Angkor Wat Tickets and the Angkor Pass

The Three Passes and How Long You Get

The figures below come straight from the official Angkor Enterprise ticket page. The validity is the part travelers get wrong: the 3-day pass expires 7 days after issue and the 7-day pass expires 30 days after issue, so the visit days must fall inside that window. The 1-day pass is a single day.

Passes are non-refundable and non-transferable, and Siemreap.net reports no group, student or senior discounts.

Which Pass Fits Which Plan

One day in the park takes the Small Circuit and the sunrise, so the $37 pass suits the one-day tours such as the Angkor Wat Full-Day Tour with Sunset. Two tour days need the $62 pass because a 2-day itinerary uses two pass days. Three visit days inside a week fit the $62 pass.

More days spread over up to a month call for the $72 pass, which allows any 7 days inside a month. Hello Angkor and Wikivoyage list the same three prices as the official site. For residents of Cambodia of two years or more, the Special Pass is free and applied for at the ticket office with a passport and photo, or at spass.angkorenterprise.gov.kh, and Hello Angkor reports it covers Angkor and the Koh Ker complex.

How the 3-Day and 7-Day Windows Work

The official Angkor Enterprise page states only that the 3-day pass expires in 7 days and the 7-day pass in 30 days, without saying whether the clock starts at purchase or at first entry. Wikivoyage reports the 3-day pass as any 3 days within one week. Plan inside that week: buy the pass the day before your first temple morning and keep the three visit days inside one week.

One Pass, Two Circuits

The official Angkor Enterprise site says the Angkor Temples Park pass gives access to 50+ temples. Angkor Zipline, a local operator, maps the passes this way: a 1-day pass covers the Small Circuit, which takes in Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, the Bayon and Ta Prohm, plus a sunset stop. A 3-day pass adds the Grand Circuit, with temples such as Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som and East Mebon. A 7-day pass is the choice for outlying sites such as Banteay Srei and Beng Mealea, though sources disagree on whether Beng Mealea needs its own ticket, covered in the section below.

The distances are gentle. Wikivoyage puts most places on the Small Circuit at most 15 minutes apart by bike, and on the Grand Circuit about 30 minutes. The 2-day plan in the Angkor Wat 2-Day Tour follows exactly this split, Small Circuit on day one and Grand Circuit on day two, while the Angkor Wat 3-Day Tour adds Banteay Srei and Beng Mealea, with the $62 three-day pass bought separately.

Online and on the App

The official seller is Angkor Enterprise. Passes are sold at ticket.angkorenterprise.gov.kh and there is an Angkor Pass app on Google Play and the App Store. Angkor Photography Tours notes the only valid online seller is angkorenterprise.gov.kh and that the pass arrives as a downloadable PDF you show on a smartphone.

The Special Pass for long-term residents is sold separately at spass.angkorenterprise.gov.kh. Buying online the day before a tour is what some tour listings themselves recommend, including the 1-day small-group sunrise tour at $15.

The Ticket Centre

The main ticket office sits on Road 60 about 4 km from central Siem Reap, near the Angkor Panorama Museum, according to Siemreap.net and Angkor Photography Tours. Siemreap.net lists it open daily 5:30 AM to 5:00 PM while Angkor Photography Tours lists 5:00 AM to 5:30 PM, so arrive before 5:00 PM to be safe. Angkor Photography Tours says a purchase takes 5 to 25 minutes.

Wikivoyage adds that passes can be paid by credit card, US dollars or riel, and warns the riel rate is unfavourable.

The Photo and the Evening Rule

Your photo is printed on the pass and the pass is checked at almost all sites, including some washrooms, so it cannot be passed between travelers, Wikivoyage reports. The evening rule is the best money-saver on this page: Siemreap.net says a pass dated for tomorrow lets you enter from 4:45 PM the evening before and that evening does not count as a pass day, though you cannot change the visit date at the gate. Wikivoyage puts the start after 5:00 PM and Hello Angkor after 4:30 PM.

Wikivoyage also notes pass sales end at 5:30 PM and that Phnom Bakheng cannot be climbed after 5:30 PM.

Free Entry

Wikivoyage reports that children under 12 enter free with a passport, and that Cambodian citizens, K visa holders and Cambodian guides and drivers also enter free. Two tour listings on this site repeat the under-12 rule for their own young guests.

Missing the Queue at the Ticket Centre

My Siem Reap Tours, a local operator, puts the counter's busiest hours at 8 to 10 AM and advises arriving before 7 AM or after 2 PM. A purchase at the window takes 5 to 25 minutes according to Angkor Photography Tours, so an early start protects a sunrise plan. Wikivoyage says passes can be paid by credit card, US dollars or riel, and notes the riel rate is unfavourable.

Buying online the evening before is the other way round the queue, since the pass arrives as a PDF on your phone.

Travelling Without a Valid Pass

Carry the pass at all times inside the park. Angkor Zipline, a local operator, warns that checks happen at the entry points and again at each temple, and that being found without a valid pass can mean a fine and prosecution. Wikivoyage adds that passes are checked at almost all sites, including some washrooms, and that a lost pass means returning to the ticket booth to buy another one.

Keep the printed or phone PDF safe for the length of the Angkor Wat tours you have booked.

Hours at a Glance

Siemreap.net lists Angkor Wat itself open 5:00 AM to 6:00 PM and most other temples 6:00 AM to 6:30 PM, with a 30-minute grace period if you are already inside at closing. Wikivoyage reports park entry begins at 5:00 AM and temples open at sunrise, which is what the dawn tours build on.

Reading the Closing Hours

The official 6:30 PM park closing is the outer bound, not a promise of light. Wikivoyage notes pass sales end at 5:30 PM and that Phnom Bakheng, the sunset hill, cannot be climbed after 5:30 PM, so a sunset there means going up well before. The 30-minute grace period Siemreap.net describes applies if you are already inside a temple at closing.

Ticket office opening hours differ between the two third-party sources quoted above, another reason the online route wins for an early start.

Separate Tickets and Where the Sources Disagree

Angkor Enterprise sells its own 1-day passes for Koh Ker at $15, Beng Mealea at $10 and Kbal Spean at $5. Siemreap.net, though, says Kbal Spean and Beng Mealea are included with any valid Angkor Pass, and Wikivoyage says Beng Mealea is included in the pass. Both sides are given so you can plan for the dearer case and ask at the checkpoint.

Siemreap.net also reports Phnom Kulen needs a separate $20 ticket and is not covered by the pass.

What This Means for a Day Out

A Koh Ker day needs its own $15 ticket, and the Koh Ker and Beng Mealea Temples Tour at $50 lists that $15 Koh Ker fee while saying an Angkor Wat ticket is required for Beng Mealea, so plan for both. Wikivoyage warns that entering the park from the airport road east checkpoint or the Banteay Srei road north checkpoint sells only 1-day passes, so buy a 3-day or 7-day pass at the main office or online before heading that way. Chong Kneas sits about 15 km south of Siem Reap by paved road, and Wikivoyage warns of scams there, one more reason the official counter rule matters.

Several Tours and the Real Day Cost

The You pay column is each listing's own stated total, price plus the pass. On some tours the pass is added at checkout, on others you buy it yourself or with the guide. The Private Angkor Wat Ta Prohm Angkor Thom Tour even routes its 4:45 AM pickup through the ticket office first.

Who Buys It on the Day

Two patterns exist. Some listings, such as the small-group sunrise tour, say you can buy online the day before, or the guide helps you buy it on the day, and the full-day tour names angkorenterprise.gov.kh or the ticket office with your guide. Other listings, such as the Vespa sunrise tour and the 3-day tour, add the pass at checkout, and the 3-day guide takes you to buy it on day 1.

The private sunrise tour asks for cash at the ticket office, where the one-day pass is $37 and the three-day pass is $62. Children under 12 need no temple ticket on two listings.