What a Cambodia trip actually costs
Every price on this site, in one place, plus the supplier costs behind them: what a guide, a car, a hotel and a boat cost us before anyone makes anything.
Every route, every party size
Per person, land only, two sharing a twin or double room, in US dollars. Excludes international flights, the Angkor pass, the visa and insurance.
| Tour | Days | Simple | Comfortable | Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phnom Penh | 2 | 215 - 310 | 350 - 480 | 710 - 860 |
| Angkor temples | 3 | 310 - 450 | 500 - 690 | 1,020 - 1,240 |
| Kampot and Kep | 4 | 385 - 555 | 620 - 855 | 1,265 - 1,540 |
| Mondulkiri forest | 4 | 410 - 590 | 530 - 740 | Not available |
| Remote temples | 5 | 480 - 695 | 775 - 1,070 | 1,580 - 1,925 |
| Cambodia highlights | 7 | 630 - 910 | 1,015 - 1,400 | 2,065 - 2,520 |
| North to coast | 10 | 900 - 1,300 | 1,450 - 2,000 | 2,950 - 3,600 |
| Cambodia in depth | 14 | 1,260 - 1,820 | 2,030 - 2,800 | 4,130 - 5,040 |
The lower figure in each band is five to eight travellers, the higher is two. Three to four sits in between. Nothing above a good guesthouse exists in Sen Monorom or Kratie, which is why the Mondulkiri route has no top tier.
The per-day version, if you are comparing quotes
| Style | 2 travellers | 3 - 4 | 5 - 8 | What it buys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | USD 130 | USD 105 | USD 90 | Family-run guesthouses and small hotels, air-conditioned car, guide on sightseeing days |
| Comfortable | USD 200 | USD 165 | USD 145 | Good four-star or a strong owner-run boutique, guide throughout, everything private |
| Excellent | USD 360 | USD 320 | USD 295 | The handful of genuinely excellent hotels, longer guiding, private boats |
Short trips of two to three days carry 15 to 20 percent more per day, because airport transfers and the first and last day cost the same whether the trip is two days or twelve.
What a supplier actually charges, which is the part nobody publishes
These are Cambodian market rates in 2026, before margin. We publish them because a quote you cannot decompose is a quote you cannot compare.
| Item | Unit | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed English-speaking guide | Per day | USD 45 - 60 |
| Car and driver, fuel included | Per day | USD 45 - 65 |
| Minibus and driver, up to 8 | Per day | USD 75 - 95 |
| Siem Reap airport transfer, 45 km each way | Each | USD 25 - 35 |
| Simple hotel, twin room | Per night | USD 25 - 45 |
| Good four-star or boutique, twin room | Per night | USD 60 - 130 |
| Excellent hotel, twin room | Per night | USD 180 - 500 |
| Tonle Sap boat, private | Per trip | USD 70 - 110 |
| Kampi dolphin boat with community fee | Per boat | USD 15 - 25 |
| Forest elephant project, full day with lunch | Per person | USD 55 - 90 |
| Domestic flight Siem Reap - Phnom Penh | Per person | USD 90 - 160 |
| Restaurant meal, good local place | Per person | USD 6 - 15 |
A guide and a car cost about USD 105 a day between them. That is USD 53 each for two people and USD 15 each for seven. Multiply by the number of days and you have explained almost the entire price difference between two travellers and eight.
What moves the price, in order of size
- Party size. Bigger than everything else below it combined.
- Hotel level. The gap between simple and excellent is three to four times the room rate and it compounds every night.
- Season. December and January hotel rates run 40 to 100 percent above June rates for the identical room. Nothing else on this list is seasonal.
- Number of guided days. Not every day needs a guide; a beach day or a slow Kampot afternoon does not. Removing three guide days from a fourteen-day trip saves about USD 150 a head at two travellers.
- Domestic flights. One Siem Reap to Phnom Penh flight adds USD 90 to USD 160 a head plus transfers, against a driver you are already paying for.
- Private versus small group, which is really just party size again.
The trade-off between private and small group is worked through properly on private or small group.
What is not in the price, and why
| Item | Typical cost | Why it is not included |
|---|---|---|
| Angkor pass | USD 62 for 3 days | Issued in your name with your photograph. No operator can honestly include it; we buy it at cost |
| Cambodian visa | USD 30 | Applied for by you, in your name |
| Travel insurance | Varies | A condition of booking. We do not sell it because we would then have an interest in which policy you buy |
| Most lunches and all dinners | USD 6 - 15 a meal | Including them means choosing your restaurants, which is how commission arrangements start |
| International flights | Varies | You will nearly always find better fares and better routings than we can |
| Tips | Your judgement | Genuinely welcome and genuinely not expected. Our guides are paid a full day rate |
How a quote 25 percent cheaper than ours is built
This is the most useful section on the page, and it is written so you can check any quote, including ours.
- The guide is paid a low day rate and makes the rest on commission. Your itinerary then acquires a gem showroom, a silk workshop with a shop, or a lacquer warehouse, each costing 45 to 90 minutes of a day that only has six good hours in it.
- The hotels are described by star rating rather than by name. Cambodia has no enforced classification, so 'four-star' means whatever the hotel decided to call itself.
- The guide is shared with a second vehicle, and the trip is sold as private.
- Transfers are shared shuttles rather than private cars, which at 45 km from Siem Reap airport is an hour of waiting for other passengers.
- The group is fourteen or twenty people in a coach rather than eight in a minibus.
- Entrance fees are excluded and appear as cash requests on the day. Ask specifically whether Koh Ker's USD 15 and the Bokor and national park fees are in the quote.
Two honest caveats. Some cheaper operators are cheaper simply because they are smaller and take less margin, and that is a fine reason. And for some travellers a larger group at a lower price is genuinely the right trade. We will tell you when we think it is.
How payment works
- 25 percent deposit to confirm, by bank transfer or card link.
- Balance 21 days before arrival, or on arrival in cash if you prefer.
- Card payments carry the processor's fee of about 3 percent, shown separately and passed on at cost rather than marked up.
- Everything is quoted and invoiced in US dollars, which is what Cambodia runs on.
- Cancellation terms are graduated and published in full, not summarised.
The detail is on how to pay and booking terms, and the sequence from first email to final documents is on how to book.
Questions travellers ask most
Why are you more expensive than the quote I have from another operator?
Usually two things. Our guides are on a day rate 30 to 40 percent above the local norm because they earn nothing from shops, and we cap groups at eight rather than filling a coach. If a cheaper quote names its hotels, includes all entrance fees and caps the group, it may simply be a smaller operator taking less margin, and we will say so.
Is the Angkor pass included?
No, and no honest operator includes it, because it is issued in your name with your photograph. We buy it for you at cost on the first morning: USD 37 for one day, USD 62 for three, USD 72 for seven.
Do prices change with the season?
Hotels do, sharply: December and January run 40 to 100 percent above June for the same room. Guiding, transport and entrance fees do not move. We quote your actual dates rather than a headline price.
Can I pay in cash on arrival?
The balance, yes, in US dollars against a numbered receipt. The 25 percent deposit has to be transferred in advance, because it is what commits us to your hotels.
Read next
Tell us what you want out of Cambodia
Dates, party size and the places you care about are enough to start. You get a draft route and an indicative price, not a brochure.