Cambodia Highlights Tour
Cambodia is so much more than just temples. From the bustling capital with it’s tree-lined boulevards, to visiting the amazing 4 Rivers Ecolodge and eating pepper crab on a deserted beach, the truth is that with this itinerary we can guarantee you’ll love the temples, but we can’t guarantee they’ll be the highlight of your trip! Enjoy the new Phnom Penh nightlife, be amazed by the temples of Angkor Wat, soak up the beauty of the amazing national parks and relax with the locals on white sand beaches. This tour will take you beyond the tourist drags so you can get a true sense of this incredible country.
Day 1 Phnom Penh - Arrival
Arrive on your flight.
Arrive in Phnom Penh where you will be met by an air conditioned car and driver. Transfer to your hotel for check in.
Spend the afternoon at your leisure.
Meals Included: None
Overnight at FCC The Quay Hotel - Panoramic Suite Room
Day 2 Phnom Penh - City Tour
This morning take a tour of the Royal Palace, still the royal residence. See the amazing royal collection and the beautiful architecture before heading to the National Museum where pre-Angkorean pieces, as well as special pieces from the temples are housed. Take a tour of the museum with a trained museum guide.
Enjoy lunch at Friends, a restaurant benefiting at-risk street children.
After lunch your guide will take you to central market, reported to be the biggest domed market in the world, and to the famous Russian Market where everything from souvenirs to car parts is on sale. Enjoy a shopping spree or just browse along with the locals out doing their shopping.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at FCC The Quay Hotel - Panoramic Suite Room
Day 3 Phnom Penh - The Killing Fields
Head to the Tuol Sleng Prison Museum where your guide will explain the history of the Khmer Rouge and walk you through the different museum displays. After watching the movie they show every day, head out to the Killing Fields, where a memorial stupa and shallow pits remind visitors of the thousands killed under the Pol Pot Regime.
Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant. On the way back stop at a local organization that takes at-risk and orphaned children and provides them with education and dance training, sit in on a traditional dance class and be amazed at the grace and persistence of these students.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at FCC The Quay Hotel - Panoramic Suite Room
Day 4 Siem Reap - Arrival
You will be taken to the airport in time to catch your onward flight.
You will be met by a Journeys Within representative and taken to Journeys Within Boutique Hotel.
Spend the afternoon relaxing in the garden, cool off in the swimming pool or if you have the energy, take a trip down town and walk around the local market.
Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight at Journeys Within Boutique Hotel
Day 5 Siem Reap - Angkor Wat
This morning head to Angkor Wat in an air-conditioned car, or if you choose by bike, with your guide. Explore this majestic temple throughout the morning while it is still cool and has fewer tourists. Return to Journeys Within for lunch and a nap or refresh with a swim. In the afternoon head to Angkor Thom, the famous walled city and see the many temples within its borders, including the fascinating Bayon temple with its many magnificent faces smiling out. There are several beautiful spots from which to watch the sunset. Discuss with your guide where you would like to be and then relax and enjoy a memorable end to your day at the temples.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Journeys Within Boutique Hotel
Day 6 Siem Reap - Banteay Srei & Other Temples
This morning set off with your guide to Banteay Srei, the intricately carved temple just 30 km beyond Angkor Wat. Then head back to the local temples where you will visit Banteay Kdei and Ta Prohm, two of the prettiest temples in the complex.
Visit one of Journeys Within Our Community’s (JWOC’s) free schools to help in an English class. JWOC offers a wide variety of free classes to students who have the desire to learn, but lack the financial means to do so. Our English program for children and adults welcomes the participation of native English speaking volunteers who play an extremely useful role assisting the teachers with speaking activities, providing a model for students who often have limited opportunity to hear and speak English in their everyday lives. No experience is necessary – your ability to speak English is the only qualification you need to help. You will arrive at least 10 minutes before the class starts to meet the teacher and find out what you will be doing.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Journeys Within Boutique Hotel
Day 7 Siem Reap - Beng Mealea, Rolous Group and Market
Enjoy breakfast at Journeys Within before leaving the crowds behind and heading to Beng Mealea, a temple only recently opened to the public; about one and a half hours drive from Journeys Within. After an hour you will leave the paved road and get onto a beaten track running through rice fields and villages of rural Cambodia. At the temple our guide will help you imagine how it once was as you pick your way through the rubble now surrounded by jungle.
Visit the Rolous Group, a group of Angkorean temples 15 minutes outside of Siem Reap in a beautiful area. Take a walk around the Old Market where the locals and tourists shop side by side. Then pay a visit to Artisans de Angkor to see their workshop in town. Here you will be taken on a short tour to see the students learning the skills needed to produce works of art in a variety of different materials before visiting their beautifully displayed shop.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Journeys Within Boutique Hotel
Day 8 Siem Reap - Kayaking
Experience a unique Journeys Within day kayaking on the Tonle Sap. You will set out with the rest of the group around 8am and drive for about an hour before boarding a boat for a 40 minute ride to one of the lake villages. Here the homes are built on stilts because, while in the dry season the surrounding area is dry, in the rainy season it is flooded and so they rise above the water level. You will arrive at the local home that stores our canoes and after a short safety briefing head off with your guide who will lead you thru waterways, flooded forests and out into the Tonle Sap lake where you can take a dip if you wish. Then back to wind thru the village experiencing how the locals live in this watery environment before returning to the home for lunch and a leisurely boat and car ride back to town.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Journeys Within Boutique Hotel
Day 9 Phnom Penh - Koh Kong
Transfer to the airport in time to catch your flight.
Arrive in Phnom Penh where you will be met by an air conditioned car and driver.
Your driver will meet you at your hotel and will drive you to Koh Kong. Evening at leasure.
Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight at 4 Rivers Floating Eco-Lodge
Day 10 - 11 Koh Kong - Day at Leisure
Have a free day to explore on your own.
Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight at 4 Rivers Floating Eco-Lodge
Day 12 Koh Kong - Kep
Your driver will meet you at your hotel and will drive you to Kep. Afternoon at leisure.
Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight at Knai Bang Chatt Hotel - Blue Villa Garden View Room
Day 13 - 14 Kep - Day at Leisure
Have a free day to explore on your own.
Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight at Knai Bang Chatt Hotel - Blue Villa Garden View Room
Day 15 Kep to Phnom Penh
Your driver will meet you at your hotel and drive you back to Phnom Penh.
You will be taken to the airport in time to catch your onward flight.
Meals included: Breakfast
Tour Rate: $2,015 per person double with $1,140 single supplement
Price includes:
- Air tickets Phnom Penh - Siem Reap - Phnom Penh
- Boat tickets as specified above
- Accommodation as specified above
- Air-conditioned car/van with driver
- Licensed English speaking guides
- Tours and admission fees as mentioned above
- Meals as specified in itinerary, including water
Price excludes:
- Personal expenses
- Visa fees
- Airport tax
- Drinks (except water) and meals not mentioned in itinerary
- Tips