodia city guides 1. [Phnom Penh](https://wimup.com/city/phnom-penh.md): Asia · 10 picks 2. [Siem Reap](https://wimup.com/city/siem-reap.md): Asia · 10 picks ## Know before you go - **Population:** 17,280,543 - **Area:** 181,035 km² - **Density:** 95.5 / km² - **Capital:** Phnom Penh - **Major cities:** Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Battambang, Poipet, Ta Khmau - **Tourism board:** Official site - **Currency:** Riel (៛) & US dollars Prices are quoted in both and ATMs dispense dollars. Change under a dollar comes back in riel, at a rate that has sat close to 4,000 to the dollar for years. - **Language:** Khmer Khmer is the national language and uses its own script. English is common in Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and along the coast, thinner on rural roads, and French lingers with the oldest generation. - **Calling code:** +855 - **Power:** 230V · Type A, C & G - **Emergency:** 117 police · 118 fire · 119 ambulance - **Visa:** e-Visa or on arrival Most nationalities buy a 30-day tourist visa online before flying, or on arrival at the main airports and land crossings. Use the official site: the lookalikes charge more for the same thing. - **Arrival card:** File before you land Cambodia asks arriving travelers to file an e-Arrival card in the week before landing. It is not a visa and does not replace one. - **Getting around:** Buses, boats & tuk-tuks Day and sleeper buses link the main cities, a short flight cuts the Siem Reap to Phnom Penh leg, and app-hailed tuk-tuks handle everything inside a town. - **Angkor tickets:** Angkor Enterprise only Passes come from the state operator, at the ticket office or online, and carry your photo. Anything sold by a hotel or a tout is not valid at the gate. - **Tipping:** Not required, widely done Service is rarely added to the bill and wages are low, so rounding up, and a little more for a guide or a driver who worked a full day, is normal. - **Dress code:** Shoulders and knees Angkor enforces it at the gate and every working pagoda expects the same. A light scarf covers the gap and doubles as sun cover. - **Weather:** Tropical monsoon Dry and cooler from November, hot through March and April, wet in the afternoons from May to October. The Tonlé Sap reverses its flow with the rains, which is worth timing a boat trip around. - **Water:** Bottled or filtered Tap water is not for drinking. Refill points are common in guesthouses on the main routes and beat buying a bottle a day. - **Provinces:** 24, plus Phnom Penh The capital is administered at provincial level, outside any province, so the count is sometimes given as 25. ## When to visit - **Jan** (peak) - **Feb** (best) - **Mar** (good) - **Apr** - **May** - **Jun** - **Jul** - **Aug** - **Sep** - **Oct** (good) - **Nov** (best) - **Dec** (peak) ## Fun fact Angkor Archaeological Park covers roughly 400 square kilometres and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992, which makes it one of the largest heritage sites anywhere in Asia. ## Stereotypes, sorted out - **Myth:** Cambodia is Angkor and nothing else **Reality:** Angkor earns its three days and most itineraries open there. The rest is what surprises people: a Mekong river town at Kratié, pepper farms and a crab market on the south coast, and highland forest at Sen Monorom that sees almost no coaches. - **Myth:** Khmer food is milder Thai food **Reality:** The pantry is different. Kroeung, a pounded paste of lemongrass, turmeric, galangal and kaffir lime, does the work chilli does next door, and prahok, fermented fish paste, carries the salt. Heat is a condiment here, added at the table and not cooked in. - **Myth:** The country is still dangerous **Reality:** The cities and the main routes are ordinary travel. Demining is still under way in parts of the northwestern border provinces, so rural paths are marked. Stay on marked ground and the caution ends there. - **Myth:** Everything runs on US dollars **Reality:** Dollars circulate widely and prices are often quoted in them, but the riel is the national currency and change under a dollar comes back in riel. Carry small, clean notes: a torn fifty is no use to anyone. - **Myth:** Three days covers it **Reality:** Three days covers Angkor. The country is small and flat, which makes it tempting to rush, but the short distances hide slow roads and long bus legs. Eight to twelve days is the honest length for Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and one region past them. - **Myth:** The Khmer Rouge is the whole story **Reality:** The genocide sites in Phnom Penh are told plainly and are worth your time. They are one chapter of a history that also holds the largest religious monument on earth, a golden age of 1960s rock and roll, and a young population rebuilding what that period tried to erase. - Greet with the sampeah: palms together, a small bow. The higher the hands, the more respect it carries, and returning one is always right. - Cover shoulders and knees at temples. Angkor enforces its dress code at the gate, and there is nothing to buy once you are past it. - Do not touch anyone on the head, and do not point your feet at a person or a Buddha image. Tuck them under you when you sit down. - Pass and receive with the right hand, or with both. The left hand alone reads as careless. - Ask before photographing monks or people at work, and never use the genocide memorials as a backdrop. - Shoes come off before a home or a temple hall. Watch what the pile at the door is doing and copy it. - Keep your temper. Raising your voice loses the argument here, and staying calm gets further than being right. - Keep small riel notes on you. Nobody wants to break a large dollar bill for a bowl of noodles, and damaged notes get refused. ## Famous Cambodian faces - **Jayavarman VII**: Angkor's builder king, who raised Angkor Thom and the Bayon in the late 1100s - **Sinn Sisamouth**: The King of Khmer Music, and the voice of Phnom Penh's 1960s golden age - **Rithy Panh**: Documentary director whose The Missing Picture was Cambodia's first Oscar-nominated film. - **Haing S. Ngor**: Doctor turned actor, the first performer of Asian descent to win Best Supporting Actor. - **Vann Molyvann**: Architect of New Khmer Architecture, and of the National Stadium in Phnom Penh - **Norodom Sihanouk**: King, prime minister and film director across six decades of Cambodian politics - **VannDa**: Rapper whose Time to Rise, recorded with chapei master Kong Nay, passed 100 million views - **Sorn Seavmey**: Taekwondo fighter who took Cambodia's first Asian Games gold at Incheon in 2014 - **Jayavarman II**: Declared the Khmer Empire in 802, the date Cambodian history still counts from - **Suryavarman II**: Built Angkor Wat in the early 1100s as a temple to Vishnu - **Norodom Sihamoni**: King since 2004, and a classical dancer and choreographer before the throne - **Ros Serey Sothea**: The Queen with the Golden Voice, and the other half of the 1960s sound - **Kong Nay**: Chapei dang veng master, known at home as the Ray Charles of Cambodia - **Davy Chou**: Director of Diamond Island and Return to Seoul, and a builder of the film scene here - **Sopheap Pich**: Sculptor working in rattan and bamboo, shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art - **Vann Nath**: Painter, one of the few adults to leave S-21 alive, and the man who documented it - **Loung Ung**: Author of First They Killed My Father, the memoir that reached the widest audience - **Vaddey Ratner**: Novelist whose In the Shadow of the Banyan drew on her own childhood under the regime - **Dith Pran**: Photojournalist who survived the regime, and who gave the killing fields their name - **Chan Vathanaka**: Cambodia's best-known footballer, and a forward for the national team - **Bou Samnang**: Finished the 2023 SEA Games 5,000m last, in torrential rain, and became a national figure. ## Must-try Khmer food - **Fish amok**: Steamed fish mousse set with coconut milk and kroeung, served in a banana leaf cup. - **Lok lak**: Cubes of beef seared hard, piled on salad, with a black pepper and lime dip. - **Kuy teav**: The breakfast bowl: clear pork broth, rice noodles, fried garlic and the stall's extras. - **Nom banh chok**: Soft rice noodles under a pale green fish and kroeung gravy, with raw herbs you tear in. - **Samlor korko**: The everyday Khmer stew, thickened with toasted rice and full of whatever is in season. - **Bai sach chrouk**: Grilled pork over broken rice with pickles and a bowl of broth on the side, eaten early. - **Num pang**: The Khmer baguette, a French inheritance filled with pâté, pickles and herbs. - **Sach ko ang**: Beef skewers grilled over coals on the pavement and sold by the stick after dark. - **A'ping**: Fried tarantula, the Skuon speciality, crisp outside and better split than bitten. - **Kralan**: Sticky rice, coconut and black beans roasted inside a bamboo tube, then split open. - **Kampot pepper crab**: Kep crab stir-fried with whole green Kampot peppercorns, fish sauce and palm sugar. - **Prahok ktis**: Fermented fish paste cooked down with pork and coconut into a dip for raw vegetables. - **Trey aing**: Whole river fish grilled over coals, then wrapped into lettuce with herbs at the table. - **Samlor machu trey**: Sour fish soup, sharp with tamarind and lemongrass, ordered with a plate of rice. - **Num ansom**: Sticky rice with banana or pork, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed for festivals. - **Num plae ai**: Palm sugar hidden inside glutinous rice balls and rolled in fresh coconut. - **Num kom**: A steamed pyramid of glutinous rice with palm sugar and coconut folded inside. - **Tuk ampov**: Sugarcane pressed at the roadside and poured over crushed ice, sweet and grassy. - **Iced Khmer coffee**: Dark robusta run through a filter, sweetened with condensed milk, poured over ice. ## Films - [Phnom Penh on Foot](https://wimup.com/watch/phnom-penh.md), 40:36 - [Best of Siem Reap](https://wimup.com/watch/siem-reap.md), 11:00 ## FAQs ### How many days do you need in Cambodia? Eight to twelve. Three days for Angkor at Siem Reap, two in Phnom Penh, and the rest for one region beyond them: the south coast, the Mekong at Kratié, or the highlands. A week works if you fly between the two cities. ### How long do you need at Angkor? Three days. One day covers Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm and leaves you finished. Three lets you reach the outer temples and Banteay Srei, and take a sunrise at a quieter gate. The multi-day pass exists for exactly that reason. ### Is Cambodia safe to travel in? The cities and the main routes are ordinary travel: watch your bag in Phnom Penh traffic and agree a tuk-tuk fare before setting off. Demining continues in parts of the northwestern border provinces, so rural paths are marked. Stay on them. ### Dollars or riel? Both, and you will use both in a day. Prices are often quoted in US dollars and ATMs dispense them, while change under a dollar comes back in riel. Bring clean, untorn notes, because damaged dollars get refused. ### When is the best time to visit Cambodia? November to February: dry, cooler, and the countryside still green from the rains. December and January are the busiest at Angkor. October and March trade a little comfort for far fewer people, and the wet season from June is cheap, green and wet in the afternoons. ## Related countries - [Japan](https://wimup.com/country/japan.md) - [India](https://wimup.com/country/india.md) - [All of Asia](https://wimup.com/asia) Part of [Asia](https://wimup.com/asia.md) ## Sources - [Tourism board](https://tourism.gov.kh/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Visa](https://www.evisa.gov.kh/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Arrival card](https://arrival.gov.kh/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Angkor tickets](https://www.angkorenterprise.gov.kh/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.