Dramatic cliff-top architecture, once it reopens
Preah Vihear Temple is an 11th-century Khmer sanctuary to Shiva, built along an 800-metre axis on the Dangrek escarpment at Cambodia's border with Thailand, ending at a cliff more than 500 metres above the plain. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. The temple was damaged in the 2025 border clashes and has been closed to visitors since July 2025.
September 2026
Photo: PsamatheM, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Preah Vihear Temple is an 11th-century Khmer sanctuary to Shiva, laid out for 800 metres along the top of the Dangrek escarpment on Cambodia’s northern border. Its final shrine stands at the lip of a cliff more than 500 metres above the plain. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.
Preah Vihear has been closed to the public since the Cambodia and Thailand border clashes of July 2025. Further fighting in December 2025 caused heavier damage, and in early 2026 the authorities reported damage at 562 points across the complex, including all five gopuras. Unexploded ordnance and unstable masonry keep the site off limits while conservation work goes on. There is no announced reopening date. We check the position before every trip and will update this page when access returns.
No other Khmer temple is built quite like this. Instead of rising in tiers around a central tower, Preah Vihear climbs a slope in a long line, gate after gate, until the ground simply runs out. Standing at the end, with the forests of the northern plains spread out below, you understand why the builders chose the spot.
A hermitage on the escarpment is recorded from the 9th century, and the site was sacred long before the stone temple took shape. Most of what stands today was built in the first half of the 11th century, above all under Suryavarman I, with further work under Suryavarman II, the king who built Angkor Wat. The temple was dedicated to Shiva as lord of the mountain, and the cliff itself was part of the idea.
Preah Vihear sits exactly on the line where Cambodia meets Thailand. The easiest natural approach has always been from the Thai side, up the gentle northern slope, while the Cambodian side is a sheer cliff. That geography, and a colonial-era map, lie behind a dispute that has run for more than a century.
The 1962 ICJ ruling gave the temple to Cambodia, and the 2013 judgment confirmed it. UNESCO listing in 2008 brought the question back to the surface, and fighting broke out several times between 2008 and 2011. For more than a decade after that the temple was peaceful and increasingly visited.
In 2025 the conflict returned. Cambodian officials recorded damage at 142 points after the July clashes and 420 more after heavier fighting in December. The northern staircase, several gopuras and parts of the galleries were hit. UNESCO has pledged emergency support, and restoration is expected to take many years.
The temple is a procession. You walk from north to south, uphill, through five gopuras linked by causeways and stairways, each gate a little grander than the last. The sanctuary comes at the very end, and just beyond it is the cliff.
A monumental stairway of 163 steps, about 78 metres long, begins the climb from the north. It was among the parts damaged in 2025.
Cruciform gate pavilions with carved pediments, linked by stone causeways lined with boundary posts. Look up at the pediments, some of the finest carving on the site.
A stepped rock-cut basin beside the causeway, which held water for the temple. It is one of the quiet corners of the site.
Lintels and pediments carved with Hindu stories, including the Churning of the Ocean of Milk also shown at Angkor Wat, here on a far more intimate scale.
Galleries and courtyards around the main shrine. Much of the tower has fallen, but the enclosure walls and window balusters remain.
The bare rock platform beyond the sanctuary, where the escarpment drops away and the plains of northern Cambodia stretch to the horizon.
The carving is among the best of its period. Pediments and lintels are deep and crisp because the site was so remote for so long, and the grey and ochre sandstone looks especially warm in low afternoon light.
These are the arrangements that applied before the 2025 closure. Treat them as a guide and confirm locally before you travel, because prices and access are likely to change when the site reopens.
| Current status | Closed to visitors since July 2025; no reopening date announced |
|---|---|
| Entry fee (before closure) | $10 for foreign visitors, with passport; confirm locally |
| Angkor Pass | Not valid; Preah Vihear is managed separately |
| Transfer to the top (before closure) | Moto taxi or 4×4 pick-up from the ticket office at the foot of the hill, paid separately |
| Time needed | Two to three hours on site |
| Access from Thailand | Closed for many years; visits are from the Cambodian side only |
The temple is in Preah Vihear province, on the Dangrek range. The nearest town with guesthouses is Sra Em, about 20 to 30 kilometres from the foot of the mountain. From Siem Reap the road runs north through Anlong Veng, or east past Koh Ker, and takes about four hours each way on paved roads.
Before the closure, the final climb to the temple was by a steep road from the ticket office, covered in a pick-up or on the back of a motorbike. Private cars were not allowed up the last stretch. A day trip from Siem Reap was possible but long, and most of our guests preferred to stay a night in Sra Em or combine the temple with Koh Ker.
Best season. The dry months from November to March have the clearest views and the easiest roads. In the wet season, from about May to October, cloud can sit on the escarpment and hide the plain below.
While Preah Vihear is closed, the rest of the northern temple country is open and wonderfully quiet. Koh Ker, also in Preah Vihear province and also a World Heritage Site, is the best substitute, with its seven-tiered pyramid rising out of the forest. On the way it is easy to stop at Beng Mealea, a vast jungle-covered temple that most visitors to Angkor Wat never reach.
For adventurous travellers, Preah Khan of Kampong Svay, a huge and rarely visited Angkorian complex further east in the same province, is another option. It needs a 4×4 and a full day.
We follow the situation at Preah Vihear closely and will build it back into our routes as soon as it is safe. For now our Northern Temple Trail dirt bike expedition and Hidden Temples of the Heartland take you to Koh Ker, Beng Mealea and the quiet temples of the north with a private guide and driver. Tell us your dates and we will tell you honestly what is open. See more of our heritage experiences.
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