The Temples of Angkor – the 20 Must See Sights, Remote Temples, Maps & More

Siem Reap’s Angkor Archaeological Park, home to Angkor Wat, is a massive area covering some 400 square kilometres, packed with hundreds of spectacular ancient temples, monuments, and infrastructure dating back to the 9th century. The area houses what was once the capital of the great Khmer Empire and the largest pre-industrial city in the world supporting near to one million people in its heyday.

In this guide, we will introduce, the temples you must not miss, the best routes to take, useable maps to self-guide your way, and tips on transport, tickets, some quick facts, and more.

Quick Facts

The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara (नगर), meaning “city”
The most famous and well-known temple in the Angkor Archaeological Park is Angkor Wat, built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II (reigned 1113–c. 1150).
The park features the remains of the various capitals of the Khmer Empire, dating from the 9th to the 15th century along with pre-Angkorian era temples
The Angkor era began in 802 AD, it was preceded by the Chenla and Funan eras.
Angkor, in reference to the entire 400sqkm area and all the temples, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992
On the 28 May 1994 the area became protected by Royal Decree on the Zoning of the Region of Siem Reap/Angkor and on 25 January 1996, the Royal Decree on the creation of the APSARA National Authority (Authority for the protection of the site and the management of the Angkor Region)
More than temples, the park includes massive ‘barays’ (reservoirs), dikes, and canals which are examples of amazing hydraulic engineering for the time all created to support the city and its inhabitants
In its heyday, 150,000 people were involved in supporting the operation of Angkor Wat Temple alone while the ancient city supported 750,000 or more residents
Currently, the 400 sq. km within the Angkor Archeological Park area is still home to 140,000 people across 113 villages
Scenes for Tomb Raider were filmed here, along with Mood for Love, Two Brothers, and Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon.
Whilst not the first outsider to re-discover the temples, French naturalist Henri Mouhot brought them to the attention and amazement of the world in 1860.
The area and its temples today continue to be managed by APSARA National Authority

The Central Must-See Temples of Angkor

The must-see sights are located within the central area of Angkor Archeological Park which is located some 7km from the Siem Reap city center. The map below highlights the must-see temple sites in this area. The green line highlights the “Small Circuit”, while the red line highlights the “Grand Circuit”, more on those further below under Angkor Tour Circuits.

Note: 1 to 14 = Small Circuit (green line) and 15 to 21 = Grand Circuit (red line). If time is limited, the Small Circuit features the absolute highlights of the area. If time is very limited, then my suggestions for the absolute must-see sights are Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple, and Ta Phrom Temple.

Highlights of the Outlying Temples of Angkor

While they are less popular than Angkor Wat, these temples and sites are very worthy additions to your trip plan. They are all easy to reach by good roads and many offer truly unique experiences, combining the beautiful countryside and village life. Highlights are listed below and see here for a map and list of all the sites in Siem Reap Province.

Roluos Group (Bakong, Lolei, Preah Ko, Prei Monti)
Banteay Srei
Kbal Spean (River of 1,000 Lingas)
Beng Mealea
Banteay Samre
Phnom Bok
Phnom Kraom
Chau Srei Vibol
Prasat Athvear
Phnom Kulen inc, Preah Ang Thom (reclining Buddha), Domrei Krab, Prasat Neak Ta, and Sra Damrei (note: Phnom Kulen National Park requires an additional entry fee)

Temple Open Times

As of September 2024, opening hours have been updated

Angkor Wat: changes from 5.00 am – 5.30 pm, to 5.00 am – 6.00 pm
Pre Rup, Phnom Bakheng and Phnom Krom: hours change from 7.00 am – 7.00 pm, to 6.00 am – 7.00 pm
Other temples: hours change from 7.00 am – 5.30 pm to 6.00 am – 6.30 pm
Last entry to Kbal Spean is at 3:00 pm (due to the length of the trail and the time it takes to get back)

It’s noted that these hours may adjust seasonally according to the length of daylight hours.

Angkor Tour Circuits and Planning your Visit

Planning your visit and what temples to see will depend on several factors including which temple ticket you buy (1, 3, or 7 day), mode of transport, weather, and level of interest.

The benefit of choosing a private car as the mode of transport is the speed at which you can get from one site to the next especially on the grand circuit and to the remote temples. Another benefit is the respite offered by A/C which gives you enough break from the heat or rain to go on for a full day. That said, don’t miss the character and experience of a tuk-tuk and with that in mind, an option may be to complete the small circuit by tuk-tuk and the grand circuit and remote temples by car.

If you have only one day, then I suggest a private car or tuk-tuk as the mode of transport and the route to be the Small Circuit while focusing most of your time on Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Phrom.

For a three day ticket, you will have time to complete the Small Circuit, the Grand Circuit, and a choice of one or two remote temples if traveling by car. If traveling by bike, you should be able to complete the Small and Grand Circuit over three days.

For a seven-day ticket, you have much more freedom to explore each temple site in greater detail and cover all the main temples on the Small Circuit, Grand Circuit, and the remote temples even including Koh Ker.

There are multiple ways to navigate the sites all depending on your time and interest. You are free to mix and match any way you like.

The suggested routes for Angkor Wat and the central temple area

Small Circuit – covers the main concentration central temples including Angkor Wat etc.
Grand Circuit – covers the central temples expanding out around Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.

The Remote Temples of Siem Reap Province

There are innumerable ways to mix and match the remote temples which are all best visited by car if planning to visit more than one site on a single trip. Here are some examples of popular routes

Banteay Srei and Kbal Spean
Beng Mealea and Koh Ker or Beng Mealea and Phnom Kulen
Roluos Group (Bakong) and Kampong Pluk (floating village)
Phnom Krom and Chong Khneas (floating village)

If you are really up for some adventure, there are hundreds of smaller remote temples and archaeological ruins to explore see our full map of the sites we’ve covered in Siem Reap Province.

Toilets at Angkor

There are public toilets in the park but they are not everywhere and you should take your own tissue. Locations

inside Angkor Wat on the southeastern side
before Angkor Thom south gate on the right-hand side
inside Angkor Thom near Preah Pithu
opposite the entrance to Neak Pean
before the eastern and western entrances of Ta Prohm
Sra Srang Village
opposite the entry to Pre-Rup
near the entry to Ta Som

Money

There are no ATMs in the park and souvenir stalls, drink stalls, and restaurants of course only accept cash. Taking enough money in the local Reil works fine otherwise I suggest taking at least a few dollars in local currency for tips, and for other things take 1, 5, and 10 US dollar notes. Most stalls will struggle to change a $20 dollar bill.

Food inside Angkor

Like any gated tourist attraction, expect to pay more for drinks and food, but regardless it’s still acceptable. A lunch meal could range from $3-6 at a Khmer-style stall and bottled water usually 50 cents or so. Meals are usually Khmer-western style and some stalls have printed English menus.

There are modern cafes and Khmer/Western food restaurants clustered around the entry to Angkor Wat, and they are fine and reasonably priced. They have English menus, western style dishes like common comfort foods and you can find vegetarian also. Fresh coffee is easy to find.

There is a row of nice sit-down restaurants that look out over the water of Srah Srang which is a quite nice location for lunch.

Sunrise and Sunsets

For sunrise, these spots are all open early

For sunset, these sites are open late

With the new opening hours (see further above), it is possible to see the sunset at Angkor Wat, either from the eastern side watching the sun fall over the temple or outside the temple and from the northeast corner of the moat for example.

Transport to and around the Temples

You have several choices including tuk-tuk, private car, bike, scooter, and an electric scooter.

Tuk Tuk

The most popular means is to hire a tuk-tuk and driver for a full day’s travel around the temples or multiple days. Expect to pay around $15-25 per day depending on what you negotiate and what you’d like to see. You can book with the Grab or Pass App easily.

Private Car

A private car will cost a little more at around $35 for a full day in an air-conditioned mini-van or SUV inc. driver and fuel. In both of the above cases, you can negotiate your plans with the driver depending on whether you are doing one day or multi-day, and most drivers are very knowledgeable and will help you plan the best itinerary according to your schedule. You can book with the Grab or Pass App easily.

Electric Scooter

If you like to go your own way, you are welcome to do so, hire an electric scooter for between $8-15 from various places in Siem Reap for example Green e-bike which has recharging stations throughout the park, Popel Station is another. Most of the modern eBikes can easily travel from the city, around the temples and back on one charge.

Bicycle

You can also hire a bicycle and ride around the temples, but do be mindful of the heat factor and that distances between temples are longer than most people think, especially on the Grand Circuit. Just walking around the temples themselves in the heat of the days here can exhaust most people. Be mindful that you’ll lose a lot of time traveling between temples.

But, regardless, many people do it, just plan appropriately. Bike rentals are also ubiquitous throughout the Siem Reap city area costing only a couple of dollars a day.

Angkor Thom is very suitable for biking with large tall trees shading the way and sealed roads. You may like to break it up by visiting Angkor Wat and then doing Angkor Thom by bike and the rest by car/tuk-tuk, just depends on how much time you have and how energetic you are.

As of mid-2020, there is also a 23km bike trail through the forest areas of the park.

The Angkor Pass

The Angkor Pass is your entry ticket to the temples and you can buy a one-day ($37), three-day ($62), or seven-day ticket ($72). The three-day and seven-day tickets do not have to be used consecutively as the three-day ticket is valid for 10 days and the seven-day ticket is valid for one month.

Tickets can only be purchased from the Angkor Archaeological Park Ticket Centre at the corner of Road 60 and Aspara Road, or, online at angkorenterprise.gov.kh.

Keep in mind, you can also buy your tickets after 4.45 pm at the ticket office and have free entry on that night and access all the next day. With that in mind, you can catch a sunset that night, and then of course back the next day for a full day of temple exploring. I suggest getting to the ticket office at 4.30 pm so you can get up the front of the line and get away as early as possible to find a great sunset-watching spot.

Visitor Code of Conduct

It’s worth remembering that Angkor is a very sacred site, not only in the hearts of Khmer but also for many Hindus and Buddhists who make pilgrimages here. As a basic guide:

Dress respectfully – No shorts and skirts above the knee, no bare shoulders.
Show care – no sitting, leaning, or placing objects on the temple structures.
No drones – this year they also restricted 360 cameras and gimbal cameras inside the temple areas

Official Temple Guides

Whilst drivers can give you a lot of insight into the local culture, and navigate you around the temples, they cannot actually go into the temples with you and be your guide. For that, you need to hire a licensed guide.

Only guides licensed by the Ministry of Tourism can guide people through the temple. They must study history and knowledge of the temples before passing an exam to receive their license. They are easy to spot as they all wear khaki-colored shirts with an official logo sewn on. These guides can be arranged through tour agencies which are numerous in the Siem Reap city area.

The official temple guides can provide you with deep insight into the history, the significance of certain places, the culture, and the best spots to see.

Apsara Authority

The temples of Siem Reap are spread out over a massive area which all comes under the banner of Angkor Archaeological Park which in turn is managed by the Apsara Authority.

Historically, the busiest months for ticket sales are November through to March with the busiest month being December and the slowest month being June.

In 2016 there was a total of 2.19 million visitors generating some 62 million USD
2017 there was a total of 2.18 million visitors generating 95 million USD (due to increased ticket prices)
2018 tickets sales reached 2.5 million earning 116 million USD
2019 saw 2.2 million visitors earning 99 million USD
2020 as Covid struck, numbers dropped to 400,889 earning 18.6 million USD in ticket sales
2021 saw 12,873 international visitors and 528,121 USD in ticket sales
2022 saw 287,454 international visitors and sales of 11.15 million USD
2023 saw numbers rise to 800,000 and sales of 37 million USD

Angkor Temple List & Chronology

Whilst all the major sites that a visitor to the area would get the most value from are all listed above, here is a list of temples and historic sites related to the ancient city of Angkor. It includes those inside Angkor Archeological Park and notable sites across Siem Reap province yet, is far from being complete. The year stated is the known or estimated completion date, otherwise, the best approximate, or the time period of the reign of the king is used, or it’s omitted.

Beyond Siem Reap – From the city of Angkor to exploring the Khmer Empire

In its heyday, the Khmer Empire encompassed parts of what has now become Thailand, Laos, and even Vietnam, all governed from Angkor.

The empire was serviced by over 1000km of raised earthen roads supplemented by infrastructure including masonry bridges, ‘resthouse’ temples, and water tanks. Many bridges are still standing and some were still in use until recent years. Some of the ancient resthouses can still be found also.

Other major ancient sites in Cambodia include

Beyond these major notable sites, there are a staggering 6-7,000 listed ancient sites from the early Funan, Chenla, and later Angkorian era spread across Cambodia, and present-day Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Many are small, ruinous, and cannot compare to what is found in the central area of Angkor, although, they offer a fantastic insight into the expanse of the ancient Khmer empire.

Explore Temples in all the Provinces