Cambodia 14 Day Travel Itinerary: SEA's Underrated Gem

Cambodia, South East Asia

We spent 14 wonderful days in Cambodia and to think we were so close to exploring just Siem Reap and skipping out on the rest of this beautiful country. That would have been a huge mistake.

This is stop number 4 on our 1 year trip through Asia. We decided to spend our time in Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Kep and Kampot. Since we are heading to the Philippines soon we skipped Koh Rong which is known for its beaches.

If you have time though, we have heard nothing but postive comments about Koh Rong. If you decide to visit let me know how it goes!

This itinerary is as always a suggestion, we like to travel slow with rest and works days added, so adjust as needed.

This post is all about Cambodia, a 14 Day Itinerary exploring South East Asia’s Underrated Gem.

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Cambodia Fun Facts:

Official Language: Khmer
Currency: Cambodian Riel
Population: 17.1 Million
Capital City: Phnom Penh
Major International Airport: Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville International Airport
Best Time to Visit: November to March
Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the ENTIRE world.
Angkor Wat means “Temple City or City of Temples” in Khmer.
Cambodia is the only country with a building on its flag.
Tonle Sap is the largest salt water lake in Southeast Asia.
Cambodia has a young population, averaging under 20 years of age.

Our first stop on this Cambodia 14 Day Travel Itinerary is…..

Siem Reap ^ 5 Days

Siem Reap the perfect first stop, known as the getaway to one of the most important archaeological sites of Southeast Asia and home to the very famous Angkor Wat.

Fly into Siem Reap International Airport and catch the local bus to the town center, it will cost $8 per person. You can purchase your ticket right outside the airport exit doors.

From the bus stop in Siem Reap use Grab to take you to your hotel. Grab is very cheap around $1-$2.

My biggest tip to fully enjoy Siem Reap is take it slow, it’s hot and humid in Siem Reap so early morning starts are a must. Most temples open up at 7:30 am with the exception of Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng and Pre Rup which open at 5:00 am for sunrise.

Temples close at 5:30 pm with the exception of Phnom Bakheng and Pre Rup which closes at 7pm and are popular for sunset.

Angkor Temple Pass:

I recommend a 3 day Temple Pass. This will give you the perfect amount of days to explore without feeling rushed and without having to explore after 12:00pm. Which trust me you are going to want to be poolside or taking a nap inside your cool and AC controlled hotel room. The 3 day temple pass will cost you $62 a person with a 10 day validity. They also have a 1 day pass and 7 day pass.

Purchase your temple pass the day before you plan to visit, that way you can head straight to exploring as soon as the temples open! Tickets can only be purchased at Angkor Park Pass Ticket Counter.

Working hours of Ticket Centers start at 5:00am to 5:30pm every day.

Entry tickets issued after 4:45pm are valid for the next day, so if you want to catch sunset the day you purchase your ticket and it was purchased after 4:45pm you are free to enter Phnom Bakheng or Pre Rup for sunset without it using up one of your days.

Besides temples we visited the floating village of Kampong Phluk. We personally really enjoyed this day trip from Siem Reap.

Most tours will take you to hang out on a floating restaurant on Tonle Sap Lake, which has trapped crocodiles in a cage and is extremely sad and depressing. Skip it. We asked our boat driver after about 5 minutes at the restaurant to drop us off at the village instead, we much rather walk around see the local village life.

We did this tour on our own by renting a scooter, but you can also take a guided tour. There is a village fee that includes a boat ride around Tonle Sap Lake. It cost $20 per person.

Things to do in Siem Reap:

Angkor National Musem
Temple Hopping at Angkor Archaeological Park
Kampong Phluk Floating Village
Pub Street
Kulen Mountain
Phare, the Cambodian Circus

Temples we visited by scooter: Bayon Temple (My absolute Fave), Bakong, Angkor Wat at Sunrise, Ta Prohm, Pre Rup, Eastern Mebon, Ta Som, Neak Pean, Preah Khan, Victory Gate and Prasat Ta Keo.

Tip: If you are visiting the temples without a guide I recommend a trip to the Angkor National Museum first. This will give you some knowledge and a bit of understandings when you visit the temples.

Tip: Scooter rentals should run you around $8 and I do believe some previous scooter experience is needed if you decide explore Siem Reap by scooter.

Where we stayed: Three Little Birds (They have the most amazing breakfast options) a close runner up was People by The Community.

Restaurants we liked: Jungle Burger, Bonfire Grill, Fresh Fruit Factory

If you’re more of a visual person rather than a reader here is our most recent Siem Reap vlog.

Check it out and don’t forget to subscribe!

Phnom Penh ^ 3 Days

Phnom Penh is the Capital of Cambodia and has some pretty dark history and presently known to be chaotic but we actually really enjoyed the vibe of this city.

To get to Phnom Penh we took the Giant Ibis from Siem Reap. We booked it through 12go.asia as we usually do with all our bus, ferry and train needs.

I highly recommend spending the couple extra dollars on this company. They are clean, reliable and punctual. It will take approximately 5.5-6hrs to reach Phnom Penh.

Things to do in Phnom Penh:

Food Tour
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum S21
Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (Killing Fields)
Royal Place & Sliver Pagoda
National Museum

We tend to always do a food tour when we arrive in a new country, it’s the perfect opportunity to get to know the cuisine with a local and get some insider tips and food recommendations. The food tour we did in Phnom Penh was so good and packed with so much delicious food, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Check out our Vlog below “Phnom Penh: Our Craziest Food Tour Yet!”

book the exact food tour we did here

Where we stayed: BKK Concept Hotel, if a pool is a must we also stayed at Onederz Hostel Phnom Penh for one night.

Restaurants we liked: Mama Turk, David’s Restaurant

Kep ^ 3 Days

Kep is a very small fishing village but it ended being one of favorite stops, it was a total vibe with locals and just a dash of tourism plus the Kampot Pepper Crab dish is worth the visit alone.

To get to Kep we again took the Giant Ibis from Phnom Penh. We booked it through 12go.asia as we usually do with all our bus, ferry and train needs.

It will take approximately 3-3.5hrs to reach Kep.

Where we stayed: Atmaland Resort (basic & simple but clean and friendly)

Our hotel provided free breakfast and we had lunch/dinner at the Crab Market. We didn’t visit any actual restaurants in Kep.

Tip: Make sure you order more than just the Crab at the Crab Market, the locals are super friendly so don’t be intimated to order, just pick what looks good and negotiate. They can cook all the fresh seafood for around $2 USD. Also I don’t recommend the oysters they were the only thing we didn’t like.

Things to do in Kep:

Crab Market (A MUST)
Kep Beach
Visit BoFarm Pepper Farm
Kep National Park
Rabbit Island

Kampot ^ 3 Days

Kampot is a beautiful river town and so I highly recommend staying somewhere near the river. Try to pick a location where you will be able to enjoy the sunset because let me tell you they are AMAZING!

To get to Kampot we booked a minivan transfer through 12go.asia.

It will take approximately 30-40 minutes to reach Kampot.

Things to do in Kampot:

Kayak The Loop “The Green Cathedral”
Explore Bokor National Park
Kampot River Cruise
Visit a Pepper Farm
Visit the Salt Fields

Where we stayed: The Hideaway (Okay so the location was truly amazing and they have free kayaks for their guest but check in was awkward, it felt unorganized and just lacked customer service. I think it was the new employee who had no idea what he was doing, so I would recommend a different location.

We heard things about Sabay Beach Hotel or check out the link below to search for hotels in Kampot.

check for Kampot hotels here

Restaurants we liked: Smash Burger, Simons Tandoor Indian Restaurant, Cafe Espresso Roastery

If you decided to add Koh Rong and only have two weeks to see Cambodia I would take Kep away and instead do a day trip from Kampot. So your itinerary would look like this: 5 days Siem Reap, 3 days Phnom Penh, 3 days Kampot and 3 days Koh Rong.

To get to Koh Rong you will need to ferry over from Sihanoukville which will take approximately 40 minutes to 1 hour to reach Koh Rong from Kampot. You can book both the transfer from Kampot to Sihanoukville and Sihanoukville to Koh Rong on 12go.asia.

Don’t forget to apply for your visa!!

cambodia visa application website

Tip: DO NOT use US dollar in Cambodia even though it’s accepted they are super strict on the bills they accept and I do mean STRICT. Trust me use their local currency, Cambodian Riel, it is so much easier and hassle free to use.

That wraps up this post, Cambodia 14 Day Travel Itinerary: SEA’s Underrated Gem.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE:

Travel Resources:

Here you can find all the travel site links that we personally use and recommend.

CAMPSITES/CAMPGROUNDS We like to use a couple apps for last minute campsite bookings. Our favorites are HipCamp, The Dyrt and Campendium.

ACCOMMODATION: We find the best deals with BOOKING.COM. The more you book the better the perks like free breakfast with your stay, room upgrades and even higher discounted room rates.

CAR RENTALS: We have always used RentalCars.com and find them to have the best deals, customer service and selection of locations.

FLIGHTS: Our go to for looking up flights is SKYSCANNER, but we try to always book directly with the airline.

TOURS/EXCURSIONS: GET YOUR GUIDE and VIATOR are two very reputable sites with easy and hassle free bookings.

TRAVEL INSURANCE: It’s so important to travel with insurance and for this we use SafetyWing. We are currently using them for our 1 year trip.

TRANSPORTATION: For all our bus, ferry and train transfer needs in Asia we use 12go.asia.