Angkor Wat tickets: passes, prices and how to buy them

Angkor is not free, and the ticket is not sold at the temples. This is the part of a Siem Reap trip that most often catches people out, so here is how it works.

The three passes

Prices are set by Angkor Enterprise, the state body that runs the park, and they have been unchanged for several years. Ask us or check the official site for the current amount before you travel, because we would rather you had the figure from the source than from a blog. Children under twelve go free with a passport as proof of age.

Where to buy it

There is one ticket office: the Angkor Enterprise centre on Street 60, about four kilometres from the centre of Siem Reap, on the way to the park. It opens early, around five in the morning, for people going to the sunrise. There is also an official website for advance purchase.

• Your photograph is taken at the counter and printed on the pass. It is not transferable.
• Buy after about five in the afternoon and the pass starts the following day, but it lets you into the park that evening for the sunset.
• Keep the ticket. It is checked at the entrance to the park and again at the bigger temples, and a lost pass is not replaced.

Do not buy a pass from a tuk-tuk driver, a hotel desk or a street seller. There is no legitimate reseller, and a pass in someone else’s name will be refused at the gate.

What the pass does not cover

The Angkor pass covers the Angkor Archaeological Park, which includes Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, Banteay Srei, Preah Khan and the rest of the circuits. It does not cover several places visitors assume are included:

• Phnom Kulen National Park, which has its own entrance fee.
• Beng Mealea and Koh Ker, which are outside the park and ticketed separately.
• The floating villages on the Tonle Sap, where you pay a boat fee.
• Sunrise tickets, guides, transport and food. The pass is entry only.

When you travel with us, entrance fees for everything on your itinerary are listed in what the tour includes, so you can see exactly what is and is not paid for.

The rules staff actually enforce

• Cover your shoulders and knees. This is checked at the upper level of Angkor Wat, and people are turned away every day.
• No drones without a permit.
• Do not climb on the carvings or the collapsed stones, and follow the roped routes.
• Keep off the grass inside the moat where it is marked, and take your rubbish out.

Our guide to culture and customs covers the dress code and temple etiquette in more detail, including what to wear in the heat that still passes at the gate.

Sunrise, and whether it is worth it

Sunrise at Angkor Wat is the busiest hour of the day at the busiest temple in the country, and it is still worth doing once. Get to the park by about half past five, take the left-hand pool, and stay for twenty minutes after the sun clears the towers, when most of the crowd leaves for breakfast and the temple quietens down.

Our sunrise private day tour is built around that timing, with breakfast after the sun is up rather than before.

Planning around the ticket

Because the three-day pass spreads over ten days, you can put a rest day, a trip to the lake or an overnight in Battambang in the middle without losing a day of temples. If you would like us to build your days around a pass, tell us your dates, or start from our Angkor Wat tours and Siem Reap tours.