Cambodia suggestions

[IIdentifyAsInnocent]

Hi all, DH is 50 next year and we are looking to go to Cambodia at the end of 2025, for at least a week then fly to Thailand to stay in the hotel we stayed for our honeymoon at.

Thing is, I feel confident with Thailand, as I've been there a few times, but I have no idea what to do or where to go in Cambodia.

Anyone got any ideas? We tend to book our own hotel and flights and work things out a bit as we go along, so not looking for an organised itinerary as such. For some reason I feel completely out of my depth when looking at Cambodia. I thi k because I've always wanted to go there but have no real idea why!!

We could also skip off the Thailand bit, and do Vietnam instead but I think DH would like to go back.

I want to start getting ideas now as I will need to decide a budget and save like crazy!!

Have been several times and organised it myself. However, we were living in China so can’t help on flights from the uk.
https://viroth-hotel.com/
great hotel in Siem Reap within walking distance of the town.
easy to organise a tuk tuk driver to take you to Angkor Wat and the other temples. Bayon is my favourite.
lot of great restaurants in Siem Reap and very good value,
Sihanoukville - mixed reports from friends re beach, but loads of Chinese tourists.
Phnom Penh - easy to navigate, killing fields definitely worth visiting and the genocide museum, but pretty harrowing. You can hire a car and driver to take you to SR from PP - we paid about 60 dollars. Also worth doing a tour with these guys
https://vespaadventures.com/

I would combine with Vietnam.

Amazingly helpful, thank you. I shall go look all that up. 😊

Consider a short cruise along the Mekong although we did it from Vietnam up to Cambodia.

Move from Vietnam up to Phnom Penh and then Siem Reap is a good option.

Phnom Penh - Tuol Sleng and the killing fields are pretty harrowing. Royal palace and museum also interesting.

Siem Reap - as above. Easy to navigate and get tuk tuk etc for the temples. Nicest food in Cambodia.

Sihanoukville is a concrete high rise casino hell hole these days. Skip it entirely. If you must do a beach element then head straight for Koh Rong but even that involves passing through aforementioned hellhole.

Battambang is pretty chilled but maybe a detour depending on how long you have.

Kampot and Kep near the Vietnamese border are lovely. Great seafood and access to Bokor national park.

There are some parts of Cambodias past and present that are really very distressing. People with awful disabilities, acid attack victims and some quite severe poverty.

We haven't yet made it to Cambodia but have done quite a few trips to Vietnam. We couldn't quite make the two fit on our last trip due to covid restrictions but did a Mekong cruise in Vietnam. Would recommend HCM + Mekong cruise combined with Cambodia, cruise between the two. Phu Quoc is also fabulous for some beach time. Watch season 1 of Race Across the World (BBC iplayer) for some inspiration in that part of the world.

We are on our second to last night in Cambodia, and have loved every second of it. Best food, nicest people and ridiculously cheap. We have stayed in the most wonderful hotels and eaten in the poshest restaurants and still spent less than most holidays.

We stayed at Viroth’s for three nights in Siem Reap as per pp above - an exceptional hotel. Booked a two day tuk tuk tour with a guide round the Angkor Wat temples. Stunning. Haven restaurant was excellent, as well as being a training centre for disadvantaged young people. And Phare circus is a must see, such a fun evening.

Took a taxi down to Phnom Penh (6 hours) and we didi a mixture of temples, the harrowing genocide prison and killing fields, sunset boat tour, walks to the markets and restaurants. It’s a chaotic, but modern and energetic city, a fabulous experience. Go to Cuisine Wat Damnak - we had a fine dining eight course tasting menu for less than £30, which we both agreed was the best meal we’ve ever had. Also the Rosewood hotel for both afternoon tea and rooftop drinks.

Would strongly recommend Watthan Artisans Cambodia, a handicrafts shop with products produced by locals disabled by land mines or disease. Some fantastic items there.

Had one night on Koh Rong Samloem, one of the islands. White sand, turquoise water, barely another soul to be seen. Caribbean luxury at the fifth of the price.

An incredible country, would thoroughly recommend. We did it all ourselves, and it was all very easy. Taxis etc were all very punctual.

And we stayed in Sihanoukville for just ten mins either way - just enough time to get out of the taxi and into the ferry and vice versa, so easy to avoid the unpleasantness.

Some pictures 😊

Hi, this sounds amazing..we are potentially looking at Cambodia for next year. Would you be happy for me to PM you for some advice at all please?x

Somehow I missed this reply!! Thank you. We leave in 6 weeks. I'm very excited

Can I asked how you booked the trip please and what parts you're doing? I'm unsure what things are must sees and what route to do them.

We booked it all ourselves using booking websites for hotels and flying Singapore Air. Asia is really eacy do this with. We fly to Siem Reap stay there for 3 nights going to see Ankor Wat and the bat caves, then flying to Phenm Phnom for 4 nights. Want to go to the killing gods and genocide museum. Then we are going to work out the best way to get to the islands as we are staying at both koh rong and koh rong shalom. Flying home from Phenm Phnom. We tend to book the hotels the work out how we will get to them!!