Siem Reap 3-Day Itinerary: Angkor Circuits, Banteay Srei and Tonle Sap

This three-day route uses a two-part daily rhythm designed for Cambodia's tropical heat: four cool morning hours in the temples starting at dawn, a midday break back at your Siem Reap pool hotel during the fiercest sun, and a second afternoon session when the stone turns warm gold. Buy a three-day official Angkor Pass before you begin; see our before-you-go briefing.

Day 1: The Small Circuit (Angkor Wat Sunrise, Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom & Bayon)

• Dawn at Angkor Wat: ride your remork tuk-tuk to the western causeway of Angkor Wat for sunrise over the five lotus towers, then walk anti-clockwise through the 800-metre third-level bas-relief galleries (including the Churning of the Ocean of Milk) and climb the steep stairs to the Bakan upper sanctuary.
• Mid-morning beat-the-crowd move: drive straight east to Ta Prohm while tour groups head to Bayon, photographing the giant silk-cotton and strangler-fig roots in quiet morning light, then return to town for lunch and a swim.
• Mid-afternoon in Angkor Thom: re-enter the park via the South Gate of Angkor Thom (lined with 108 stone gods and demons), walk the Terrace of the Elephants and Baphuon, and spend the golden late-afternoon hour among the two hundred smiling stone faces of the Bayon.
• Evening: dine on steamed fish amok and Kampot pepper beef lok lak in Wat Bo or Kandal Village.

Day 2: Pink-Sandstone Banteay Srei & the Grand Circuit

• Early morning: drive 37 km north through sugar-palm villages to Banteay Srei (Citadel of the Women) when morning light brings out the deep three-dimensional carvings in its pink-red sandstone, stopping at the Cambodia Landmine Museum on the return drive.
• Late morning on the Grand Circuit: explore the vaulted corridors and giant carved garudas of Preah Khan, then follow the wooden boardwalk across lotus water to the island healing pools of Neak Pean before a midday break.
• Late afternoon and sunset: visit the tree-clasped eastern gate of Ta Som and the monolithic stone elephants of East Mebon, finishing at the brick pyramid of Pre Rup for sunset.

Day 3: Apopo Rats, Artisan Workshops, Kampong Phluk & Phare Circus

• Morning in town: start with a bowl of nom banh chok rice noodles, attend a morning demonstration at the Apopo Visitor Centre (where HeroRATs detect landmines) or browse the galleries of the Angkor National Museum and Artisans Angkor.
• Afternoon on Tonle Sap Lake: drive south-east to board a boat through the towering ten-metre stilt houses and flooded mangrove forest of Kampong Phluk on Tonle Sap Lake, staying for sunset over the water.
• Evening finale: take your seat under the big top for the high-energy acrobatics and live percussion of Phare, the Cambodian Circus.