Know before you go: Cambodia

Most visitors to Cambodia must obtain a visa, either a visa on arrival or an e-Visa unless they are citizens of one of the visa-exempt countries. Cambodia has visa-exemption agreements with a number of countries, especially within ASEAN, that allow short, visa-free stays, and the permitted length varies by country and passport type. For most non-exempt nationalities, the standard tourist e-Visa or visa on arrival grants a 30-day stay.

The Cambodia e-visa, applied for at evisa.gov.kh, lets eligible travelers apply online before departure through the government’s official portal by completing a form, uploading a photo, paying online, and receiving approval electronically, then presenting the e-Visa certificate to immigration on arrival. The e-Visa is valid for only three months from issuance, so it is recommended to apply within 30 days before departure. Holders of an approved e-Visa can enter through major airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, plus selected land checkpoints with Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.

A newer requirement to know about: all visitors flying to Cambodia are required to submit the free Cambodia e-Arrival Card, which can be submitted up to seven days before arrival.

Basic entry conditions apply across the board: all visitors must have a passport valid for at least six months with at least one empty page, and all foreign citizens must hold a return or onward ticket.

Confirm before you fly. Always re-confirm eligible entry points on official lists before you travel, as these occasionally expand or change; the Royal Embassy of Cambodia links to the official “ports that accept e-Visa” page to help travelers verify the latest list. Visa and entry rules can change, so always cross-check with Cambodia’s official e-Visa portal and your nearest Cambodian embassy before you travel.

Between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap: road, air and river options all exist. A bus between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap takes approximately six hours in total and costs roughly $9 to $12, with several reputable operators running the route. If you prefer speed, flights average a swift 45 minutes, with return tickets costing around $160, though prices vary. Standard ferry services also run between the two cities through most of the year, though they close at the height of peak season around April and May.

Within cities: Tuk-tuks are the classic way to get around. Tuk-tuks, the two-wheeled carriages pulled by motorbikes, are a popular mode of transport in Cambodia, with no shortage of them waiting to ferry tourists about, typically at heavily inflated prices, so be sure to negotiate the fare before getting in and carry small dollar bills or riel. To skip the haggling, ride-hailing apps have taken over much of the market: PassApp dominates the ride-hailing market, with its rickshaw-style tuk-tuks flooding the capital and Siem Reap’s roads, and passengers who can sidestep haggling are quickly making it the number one option for many. Grab and other apps such as WowNow and Move also operate. Motorbike taxis, or motos, are a common way to travel short distances, although riding on the back of a moto in hectic city traffic isn’t everybody’s idea of fun.

Phnom Penh also has a growing formal bus network: as of recent expansion, public bus transportation in Phnom Penh consists of numerous lines covering much of the city, though it is aimed more at commuters than sightseers.

Angkor Archaeological Park: buy tickets only through official channels. Tickets can be purchased through the official Angkor Pass website or app, or at the official ticket office and kiosks. Pass tiers cover one day, three days, or seven days, with the multi-day options letting you spread visits over a longer window; a seven-day pass costs around 400,000 KHR (about $100) and lets visitors see less-visited temples at a relaxed pace.

Cambodia runs on two currencies at once. Besides the riel, the US dollar is also officially accepted in Cambodia as a currency, with a fixed exchange rate of 4,000 riels to one dollar. The dollar is dispensed in ATMs and accepted in virtually all purchases, with the 4,000-riel-per-dollar rate widely known and used in retail trade, riel being paid out as change in fractions of a dollar. In practice, because the dollar is used so frequently, prices for goods and services are often given in both riel and US dollars, and Cambodians typically carry both currencies in their wallets.

Cash condition matters: you cannot use coins, $2 banknotes, old dollars issued before 2009, or banknotes with any damage, so bring clean, newer notes.

ATMs are widely available in cities but carry fees. ATMs are common in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, charging $4 to $6 per withdrawal and dispensing $100 bills in USD, and in rural areas and on islands ATMs are rare, so withdraw cash before leaving the city. If you want riel straight from a machine, ABA Bank is an exception that gives the cardholder the option to withdraw in dollars or riel, often dispensed in the 50,000 denomination note.

Cards and digital payments now cover a lot of ground. Most hotels and tour operators in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap accept Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and the Bakong Tourist App lets you scan KHQR codes at millions of merchants without needing a Cambodian bank account. The scale of this shift is notable: the National Bank of Cambodia’s Bakong platform processed 1.33 billion transactions in 2025 in a country of 17 million people, and KHQR codes are now accepted at 4.9 million merchant locations, from hotel lobbies to noodle stalls. Fintech travel cards generally work fine too: Revolut cards work in Cambodia, both Visa and Mastercard, and similar fintech apps like Wise, Monese, Curve, N26 and Starling also work there.

Still, don’t go fully cashless. In rural areas cash is still required, and while cards and KHQR cover most of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, tuk-tuks and market stalls still run largely on cash.

The best time to visit Cambodia is the dry season, roughly November to April, when the rains stop, the humidity drops and the temples of Angkor stand against clear blue skies. Within that window, November to February is the sweet spot, cool, comfortable and the most pleasant time to spend long days walking Angkor Wat, though the flip side is that these are also the busiest, priciest months.

March through May shifts into a hot, dry stretch: March to April is the hot dry season, 30 to 40 degrees Celsius, uncomfortable for most, and conditions peak around April to May, which is objectively the most challenging, with extreme heat of 35 to 40 degrees Celsius and dusty conditions. This period does coincide with a major cultural event, as the Khmer New Year in mid-April is a highlight, with nationwide celebrations, water fights and traditional performances.

The wet season runs roughly June through October. The wet season, from May to October, brings heavy rains, particularly in the afternoons, transforming the landscape into a rich, green paradise, and while some roads may become difficult to navigate, it’s a fantastic time for fewer tourists, lower prices, and seeing Angkor Wat surrounded by reflective pools of water. September is the wettest month of the year, with rainfall in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh both averaging well over 250 millimetres. If you’re travelling in this shoulder period, note one local scheduling quirk: late September through Pchum Ben, running 27 September to 11 October in 2026, is a tricky window because this 15-day ancestor festival sends large numbers of Cambodians home to their provinces and toward Angkor Wat, filling intercity buses and shared taxis fast.

Cambodia’s core emergency numbers are simple three-digit codes: Police is 117, Fire is 118, and Ambulance is 119.

If you need to report a crime as a tourist, go through the tourist police rather than a regular precinct where possible. You can get a police report for insurance purposes by going to the tourist police, though police are not always willing to investigate crimes, and a police report should be free. If police ask for a fee, contact your embassy in Phnom Penh and give details of the police station. Reporting locations include the Tourist Police at Street 598 in Phnom Penh, and in Siem Reap the Tourist Police office next to the ticketing booth for the Angkor temple ruins.

Language can be a barrier outside the capital and Siem Reap: in most of Cambodia the police speak very little English, so it’s best to bring a translator with you, be it a friend, hotel employee, or tuk-tuk driver. By contrast, Siem Reap has active tourist police who are supposed to speak English, while in Phnom Penh the tourist police speak little to no English.

If something serious happens, loop in your embassy early: if you’ve been the victim of a crime, report it to your embassy, as they can help you replace your passport, put you in contact with local attorneys or translators, and help you seek medical advice if you’ve been hurt.

For medical emergencies in the capital, Calmette Hospital’s ambulance service can be reached at 119 or 023 724 891 or 023 426 948. Save local numbers as you travel beyond Phnom Penh, since province-specific hotlines exist and dialling in from abroad requires the country code 855.