Royal Palace, Phnom Penh

Cambodia Travel Costs for Four Weeks

Our eleventh month on the road was spent in a country that charmed, awed and saddened us: Cambodia. From temple hopping and dolphin spotting to visiting the notorious Killing Fields, our time in the country was full of activities and we fell in love with the people who treated us like true Cambodian brothers and sisters. Despite the tragic recent history and poverty in Cambodia we were surprised at how expensive it was to get from one place to another and to see Angkor Wat; here are our Cambodia travel costs for four weeks.

Bracelets at the Killing Fields

Activity Costs in Cambodia

There are so many things to do in Cambodia; from visiting ancient temples and learning about the recent genocide to rare dolphin spotting and a catching a  circus performance in Battambang. We learnt a lot about the evils that took place in the country by visiting the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Prison, which were both heart-breaking but worthwhile experiences. Activities were generally cheap in Cambodia although our Angkor Wat passes set us back almost £50; given how incredible the temples were though we don’t regret spending extra to see them over three days. We also had some more unusual trips out to  see the wonderful Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus and ride the Bamboo train in Battambang as well as spot some rare Irrawaddy Dolphins on a day trip from Kratie.

Bayon Temple, Siem Reap

Activity

Cost

Per Person

Entry to the Killing Fields, Phnom Penh

£7.40

£3.70

Entry to Tuol Sleng Museum, Phnom Penh

£2.40

£1.20

Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh

£8

£4

Entry to Bokor National Park, Kampot

£0.30

£0.15

Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus, Battambang

£12.20

£6.10

Bamboo Train (plus tip), Battambang

£6.70

£3.35

Temples and Cave Entry Fee, Battambang

(Phnom Sampeau, Phnom Banan and Wat Ek Phnom)

£3.60

£1.80

Angkor Wat 3-Day Temples Pass

£48.80

£24.40

Foot Massages (and beer), Siem Reap

£3.60

£1.80

Foot Massages (and beer), Siem Reap

£3.60

£1.80

Irrawaddy Dolphin Boat Trip, Kampi

£11

£5.50

Total

£107.60

£53.80

Cost of Cambodia Hotels

This is one area where we spent a little more than usual, especially compared to Laos and Vietnam. We found that we could get some great accommodation if we paid a little more than we usually did and we thought it was worth it. Some notable hotels were Fancy Guesthouse in Phnom Penh, King Fy Hotel in Battambang and Angkor Orchid in Siem Reap. All of our accommodation included Wifi (although not always working perfectly) air-con and hot water except in Kampot and Kratie which were both fan rooms and were our cheapest accommodation, costing just £7.30 and £4.90 per night. Only one of our guesthouses or hotels included breakfast but for the rest you could add a basic toast, coffee and jam breakfast for a little extra ($2 per person).

Expense

Total

Per Person

Per Day

Accommodation

£300

£150

£11.11

Cambodia Food Costs

We’ve probably eaten better in Cambodia than in most other Asian countries on our trip so far other than the Philippines and Thailand. However this did come at a price. There are many NGO restaurants and cafés set up that help the locals and serve great food. One of my favourite dishes was the local fish amok, a coconutty, smooth and slightly spicy curry which changed slightly wherever you were in the country. We were also able to get some good and healthy muesli breakfasts pretty much everywhere we went too. All in all, we found great food at a little over our Asian average food costs.

Lemon Meringue Pie in Kampot

Expense

Total

Per Person

Per Day

Food

£378

£189

£14

Cost of Transport in Cambodia

We travelled mostly by bus and divided our time between five places in Cambodia, returning to Phnom Penh twice in order to get to other destinations. While in Phnom Penh, Battambang and Siem Reap we used tuk-tuks to take us on our tours around the areas, one of our favourites being with our wonderful driver/guide around Battambang. Although we have had many horrid journeys while in South East Asia, we had actually only experienced one break down before we visited Cambodia so we were surprised when on two consecutive days our bus broke down while travelling through the country. We rented scooters twice; the roads in Kampot to get up to Bokor National Park were fabulous to ride on, however in Kratie they were more than a little uncomfortable due to the dust and poor maintenance.

168 Sorya Bus from Phnom Penh

Expense

Total

Per Person

Buses

Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh: £12.20

£6.10

Phnom Penh to Kampot: £12.20

£6.10

Kampot to Phnom Penh: £9.80

£4.90

Phnom Penh to Battambang: £13.40

£6.70

Battambang to Siem Reap: £6.10

£3.05

Siem Reap to Phnom Penh: £19.50

£9.75

Phnom Penh to Kratie: £15.80

£7.90

Tuk-tuks

Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Tour: £9.10

£4.55

Hotel to PharePS Circus and back: £3.10

£1.55

Day Tour around Battambang: £12.20

£6.10

Small Angkor Wat Tour: £9.10

£4.55

Large Angkor Wat Tour and Sunrise: £14

£7

Roluos Group Temples Tour: £10.40

£5.20

11 other short trips: £13.70

£6.85

Scooter

Kampot Rental: £3.10, Fuel: £1.80

£2.45

Kratie Rental: £3.70, Fuel £1.50

£2.60

Total:

£170.70

£85.35

 

Miscellaneous Costs

We didn’t spend a huge amount here except for the usual laundry and toiletry costs as well as a few postcards, stamps and books. We could have saved about £6 on our Visa costs if we’d gone through customs ourselves (which we had to do in the end anyway) rather than pay our bus ‘guide’ to take our passports through for us; another example of border crossing bribes.  We found some ATM’s that would not charge us a fee but one did – only telling us after we made the transaction.

Expense

Total

Per Person

Cambodia Visas

£30.50

£15.25

Laundry (x 4)

£8.80

£4.40

toiletries and medicine

£6.60

£3.30

ATM Fee

£1.80

£0.90

Post cards, stamps and book

£4.30

£2.15

Miscellaneous

£52

£26

Total Cambodia Travel Costs for Four Weeks

Cambodia certainly isn’t one of our cheapest countries to date however we found it interesting and well-worth spending time in. It has some of the most harrowing history and the people we met were some of the friendliest so far; the food is great and good accommodation is very affordable, even on a budget. Here’s how much we spent in total during our trip to Cambodia.

Royal Palace, Phnom Penh

Expense

Total

Per Person

Per Day

Activities

£107.60

£53.80

£3.99

Accommodation

£300

£150

£11.11

Food

£378

£189

£14

Transport

£170.70

£85.35

£6.32

Miscellaneous

£52

£26

£1.93

Total

£1,008.30

£504.15

£37.34

cambodia travel costs for four weeks

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As always, we use Trail Wallet to track all of our spending; you can see all of our cost break-downs by country here.

9 Comments
  • www.mudlusciouspress.com
    Posted at 11:44h, 17 June Reply

    cambodia is a nice place, glad and amazed to see it didn’t cost you that much in Cambodia. thanks for sharing the idea with us 🙂 it was really helpful

    • Andrew
      Posted at 11:26h, 18 June Reply

      No problem; it’s what we do. Cambodia’s definitely worth a visit! 🙂

  • Katie
    Posted at 20:54h, 17 June Reply

    Fantastic breakdown! It’s funny (to me, anyways) that you guys spent more on food than accommodations. Even though you spent a little more than some other countries, it still seems like a fantastic place to visit!

    • Andrew
      Posted at 11:17h, 18 June Reply

      Thanks Katie, Cambodia was one of the countries where it was worth spending a little more on the food to get some amazing meals, with all the NGO restaurants it made travelling there much easier. The hotels weren’t that cheap either! 🙂

  • Shaun
    Posted at 18:17h, 18 June Reply

    Great breakdown on all the costs. I tend to go with the notepad & pen when recording my expenses. When you see the total it seems a little high for Cambodia but when you look at the breakdown it seems more reasonable.

    • Amy
      Posted at 10:13h, 19 June Reply

      It does seem a bit high Shaun, I agree, but it was great value for money considering all the activities we did and how well we ate – Cambodia is awesome 🙂

  • Kelly
    Posted at 10:43h, 25 June Reply

    Wow guys! You are awesome, i always wanted to leave everything and travel! You just gave me another reminder about my dreams. Time to start planning my journey i guess!

    • Amy
      Posted at 22:25h, 25 June Reply

      Thanks Kelly 🙂 Don’t give up on your dreams, with some planning and hard work you can get out on the road and explore!

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