If you’ve only got 7 days in Cambodia, you can still get to the major sights. In 7 days, you could travel to both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh and get a good feel for these destinations. This guide will cover stops such as Angkor Wat, the Tomb Raider Temple, Tuol Seng Prison Museum, The Killing Fields and lots of nightlife and great food. This itinerary starts in Siem Reap and finishes in Phnom Penh, but can also be done in the reverse order. Do you have more than 7 days in Cambodia? Check out my 14-day itinerary and 20-day itinerary.
Day 1- Siem Reap
Day one of this Cambodia itinerary is your arrival day in Siem Reap. If you’re coming overland from Thailand or Laos, the earliest you can expect to arrive is 5 pm. If you’re flying and arrive earlier than this, enjoy a free afternoon relaxing at the hostel pool or exploring and shopping in town around Pub Street. Once you’ve arrived make sure you sort out the essentials: get a SIM card, visit an ATM, book a sunrise tour of Angkor Wat and organise a breakfast box or buy some snacks for tomorrow.
For dinner, head to The Christa Restaurant for your first taste of Khmer food. Stay for one or two casual drinks if you like, but make sure you get an early night’s sleep before a pre-sunrise wakeup tomorrow!
Day 2- Siem Reap
Today is an incredibly early wakeup for an amazing bucket list experience: watching the sun rise over Angkor Wat. Your guide will first drop you off at the ticketing office (make sure you purchase a 2-day ticket) and then to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. Afterwards, you’ll take a 1-2 hour guided tour of Angkor Wat itself, before enjoying your breakfast box/snacks.
Spend the remainder of the morning touring temples and religious monuments such as Ta Phrohm (the Tomb Raider temple), Angkor Thom, Bayon Temple and Baphuon Temple. Return to your hostel for lunch and to avoid climbing the temples in the hottest part of the day.
In the afternoon, depending on your energy levels, you have two options. If you’re exhausted, treat yourself to an afternoon siesta or laze around by the hostel pool. If you have the energy, head out to Apopo to learn about the hero landmine detector rats. This will probably only take around 1-2 hours of your afternoon.
For dinner, head to Travancore for a hearty Indian feast. Line your stomach with plenty of rice and Naan, as tonight you’ll experience the best of Siem Reap nightlife: Pub Street. Start your night at Mad Monkey Hostel participating in their nightly event and enjoying their drink specials. As the hostel bar closes for the night, head to Pub Street with all your new friends to dance and play drinking games at Temple Skyline Lounge.
Day 3- Siem Reap
After what may or may not have been a late night, you have the morning at your leisure. If you’re feeling a bit rough, enjoy a sleep-in or morning swim in the hostel pool to wake up. If you feel lively and didn’t make it to Apopo yesterday, the morning is a great time to visit.
Grab a quick lunch at your hostel before heading back to the Angkor Wat Complex to explore more temples. Spend the later afternoon hours visiting Nokor Thum, Banteay Srei, Sra Srang and Pasat Kravan. For sunset, head to either Angkor Wat or Sra Srang to experience a sunset over the temples.
For dinner, hop in a Tuk Tuk bound for Road 60 market. This is a local night market with hardly any tourists, selling authentic Cambodian street food. Grab dinner here, then head to the local fair on this road. Here you can play games such as bumper cars and shooting games. Afterwards, head back to the city centre. If you fancy another night out, head to Pub Street, just be aware tomorrow is a bumpy journey to Phnom Penh.
Day 4- Siem Reap to Phnom Penh
Wake up at any time (sleep in if you wish) and grab a leisurely breakfast at your hostel. Whenever you’re ready, book a shared van transfer heading to the next destination: the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.
The journey will take around 6 hours with one food/bathroom stop. Pre-warning, the journey is pretty sweaty and bumpy so better not to be deathly hungover. Ideally, the best time to get this transfer is at around 11-12, so you arrive in Phnom Penh around dinner time.
Once you arrive in Phnom Penh, head to Bassac Lane for dinner and drinks. Highly recommend Backstreet Bar for its amazing pizzas and great vibes. Enjoy bar hopping along Bassac Lane, but make sure you get an early night before a big (and sombre) day tomorrow, that it will be best not to be hungover for.
Day 5- Phnom Penh
Grab a quick breakfast at your hostel, before a big day learning about Cambodia’s tragic history of genocide and the Khmer Rouge Regime. After breakfast, head to your first stop Tuol Seng Prison (also called S21 Prison). Spend the morning listening to the audio guide tour detailing the history and stories of those who lived and died in this prison. You will be here for roughly 2-3 hours.
After you’ve finished your visit to the Tuol Seng Prison, grab a quick lunch at Siso Bakery (less than a 5-minute walk from the prison museum). Afterwards, grab a Tuk Tuk and head towards The Killing Fields (also called Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre). Here, you’ll spend the remainder of the afternoon listening to the audioguide detailing the tragedies that occurred here. This should take around 2 hours.
Next, make your way back to Phnom Penh City centre and treat yourself to a good dinner after what is a very heavy day. Sample any one of the restaurants on Bassac Lane (I recommend Elia Greek Restaurant). After dinner, enjoy a drink or two on Bassac Lane, if you feel up to it. Then, get an early night before a big day of sightseeing tomorrow.
Day 6- Phnom Penh
Wake up early for a morning of shopping at the Russian Markets. It’s best to get here as early as possible (between 7 am and 9 am is recommended) to avoid the heat. Spend this period shopping for and trying on designer brands for a fraction of the price. Once you’ve shopped enough to run out of room in your luggage, drop your clothes back at your hostel and head for brunch. The best brunch spot in Backyard Cafe!
After a busy morning of shopping and brunching, head to the National Museum to learn more about Cambodia’s history (not as heavy as yesterday I promise). After spending an hour or two exploring the exhibits, walk to the nearby Royal Palace. Make sure you enter the Royal Palace before 3:30 pm as they close early. You should only spend an hour or so in the Royal Palace complex.
In the late afternoon, walk through Riverside Park along the riverbank to Wat Phnom Penh. Explore this famous temple, which the city of Phnom Penh is named after. You should spend around 45 minutes exploring Wat Phnom Penh, and then make your way back to Bassac Lane for dinner.
After dinner, head to Mad Monkey Hostel to participate in their nightly events like trivia, beer pong competition or a pub crawl. After you’ve made friends and taken advantage of the drink specials, head to Club Love for a late night of dancing.
Day 7- Phnom Penh
This last day in Cambodia is at your leisure, depending on where you’re going next and what time you’re departing. Many backpackers head to Vietnam, which is an early morning bus to get across the border.
If you have the day, spend it shopping again at the Russian Markets, brunching at Backyard Cafe or chilling at one of the many pools at Onederz Hostel.
Did you find this blog post helpful? Want to see more travel tips and recommendations? Join me on Tik Tok and Instagram for daily travel content!
This blog is a free and independent source of information for all things travel and backpacking. If you benefitted from the information on this blog, please consider using the affiliate links to book hostels/activities etc. This will be at no extra cost to you but helps subsidise the cost of running a free travel blog.
