At a glance
The short version
- Where
- Angkor Archaeological Park, Siem Reap
- Start
- Around 4.30am from your hotel
- How long
- Back for a late breakfast, or run straight on into the temples
- You need
- An Angkor pass, bought the day before or at the gate
- Dress
- Shoulders and knees covered to enter the upper level
- Our tip
- Stay out until nine. The hour after sunrise is the quietest the park gets all day
Everyone tells you Angkor sunrise is overcrowded. Everyone is right, and it is still the thing we would not cut from a first trip.
The crowd gathers at the northern reflecting pond and the sky does what it does. What almost nobody does is stay. By seven the coaches have gone back for breakfast buffets and the park – which is enormous, far larger than the single temple on the postcard – is as quiet as it gets.
How we run it
Out at 4.30, at the causeway before first light, then straight on rather than back to the hotel. Breakfast is a box in the car. The temples you see between seven and nine are the ones you will talk about afterwards.
Questions travellers ask
Is Angkor sunrise worth it?
Yes, once. It is crowded at the reflecting pool and serene twenty minutes later when most people leave. Go, then keep going while the park is empty.
Where do people stand?
Most at the northern reflecting pond. The southern one has a similar view and a fraction of the tripods.
Do I need the pass in advance?
You can buy at the gate, but buying the afternoon before lets you enter for the previous evening's sunset at no extra cost.
Can we skip the early start?
You can, and late afternoon at Angkor Wat is genuinely beautiful. But sunrise is the version people remember.
