The Ultimate Angkor Wat Guide - Everything You Need To Know About Visiting Angkor Wat

Last Updated on 3rd January 2023

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Angkor Wat is undoubtedly the most famous and popular thing to do in Cambodia, but did you know there are actually many other temples within the complex to discover and explore too?

While the exact number isn’t quite known, the Angkor Archaeological Park encompasses a whopping 400 square kilometres and is home to some of the most incredible ancient monuments in the world.

Many people mistake Angkor Wat for being one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but it just missed out on a spot on one of the most coveted lists in the world.

That doesn’t mean Angkor Wat isn’t impressive though, quite the contrary – it’s one of the most mind-blowing and remarkable architectural structures I’ve ever seen!

If you’re planning a trip to Cambodia any time soon, make sure you carve out some time in your travel itinerary to visit Siem Reap and all its glorious temples. Here’s my ultimate Angkor Wat guide to visiting all the temples including Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Ta Keo and Bayon at Angkor Thom!

Visiting the Angkor Wat Temples – what you need to know

There are many ways you can book a trip to Angkor Wat.

Many people choose to hire bicycles and make their own way there as it’s supposedly a very pleasant ride, or you can opt for a tour with an expert tour guide (like we did). Or you can simply ask a tuk tuk driver to take you around the temples for the day and you’ll negotiate the price depending on what you want to do and how much you’re willing to pay.

We booked our Angkor Wat tour at our hostel in Siem Reap and I think we paid $13 each for a sunrise guided tour, complete with transport to and from our hostel, a tour guide and drinking water throughout the day.

When we visited Angkor Wat, it was at the start of the dreaded Coronavirus outbreak at the beginning of January 2020 and our tour guide said he hadn’t seen the Angkor Wat complex that quiet in years.

This was obviously great for us as it meant everywhere was relatively quiet compared to usual, but it was awful to see the tourism industry beginning to suffer as a vast majority of the tourists are usually Chinese and with lockdowns on flights and quarantines, it meant that there were barely any Chinese tourists there.

Ticket prices

Tickets to the Angkor Wat temples complex can be purchased from 4:30 am to 5:30 pm every day. There are three different ticket types to choose from depending on how long you want to spend at the temples and how much you want to see.

We only got the 1-day pass and I think that was enough for us. We saw four different temples and by the end of the day, I felt that I’d more than had my fill of temples. However, if you plan to visit more, then the 3 or 7-day passes are probably worth the money, providing that you’ll be going to see a lot more temples.

1-day pass: $37USD (£28.50)
3-day pass: $62USD (£47.90)
7-day pass: $72USD (£55.60)

Dress code

As far as I could tell, the dress code and etiquette at Angkor Wat weren’t quite as strict as some other temples we’ve been to in Southeast Asia. However, I would still recommend dressing modestly and having your knees and shoulders covered as some parts of the temples won’t allow you inside if you’re dressed inappropriately.

It’s also worth noting that if you go to Angkor Wat in time for sunrise, it can be pretty chilly at 5 am so it’s probably a good idea to have a jacket or shawl to wrap up in and cover yourself if you have your knees or shoulders out.

Heat and humidity

Despite it being cold in the morning, as soon as the sun rises, it very quickly begins to get warm and by the time midday rolls around, temperatures can get very high.

There’s not an awful lot of shade at most of the temples so it does get very warm. I’d recommend bringing plenty of water and sunscreen to protect yourself throughout the day.

Angkor Wat

Fun facts about Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world.
It was built and developed continuously between the 12th and 15th centuries.
It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple by the Khmer King Suryavarman II and he used it as his estate and home.
It was originally dedicated to the god Vishu for the Khmer Empire, however, in the late 12th century, it was converted to a Buddhism temple.
It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.
The famous Ta Prohm temple at Angkor was used for filming the popular Angelina Jolie movie, Tomb Raider.

Angkor Wat is, of course, the largest and most famous temple within the complex and for good reason; it’s very bloody impressive!

The whole temple is remarkable to see and there are so many little parts of it to discover.

Visits to Angkor Wat are often scheduled for sunrise as it’s supposedly the best time of day to see it.

We did in fact make it to the temple in time for sunrise; here’s what you can expect.

Angkor Wat at sunrise

In order to see Angkor Wat at sunrise, you’ll have to get up extraordinarily early (I mean literally 4 am). Our tour guide picked us up from our hostel at 4:30 am and we’d barely even opened our eyes before we were ushered onto the bus to take us on the short journey to the temple.

The ticket office is located just before the grounds of Angkor Wat so if you plan on going by yourself, make sure you’re aware of that!

Arriving at Angkor Wat just before 5:30 am, everything was still in complete darkness for another 40 minutes or so (I’d recommend having a torch or at least your phone light as it really is incredibly dark).

It seemed crazy to get there that early when there was still no sign of the sun appearing but we soon discovered that swarms of tourists start arriving shortly after so it really is better to be there as early as possible.

In order to get a good view of the sunrise, most people sit on the edge of the small lake in front of the temple. We did this as we were told by our tour guide that this was the best place to be, but it was incredibly muddy and crowded. I still think it’s a great place to base yourself, but if you veer off to the left slightly, you can still see the temple very clearly, as well as the sun in the background.

I took so many pictures of the temple as the sun was rising as the sky was constantly changing colour and it looked so magical.

While I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s the best sunrise I’ve ever seen, I still think it’s worth getting up at an ungodly hour to watch the temple come to life!

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm was actually my favourite temple of the day. This is the one that was used in the Tomb Raider movie and even though I’ve never actually seen the film, I can certainly vouch for how cool this particular temple is.

Throughout the parts of the temple, there are trees that are growing right through the stones, all the way down to their roots!

I’ve truly never seen anything like it before and it’s hard to believe that it’s completely natural.

Our tour guide also commented on how quiet it was at Ta Prohm due to the Coronavirus and while I’ve never been when it’s busy, I couldn’t believe how few people were actually there; we practically had it to ourselves!

However, I had heard from other travellers that this is usually the busiest of all the temples and you can often be queuing just to walk around it, so I feel particularly lucky that we saw it when it was so quiet (despite the awful circumstances of the Coronavirus).

I could have quite happily wandered around and explored Ta Prohm all day as it’s so fascinating but it was time to move on to our next temple of the day – Ta Keo.

Ta Keo

Ta Keo was probably the most exhausting temple we visited and that’s largely due to the many steep stairs that you have to climb up in order to reach the top.

While they don’t look too bad from the pictures, they were some of the steepest stairs I’ve climbed and they’re really precarious so remember to take extra care when going up and down.

Ta Prohm is such a cool temple and I’d highly recommend adding it to your Angkor Wat temple itinerary if you get the chance.

Bayon (Angkor Thom)

The Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom is yet another one of the most famous and popular temples in Siem Reap thanks to being renowned as the “many faces” temple.

There are over 200 “faces” carved into the stone and while they do look slightly creepy, it’s almost very impressive considering how old the temples are. If you look hard enough, you can just about see some of the faces in the pictures above!

I hope you’ve found this ultimate Angkor Wat guide useful and that it’ll help when planning your trip to Siem Reap and the temples!

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