Cambodia in one week
A focused first visit with Angkor, town time and the capital.
Your route at a glance
A focused first visit with Angkor, town time and the capital. This plan counts 7 travel days and 6 nights. Arrival and departure are part of those days; nights are not the same as full sightseeing days.
- Siem Reap4 nights
- Phnom Penh2 nights
Overnight overview
| Nights | Base | Count | What the stay is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | Siem Reap | 4 | Siem Reap works best when Angkor is the centrepiece rather than a race through every temple. Give the town its own time: a good meal, a performance and a quiet afternoon make the early starts much easier. Four nights leave room for two different temple mornings and a day without a dawn alarm. |
| 5–6 | Phnom Penh | 2 | Phnom Penh deserves more than an airport night. The city brings royal architecture, museums and contemporary daily life together, but traffic and heat make a compact plan worthwhile. Keep the difficult historical visits separate from a packed sightseeing circuit, and choose a hotel around the area in which you expect to spend your evenings. |
Total: 6 nights. Day 7 is departure day. If your arrival is late or departure early, reduce the sightseeing list before removing the final buffer.
How to use each stay
1. Siem Reap · 4 nights
Siem Reap works best when Angkor is the centrepiece rather than a race through every temple. Give the town its own time: a good meal, a performance and a quiet afternoon make the early starts much easier. Four nights leave room for two different temple mornings and a day without a dawn alarm.
Angkor Wat and one complementary stop; breakfast, lunch and a proper afternoon break.
2. Phnom Penh · 2 nights
Phnom Penh deserves more than an airport night. The city brings royal architecture, museums and contemporary daily life together, but traffic and heat make a compact plan worthwhile. Keep the difficult historical visits separate from a packed sightseeing circuit, and choose a hotel around the area in which you expect to spend your evenings.
Palace area and National Museum, with a midday break and a short riverside outing.
Plan the transfer days
Use the complete journey: checkout, pickup, travel, waiting and the final hotel arrival. The destination guides provide indicative ranges; book against the current operator’s actual service. Do not add a paid activity immediately after a long transfer.
Compare the long road transfer between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh with an available flight by door-to-door time, not flight duration alone.
Adapt the route to your group
With only one week, leave the islands and northeast for another visit unless you remove a major part of this plan.
Koh Rong Sanloem can replace Koh Rong when its bay and accommodation suit you better; confirm the different pier and transfer. Kep can be visited from Kampot if you prefer fewer hotel moves.
Route questions
Do the nights add up?
6 nights are allocated across 7 travel days, including arrival and departure.
Can I reverse this route?
Yes, if flight and transport arrangements make sense. Preserve rest time and the mainland buffer around an island stay.
Do I have to book every activity?
Reserve essential rooms and transfers, then the few activities that anchor the visit. Keep weather-dependent outings flexible.
More Cambodia guides
Sources and last review
Reviewed 3 November 2026. The routes, visiting pace and transfer allowances are editorial suggestions. Use the named provider or authority for current access, prices and booking conditions.