Cambodia 1 Week Itinerary: The Perfect Phnom Penh → Siem Reap → Koh Rong Route
✅ Last verified on-the-ground: July 2026 - bus timings, visa fees, and ferry prices checked in-country.
📍 Distance: 540 km end-to-end (Phnom Penh → Siem Reap → Phnom Penh → Sihanoukville → Koh Rong) ⏱️ Fastest option: Phnom Penh → Siem Reap by minivan, 6-7 hours 💰 Cheapest 7-day budget: ₹13,487 (~140 USD) all-in (excluding flights from India) ✅ Best option: Phnom Penh → Siem Reap by Giant Ibis bus, then return and bus down to Sihanoukville, then ferry to Koh Rong
For related planning, see our guide on Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh or browse the full Southeast Asia Backpacking Hub.
Seven days is the sweet spot for a Cambodia 1 week itinerary. Five days and you skip either the temples or the islands. Ten days and you start repeating meals in the same backpacker area. The classic loop is Phnom Penh → Siem Reap → back south → coast, and it works because the country is small enough that no single leg eats an entire day.
Quick Answers
| What | Answer | Price (INR) |
|---|---|---|
| Cambodia visa-on-arrival fee | ₹2,890 (~30 USD), bring exact USD bills | ₹2,896 (~$30.06) |
| Phnom Penh → Siem Reap (Giant Ibis bus) | 6-7 hours, daytime or overnight | ₹2,100-₹3,200 (~$21.80-$33.22) |
| Siem Reap → Phnom Penh (return) | Same bus, 6-7 hours | ₹2,100-₹3,200 (~$21.80-$33.22) |
| Phnom Penh → Sihanoukville (Giant Ibis) | 4-5 hours | ₹1,900-₹2,800 (~$19.72-$29.06) |
| Sihanoukville → Koh Rong (ferry) | 45 min-1.5 hours depending on speedboat vs slow ferry | ₹800-1,600 |
Cambodia prices are quoted in USD (1 USD = ₹96.5 at time of writing) because that’s what the country uses day-to-day. ATMs dispense USD, hotels price in USD, only small change at markets comes in Cambodian riel.
Day-by-Day Breakdown
Day 1-2: Phnom Penh
Land in Phnom Penh, get your visa, dump your bag at a hostel near the river, and walk the waterfront. The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda are half a day combined. The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng (S-21 prison) take another half day, and they are the emotional core of the trip. Travellers report that the audio guide at Choeung Ek is worth the ₹578 (~6 USD), even if you normally skip audio guides.
Subodh’s Pro Tip: Don’t try to do the Killing Fields and S-21 on the same afternoon. They are draining, and rushing through them turns genocide into a checkbox. Do one in the morning, lunch, then the other.
Food: Cambodia Kitchen does a solid fish amok, the national curry-coconut dish, for around ₹385-₹482 (~4-5 USD). For a dal-chawal fix, the Indian Restaurant in the BKK1 area serves basic thalis for ₹289-₹385 (~3-4 USD). The Cambodian ₹96 (~1 USD) beers are the real win here.
Day 3: Travel to Siem Reap
Morning bus. Giant Ibis runs the route in 6-7 hours with a mid-route bathroom stop. Book a few days ahead during high season (November-February) because the morning departures fill up. The bus drops you on the western edge of Siem Reap, near Pub Street. Grab a tuk-tuk to your guesthouse, ₹96-₹193 (~1-2 USD).
If you’re on a tighter schedule or just prefer to save the half day, there are short flights, but the bus is part of the experience. You watch the landscape flatten from delta rice paddies into the dry central plains, and you arrive in Siem Reap in time for sunset drinks rather than wasting a day on airport transfers. The full corridor guide for Phnom Penh to Siem Reap by taxi or bus covers every option including private taxis and cheaper local minivans.
Day 4-5: Angkor Wat and Siem Reap
Two full days for the temples is the minimum that doesn’t feel rushed. Day 1: the big loop, Angkor Wat at sunrise, then Bayon, Ta Prohm (the “Tomb Raider tree”), and Banteay Srei if you have transport. Day 2: the outer temples, Banteay Samre, Pre Rup, and the quieter spots. Or use day 2 for a floating village on Tonle Sap, ₹1,927-₹2,408 (~20-25 USD) for a half-day boat.
The Angkor pass costs ₹3,565 (~37 USD) for one day, ₹5,973 (~62 USD) for three days. Indian travelers get no discount, but the three-day pass pays for itself if you spread the temples across two real days rather than cramming. Buy it at the main ticket centre 4 km out of town. For the full temple breakdown including dress code and sunrise timing, see our Angkor Wat complete guide.
Safety Alert: Siem Reap is generally safe for tourists, but tuk-tuk drivers aggressively pitch “extra” temple routes. Agree on the route and price upfront, in USD, before getting in.
Day 6: Travel to Sihanoukville, Ferry to Koh Rong
This is the long travel day. Morning bus back from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, 6-7 hours, then immediately transfer to a Phnom Penh → Sihanoukville bus, another 4-5 hours. Total: 10-13 hours including the Phnom Penh transfer. Alternative: book a direct Siem Reap → Sihanoukville minivan through 12go or your hostel, these run and shave 2-3 hours off the total.
From Sihanoukville, the ferry to Koh Rong takes 45 minutes on the speedboat (₹1,445-₹1,927 (~15-20 USD) one way from the main pier) or 1.5 hours on the slower car ferry (₹963-₹1,156 (~10-12 USD)). Speedboats leave when they’re full, slow ferries run on schedule. Travellers report that the speedboat ride is choppy if there’s any swell, so if you’ve been on buses all day and your stomach is already angry, pay the extra and take the slow ferry.
Day 7: Koh Rong, Return
One full day on Koh Rong. Lazy Beach on the south side is the postcard image, white sand, clear water, hammocks in the shade. Long Beach on the east is the backpacker party zone if you want to drink on the sand. Most ferries back to Sihanoukville connect with afternoon buses to Phnom Penh, and from Phnom Penh you can catch a late flight or an overnight bus to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City if Cambodia is one leg of a longer SEA loop.
Subodh’s Pro Tip: If your flight out of Cambodia is from Phnom Penh, don’t sleep on Koh Rong on the last night. The ferry schedule plus the 4-hour bus back means you can lose an entire day to logistics.
Option 1. Cheapest
The cheapest way to do this loop is local minivans and the slow ferry, no fancy operators. Phnom Penh → Siem Reap on a local minivan runs ₹963-₹1,156 (~10-12 USD) one way, slower than Giant Ibis at 7-8 hours with more stops, and the vans are older. Same story for Siem Reap → Sihanoukville, ₹1,445-₹1,734 (~15-18 USD) on a shared minivan booked through a guesthouse. The slow car ferry to Koh Rong is ₹963-₹1,156 (~10-12 USD).
Total transport on the cheap: roughly ₹5,780-₹6,744 (~60-70 USD) across all four legs. That leaves room in the budget for a ₹482-₹771 (~5-8 USD) dorm bed per night, street food at ₹96-₹193 (~1-2 USD) per meal, and the ₹3,565 (~37 USD) Angkor pass. Realistic 7-day floor budget: ₹11,561-₹13,487 (~120-140 USD) excluding your flights from India.
Option 2. Best Experience
Giant Ibis for both bus legs, speedboat to Koh Rong. Giant Ibis is the safest, most reliable bus company in Cambodia, with proper luggage storage, A/C that works, and an English-speaking driver. The ₹1,734-₹2,408 (~18-25 USD) per leg (depending on departure time) is worth every extra dollar compared to the local minivans. Their overnight bus Phnom Penh → Siem Reap saves you a night’s accommodation and arrives early in the morning, which works if you can stash your bag at your Siem Reap hostel until check-in.
For the Siem Reap → Koh Rong leg, book a direct Giant Ibis minivan to Sihanoukville then a speedboat ticket as a bundle through 12go or your hostel. It’s ₹3,372-₹4,335 (~35-45 USD) total and saves you the double-bus-and-tuk-tuk shuffle.
Option 3. Fastest
Phnom Penh → Siem Reap has short flights on Cambodia Angkor Air and Air Cambodia, 45 minutes in the air, ₹4,817-₹7,707 (~50-80 USD) one way. Worth it only if you’re on a 5-day version of this trip and every hour counts. If you have 7-10 days, the bus is fine and the ₹2,890-₹4,817 (~30-50 USD) you save goes toward your Koh Rong bungalow or an extra temple day.
For the southern leg, there is no flight option, just the bus and ferry combination. The bus alone is 4-5 hours, ferry is 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. No way to shorten this.
Indian Passport Specifics
Indian passport holders get a visa on arrival at Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville airports, and at the major land borders including Poipet (Thailand side). The fee is ₹2,890 (~30 USD), you need a passport photo, and you must pay in clean, undamaged USD bills. Damaged or torn notes get rejected at the counter. Have two photos ready even if you’re e-visa-ing, just in case.
E-visa costs the same ₹2,890 (~30 USD) visa fee but adds a separate ₹578 (~6 USD) non-refundable processing fee, and is valid for 90 days. Apply at the official evisa portal only, not the lookalike sites that charge double. Processing is 3 business days, though it often comes back in 24 hours.
Cambodian embassies in India are in New Delhi, and the honorary consulate in Mumbai can handle some queries. You won’t need them for this trip unless you lose your passport, in which case the New Delhi embassy is the right call.
Safety Alert: Indian travellers occasionally report being “helped” by overly friendly strangers at the Phnom Penh airport who walk them past the official visa counter. Decline firmly and find the actual counter. The e-visa line is on the left after immigration.
When NOT to Take This Route
July-September is monsoon season. The Tonle Sap lake floods, the floating villages are muddy and less photogenic, and the ferries to Koh Rong get cancelled on choppy days. The temples are still accessible, but the red-dirt roads become slippery and the famous sunrise at Angkor Wat is more often overcast than not. If your dates are fixed to monsoon, still go, but pad an extra day for weather delays.
April is the hottest and driest month. Temperatures hit 38-40°C, and temple-hopping at midday is genuinely dangerous. Start at Angkor Wat for sunrise (5:30 AM), do your temple block until 11 AM, then return to town for lunch and a pool break. The temples reopen at 2 PM, you’ll have them mostly to yourself because most tourists hide indoors during peak heat.
December-January is peak season. Everything costs 20-40% more, and the Angkor ticket queues can be 30 minutes long. Book buses and guesthouses at least a week ahead.
Getting Connected
Cellcard and Smart are the two main carriers, both have ₹482 (~5 USD) tourist SIMs at the airport with 7 days of data. Coverage is solid in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville, but drops to 3G or no signal on the long bus stretches between cities and on the ferry to Koh Rong. Download offline Google Maps for Siem Reap before you leave Phnom Penh. For a one-trip SIM-free option, the Nomad eSIM runs ₹867-₹1,349 (~9-14 USD) for a 7-day regional plan that covers all three cities and the ferry route.
Stretching or Compressing This Itinerary
Five days: Skip Koh Rong. Phnom Penh (1 night), Siem Reap (3 nights, two temple days), bus back to PP and fly out. The southern coast eats too much travel time for a 5-day trip.
Ten days: Add Battambang on the way back from Siem Reap (3 hours by minivan), a quieter town with bamboo trains and old French architecture, then continue to PP and down to the coast. Or add 2-3 extra nights on Koh Rong to relax rather than just touch the beach. The 10-day version is closer to how this route feels when you’re not rushing.
FAQ
Can I do this trip on vegetarian food only? Yes. Cambodia has great veg options at Indian restaurants in PP and Siem Reap, and most Cambodian dishes can be made veg on request. Phnom Penh’s BKK1 area has Indian restaurant options within walking distance. Siem Reap has fewer but still enough.
Is Cambodia safe for solo Indian travellers? Generally yes. The usual SEA precautions apply: watch for tuk-tuk overcharges and bag snatching in crowded markets. For a fuller safety breakdown, see is Cambodia safe for backpackers. Indian travellers occasionally report being overcharged at temples and markets, polite firmness works.
Can I pay in Indian rupees? No. Bring clean USD bills from India, exchange at the airport or your hotel. ATMs in Cambodia dispense USD, and most banks charge a ₹482 (~5 USD) foreign transaction fee on top of your Indian bank’s fee. Bring ₹28,902-₹38,536 (~300-400 USD) cash as backup.
Do I need a visa for the Thai border if I’m continuing onwards? Yes, separate from your Cambodia visa. If you’re crossing at Poipet into Thailand, the Poipet border crossing guide covers the Indian passport process step by step.
What if I miss my bus because of a delayed flight? Giant Ibis has a Phnom Penh office you can call. They will move you to the next departure if you have a flexible ticket, which is ₹2,408 (~25 USD) instead of ₹1,734 (~18 USD). Cheaper minivan tickets are usually non-refundable, so book Giant Ibis if your arrival flight has any history of delays.
Subodh’s Take
Seven days in Cambodia feels like a real trip, not a sampler. Phnom Penh grounds you in the country’s recent history, Siem Reap delivers the temples you’ve been imagining since you were twelve, and Koh Rong closes the loop with a beach day that resets you before the next country. The bus rides are long but not punishing, and the whole loop is doable on ₹13,487 (~140 USD) plus your flights from India.
- Subodh
