Full Itinerary

Day 1: UK Airport / Siem Reap

Depart on a choice of overnight flights to Siem Reap. The holiday price is based on flights from Heathrow but you can also fly from regional airports for an applicable supplement. We will offer a choice of quotes.

Day 2: Arrive Siem Reap - Evening Welcome Cocktails

On arrival you’ll be met and transferred to the city centre where you check in to Aviary Hotel for 3 nights. Afternoon free to recover from the journey or add an afternoon tour, then early this evening as the sun sets you're invited for cocktails with your guide and fellow travellers on the hotel's rooftop bar. This evening you might like to visit the circus (no animals) that performs nightly in a big top in the centre of Siem Reap. Organised by the NGO Phare it aims to assist poor and handicapped children gain education and livelihoods. The circus mixes traditional acts with theatre, music, dance and acrobatics. More than a show, it's a joyful celebration of Cambodian culture. Tickets can be added on any night.

Day 3: Siem Reap - Angkor Temples Highlights Tour (B / L)

This morning your guide will pick you up for a tour of the iconic Angkor Archaeological Park. Start off at Angkor Thom, the last great capital of the Khmer Empire. Highlights include the magnificent Bayon, one of the most recognisable sites because of the 54 towers adorned with 216 enigmatically smiling stone faces, the Terrace of Elephants, a giant viewing stand for public ceremonies and the Terrace of Leper Kings, whose walls boast beautifully carved nagas, demons and other mythological beings. In the low morning sun the carvings really stand out and as you stand on the Terrace of Elephants you get a great view across a parkland scene interspersed with giant trees protected in the National Park.

Then move onto the temple of Ta Phrom, jungle covered and pretty much left as originally found by European explorers to create a mystical atmosphere.

Back to Siem Reap (15 minutes away) for lunch in a beautiful local restaurant and a rest in the hot midday. This afternoon return to explore Angkor Wat, the most famous and best preserved of all the Angkor temples. You’ll have time for a thorough exploration before climbing to the top of Pre Rup temple to watch the sunsetover the jungle. Back to the hotel by early evening. 

Day 4: Siem Reap - Full Day Khmer Community Village & Tonle Sap Lake (B / L)

Today is a day of wonderful interactions with some of Asia’s warmest people, the local Khmer communities. Begin at the CMAC museum to learn about the legacy of civil war and how it affected the lives of millions, as well as an insight into life after the war. Next, a visit to meet some local families who earn a living by growing vegetables, raising chickens & ducks as well as making bamboo sticky rice.

Enjoy a simple Khmer style lunch at the community before walking to a local fish farm and an ancient pagoda where you will witness a traditional monks blessing.

This afternoon jump on a boat to Kompong Khleang, a village built high on stilts in Tonle Sap Lake. Discover this fascinating village that is home to approximately 6,000 people who earn their living mainly through fishing. These stilted villages are flooded for around half the year, you will explore the local community and mangrove forests that are the main building block of this valuable ecosystem that supports a variety of wildlife. Back in Siem Reap late afternoon. Evening free.

Would you prefer an alternative day tour in Siem Reap?

Day 5: Siem Reap - Overland to Battambang - Silk Farm & Bamboo Railway (B / L)

This morning you start to explore Cambodia's rich rural heart with a 2 hour drive to Battambang, famous for its French colonial architecture, rural scenes and the rubies and garnets mined in this province. En route stop at Pouk Silk Farm where you'll be taken through the fascinating silk production and weaving process that starts with the cultivation of mulberry trees in which the silkworm thrives right through to the hand weaving of beautifully delicate silk fabrics.

Continue onto Battambang for lunch in a local restaurant and check-in to the Bambu Hotel for 2 nights.

This afternoon hop aboard the Bamboo Train, a local institution. The train consist of a bamboo-covered platform and two detached axles with wheels. It runs on regular tracks and is powered with old engines. When meeting traffic in the opposite direction, passengers of the cart with fewer passengers are expected to lift the platform, engine and axles of their cart off the tracks to let the other cart pass.

Early evening, you’ll enjoy a short walking tour in Battambang Town to see some colonial buildings including local market, houses and former provincial hall, plus the many art galleries and restaurants that are springing up. Evening free to explore this small French colonial town.

Day 6: Battambang - Morning Tour of Town & Beautiful Countryside (B / L)

After breakfast, you will spend your day exploring the beautiful countryside around Battambang by bicycle (flat and quiet roads). Visit rural Cambodian families who produce traditional products (such as rice paper, dried bananas, and bamboo sticky rice) made in the same way they have been for generations. Taste and experience the pleasures of these products fresh off the fire. Finish your morning tour by visiting a memorial site for the victims of the Khmer Rouge.

Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before taking a break at your hotel.

Battambang thrives at the centre of the Cambodia art scene. The afternoon starts with a visit to a local art gallery where you meet Mr. Bandual Srey and renowned local artist who co-founded the Phare Ponleu Selpak Arts Center in 1994. He will share his personal story and how art in tandem with education in Cambodia has developed. The afternoon ends at Phnom Sampeau, a natural rock formation containing a series of caves that were a stronghold of the Khmer Rouge. As dusk approaches watch millions of bats as they leave to feed in the surrounding countryside. Back at hotel early evening.

Day 7: Battambang - Udong - Koh Chen - Phnom Penh (B / L)

This morning head onwards to Phnom Penh (5 hours). Along the way stop at Udong, Cambodia’s Capital between the 17th and 19th centuries and Koh Chen Village where most of the local residents make their living by making copper/silver wares. Lunch will be en route in a local restaurant. On arrival check in to the Baitong Hotel & Resort for 2 nights. Evening free.

Phnom Penh is a traditional Far East city, full of energy and still tatty around the edges. A great place to start in the early evening is to take a tuk tuk to the riverside promenade. As you walk along the Mekong look across to the French colonial buildings that are interspersed with the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and National Museum. Evening is the time everyone congregates along the wide promenade with impromptu aerobics, football matches and time to catch up with friends. There are plenty of restaurants and bars along the way.

Day 8: Phnom Penh - Private City Tour with Killing Field (B / L)

After breakfast your guide will pick you up for a half day city tour of the fascinating Khmer Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. After lunch in a local restaurant you visit the sobering and poignant Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a testament to Cambodia’s bloody past.  Then you can explore the colourful stalls of the vast Central Market. The tour ends at the Choeung Ek Killing Fields just outside the city. This is now a Buddhist memorial park that has been constructed around the mass graves of the thousands of victims. Dozens of mass graves are visible above ground, several which have not yet been excavated. The field is marked by a Buddhist stupa that has glass walls and is filled with over 5,000 skulls. You’ll be back at the hotel by the late afternoon.

Would you prefer an alternative day tour in Phnom Penh?

  Day 9: Phnom Penh (B) / UK Airport

Morning free then airport transfer and overnight flight home that arrives the following morning.

Alternatively why not extend your holiday, perhaps adding a few nights on the beach, an eco-adventure in the Cardamom Hills or an overland tour to Saigon through the Mekong Delta.

Inclusions

What's Included

This specially selected small group (maximum 13 people) Cambodia tour pulls together the touring highlights of this beautiful country and offers the flexibility to add extra destinations and excursions tailored to you.

Our small group tours are designed for those who want to enjoy the financial and social benefits of travelling with others combined with the freedom of flexibility of a private tailor made holiday.

Tour Inclusions

• Maximum of 12 people in each group
• Full ATOL Protection
• Scheduled international flights from Heathrow (other airports available)
• English speaking, local guide & driver
• 7 nights central  boutique medium class hotel accommodation
• Transport in private air-conditioned vehicle
• Admission fees to all attractions, temples and activities as mentioned in the itinerary
• 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches & 1 dinner - as detailed (B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner)
• Emergency contacts in Cambodia and UK throughout stay
• Flexibility to add extra destinations and excursions

Comprehensive Package of Excursions Included:

• Angkor Temples Highlights Day Tour with lunch
• Full day Community Village & Tonle Sap Lake tour with lunch
• 3 day overland tour from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh including Battambang tours with lunch
• Phnom Penh City Tour with Killing Field. Lunch included

General Exclusions:

• Optional Tours / Excursions
• Optional additional destinations
• Any meals not listed in the itinerary
• Drinks
• Personal expenses
• Tips for Guides / Drivers (discretionary)
• Travel insurance

Where You'll Stay

 Hotels

The hotels below are there as examples, designed to act as a starting point from which to create your holiday. There are plenty of alternatives to choose from and when we quote we will include other suggestions so we get to understand your likes and dislikes. Quite often clients mix and match hotel categories throughout their holiday.

Cambodia

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