Cambodia Explorer 9 days/ 8 nights

Transfer from Phnom Penh International Airport to the hotel (rooms may not be ready until the afternoon).

Enjoy some leisure time. No air-conditioned car, driver, or guide will be provided during this free time. Lunch at a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, drive to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, located 16 km south of Phnom Penh. Between 1975 and 1978, approximately 17,000 men, women, children, and infants, including nine Westerners, who had been detained and tortured at S-21 Prison, were transported to the Choeung Ek extermination camp. They were often bludgeoned to death to avoid wasting precious bullets. Fragments of human bones and pieces of clothing remain scattered around the disinterred pits. More than 8,000 skulls, arranged by sex and age, are visible behind the clear glass panels of the Memorial Stupa, which was erected in 1988.

Return to Phnom Penh and enjoy some free time at the Central Market before returning to the hotel. Dinner at a local restaurant and overnight at the hotel in Phnom Penh.

Meals: L, D

Accommodation: Hotel

Breakfast at the hotel.

Enjoy a Phnom Penh city tour, visiting the Victory Monument and the National Museum, also known as the Musée des Beaux-Arts. Designed in the Khmer style by French archaeologist and painter Georges Groslier in 1917, the museum houses a collection of Khmer art, notably sculptures, from throughout the ages.

Visit the Royal Palace, built by the French in 1866 on the site of the old town, and the Silver Pagoda. Located within the grounds of the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda takes its name from its floor, which is made up of 5,000 silver tiles. The treasures inside include a solid gold Buddha weighing 90 kilograms and encrusted with jewels, as well as a small 17th-century Buddha made of emerald and Baccarat crystal.

End your afternoon with a visit to Wat Phnom Temple, which gives Phnom Penh its name. From here, enjoy views over the city's tree-lined avenues at sunset. Founded in 1373, the pagoda was built to house Buddhist relics washed ashore by the river.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

Enjoy leisure time (no air-conditioned car, driver, or guide provided).

Dinner is not included. Overnight at the hotel in Phnom Penh.

Meals: B, L, D

Accommodation: Hotel

Breakfast at the hotel.

In the morning, visit the notorious Tuol Sleng Museum (S-21 Prison). This former school was used as a prison by Pol Pot’s security forces and became the largest centre for detention and torture during the Khmer Rouge regime.

Enjoy some free time at the Russian Market (Psar Tuol Tumpong).

Lunch at a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, visit the Independence Monument and Wat Langka, one of Phnom Penh’s five original wats (pagodas), founded in 1422. Initially established as a sanctuary for the Holy Writings and a meeting place for Cambodian and Sri Lankan monks, Wat Langka was named in honour of these meetings. It was used as a storehouse by the Khmer Rouge and therefore escaped total destruction. Now fully renovated, the temple continues to play an important role in Cambodian Buddhism.

Discover Phnom Penh’s beautiful colonial architecture on a city tour by cyclo. Gain an insight into the city’s architectural fusion, from the colonial era to the modern post-independence period, as you relax in a cyclo and travel through Phnom Penh’s central districts. Enjoy a journey through the city’s architectural history.

Take a shared sunset cruise on the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers.

Dinner at a local restaurant and overnight at the hotel in Phnom Penh.

Meals: B, L, D

Accommodation: Hotel

Breakfast at the hotel.

Depart Phnom Penh for Battambang by overland transfer (290 km, approximately 4–5 hours’ drive). Upon arrival in Battambang, the second-largest city in Cambodia, discover a rich and fertile plain that provides much of the country’s rice and other important crops. The Sangke River cuts through the town centre, which is lined with colonial buildings and traditional shophouse architecture.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch, drive along the picturesque Sangke River to Wat Slaket Pagoda, the residence of the provincial Buddhist patriarch. Visit a traditional Khmer house and stop to see how rice paper, used for making spring rolls, is produced. Continue to Phnom Banon, with its five sandstone towers atop a hill, and enjoy magnificent views of the surrounding plains until sunset.

Check in at the hotel.

Dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight at the hotel in Battambang.

Meals: B, L, D

Accommodation: Hotel

Breakfast at the hotel.

Transfer to Wat Ek Phnom for a visit. Then visit a market where Prahoc, the traditional Cambodian fish paste, is made. Continue to Siem Reap via Sisophon by overland transfer.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch, stop at Preah Net Preah to visit a village known for its stone carving. Continue to Siem Reap town and transfer to the hotel.

Dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight at the hotel in Siem Reap.

Meals: B, L, D

Accommodation: Hotel

Breakfast at the hotel.

In the morning, visit the Roluos Group, a collection of monuments that served as the capital of Indravarman I (reigned 877–889). These are among the earliest large, permanent temples built by the Khmer and mark the beginning of classical Khmer art.

Visit Preah Ko, erected by Indravarman I in the late 9th century and dedicated by the king to his ancestors in 880. Continue to Bakong, the largest and most interesting temple of the Roluos Group, with an active Buddhist monastery just north of its eastern entrance. Then visit Lolei, built on an islet in the centre of a large reservoir, which is now used as rice fields, by Yasovarman I, the founder of the first city at Angkor.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, continue your temple tour with a visit to Prasat Kravan, known for its unique interior brick sculptures; the Srah Srang reservoir, known as “The Royal Baths,” which was once used for ritual bathing; Banteay Kdei, surrounded by four concentric walls; Eastern Mebon, guarded at its corners by stone figures of harnessed elephants, some of which remain in a reasonable state of preservation; and the mountain temple of Pre Rup. Enjoy these visits until sunset.

Dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight at the hotel in Siem Reap.

Meals: B, L, D

Accommodation: Hotel

Breakfast at the hotel.

In the morning, visit the South Gate, with its huge statues depicting the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, and explore the ancient capital of Angkor Thom (12th century). Continue to Bayon Temple, unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avalokitesvara, and Baphuon, recently reopened after years of restoration. Visit the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephant Terrace, and the Terrace of the Leper King.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch, visit the most famous of all the temples on the plain of Angkor: Angkor Wat. The temple complex covers 81 hectares and is comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Its distinctive five towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian flag, and this 12th-century masterpiece is considered by art historians to be a prime example of classical Khmer art and architecture. Angkor Wat’s five towers symbolize the five peaks of Mount Meru, while the enclosed wall represents the mountains at the edge of the world and the surrounding moat represents the ocean beyond.

Enjoy the sunset at Pre Rup.

Dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight at the hotel in Siem Reap.

Meals: B, L, D

Accommodation: Hotel

Breakfast at the hotel.

In the morning, visit Senteurs d’Angkor and experience the authentic scents and tastes of Cambodia through a range of traditional handmade products that help create jobs and provide income for impoverished rural communities. Delicatessen delights include spices, traditional teas, highland coffees, and local rice liquors. There are also medicinal balms and natural massage oils, as well as perfumed candles and incense.

Visit Wat Inkosei, built on the site of an ancient temple whose remains can still be seen, and continue to Wat Bo Pagoda to admire its well-preserved paintings. You will also observe monks making the various mouldings that adorn the pagodas. Then spend some leisure time at a local market.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, visit Ta Prohm, one of the area’s most beautiful temples. Ta Prohm has remained relatively untouched since its discovery and retains much of its mystery.

Visit Les Artisans d’Angkor – Chantiers Écoles, a centre that works with young artisans. The centre creates, produces, and markets a unique collection of ornamental sculptures, lacquerware, silk weaving, and silk painting. The company promotes fair and sustainable development to benefit rural communities.

Dinner at a local restaurant.

Meals: B, L, D

Accommodation: Hotel

Breakfast at the hotel.

Transfer to Siem Reap International Airport for your departure flight to the next destination.

Meals: B

Accommodation: N/A