Cambodia Classic & Beach

Siem Reap / Angkor - Phnom Penh - Sihanoukville           8 days, 7 nights

The complete highlights of Cambodia in a one week package tour:

Angkor Temples, capital Phnom Penh and the beach - for an unbeatable value!!

This 8 days tour is an extension of our Cambodia Classic Tour.

In addition, you can relax in Cambodia's famous seaside resort Sihanoukville. Your beach bungalow resort offers spectacular seaviews!

A perfect balance between adventure and comfort, exploration and relaxation.

Many included special extras like lunch in a family's house, traditional massage, Apsara Dance Show & Dinner and much more ...

• All major Angkor Temples, including Banteay Srei
• Boat trip to Kampong Phhluk stilt village & flooded forest
• Overland trip to the capital Phnom Penh
• Citytour Phnom Penh with all highlights
• Beach bungalow resort with fantastic seaviews
• Options for extensions

 Day 1:    World Heritage Angkor Thom & Angkor Wat!

                Pick up and check in Ta Som Guesthouse with welcome drink and cold towel. In your room, we provide a tropical fruit basket.
In air conditioned car, drive with your our experienced English speaking local tour guide to the nearby Angkor Archaeological Park, UNESCO-World Heritage site since 1992.

Day 2: Sunrise in Angkor Wat - Srah Srang - Walking tour through "jungle temples" - Preah Khan - Neak Pean - Eastern Mebon - Banteay Srei

You shouldn't miss the fantastic sunrise in Angkor Wat - a unique experience!

Breakfast ( as breakfast box) on the pittoresque Srah Srang Water Basin. Enjoy this quite place, the former royal bath.
Start for a walking tour through Banteay Kdei and Ta Prohm, the so called jungle temple.
This tour is easy and takes us about two hours.
(In our opinion as tour agency, walking is a much more intensive way to "feel" and to "smell" Angkor than sitting only in a car and getting off at some spots.
If you want, the walking tour can be shortened up to one hour, according to your condition.)

Visit of Ta Prohm
The EFEO (Ecole Francaise d'Extrême-Orient) has decided to keep this tempel overgrown by the jungle. Enjoy the trees growing out from the temple ruins and feel like the first explorers and "rediscoverers" of Angkor, like Henri Mouhot or Lunet de Lajonquière.

Time for lunch in front of the gigantic face gopurams (temple entrance) of Ta Prohm in a local restaurant (not included).
In the afternoon, we explore Preah Khan temple (with hugh trees overgrowing the ruins). The temple complex has been ideally restored by the World Monument Fund. Learn about the enormous looting problem in Angkor and the important savegarding and preservation activities of the WMF.
Go on seeing the most important spots on the "grand circuit", like Neak Pean (holy bath) and the Eastern Mebon (with Elephant statues).

Our special:
As Ta Som Temple gave the name to our Guesthouse and Tour Agency,
the visit of this marvellous small temple is also included in this tour!
Ta Som means "the ancestor", king Jayavarman VII dedicated this temple to his teacher.
Enjoy the famous eastern gopuram of Ta Som, which is depicted on our logo. Take your picture!

In the late afternoon, you visit world famous Banteay Srei, with its amazing stone carvings of highest quality. The temple really deserves its nickname "diamond" of Angkor.

Transfer back to Ta Som Guesthouse. After your second day in the temples, you are certainly tired and will enjoy your included traditional khmer massage in your room.
In Ta Som Garden Restaurant, you should try the traditional beef loklak, together with a refreshing and vitalizing pineapple juice (optional).
              

Day 3:     Roluos Group, Morning Market and Floating Village Kampong Phhluk

                  After breakfast, visit the so called "Roluos Group", the place where "Angkor was born" with Bakong Temple, Preah Koh Temple and Lolei. We see the morning market in Roluos with indigenously grown vegetables and many fish species.

Enjoy your boat tour through the flooded forests of the Great Tonle Sap Lake, habitat of many bird species and arrive in Kampong Phhluk. This amazing floating village is built on 8 to 10 m high stilts.

We have lunch in a family's house (picnik boxes) and learn about the way of living in this still authentic community.

Please note: Depending on the season and the level of the Tonle Sap Lake, this program may be subject to changes.  

Traditional Apsara Dance Show with Buffet Dinner.

Day 4: Cambodia Overland & Cruising on Mekong River

At 7 am start your overland trip by Capitol bus through rich farmlands with rice paddies, water buffaloes and sugar palm trees to Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh.
In the evening, sunset cruise in traditional wooden boat on the Mekong River to see "the skyline" of Phnom Penh.

2 overnights in Capitol Guesthouse or Kim Guesthouse (opened in september 2010).
 

Day 5:    Royal City Phnom Penh

Your Phnom Penh citytour starts with Wat Phnom. See the different shrines of Theravada and Mahayana buddhism and enjoy this quiet place in the heart of the capital.
Continue to famous National Museum with the worldwide largest collection of Khmer art.
You will see lots of masterpieces of Khmer bronzes, bas-reliefs and sculptures, like the famous reclining Vishnu (from Western Baray) and the stone sculptured head of Jayavarman VII, the most powerful of all Angkorian kings. The museum gives an excellent overview of Angkorian art and history and invites you to sum up your visits of Angkor.
Go on your programme with the Royal Palace and its highly decorated throne hall, the flowered royal gardens and of course the famous Silver Pagoda. See the model of Angkor Wat giving you a bird eyes' view of the whole temple area.

By traditional cyclo you will be driven from the Royal Palace to the colourful Central Market.
This cyclo tour is certainly one of the highlights of your Phnom Penh experience.
Explore the traditional Central Market and the modern Suriya Market with lots of all kinds of foodstands (exclusive).
Visit the Tuol Sleng Museum for genocide, and learn about this cruel part of Cambodian history.

 Day 6:    Welcome to the beach!

                 By a/c Capitol Tour Bus, we head southwards to Sihanoukville, Cambodia's most popular seaside resort. Enjoy your overland tour through very scenic cultural landscapes with rice paddies, water buffaloes and sugar palms (230 km, about 4 hours).

You are free to choose your departure time. Please select among 7:15, 8:45, 11:15, 12:30, 1:30 PM and 2:30 PM. Decide by yourself if you prefer another individual exploration of the capital Phnom Penh, or if you would like to spend more time at the white sandy beaches of Sihanoukville.

2 overnights in The Cove Beach Bungalows Resort, located right on Serendipity Beach.

 Day 7:  Relax in Sihanoukville - or optional daytrips?

              Time to relax: Your resort offers fantastic seaviews to the islands and is located directly on the hillside at Serendipity Beach, giving also access to the more exclusive Sokha Beach.

Options for daytrips, such as "Ream National Park" with mangrove forests and exotic wildlife (white fresh water dolphins!) or "Island Hopping" with snorkeling and seafood BBQ.

(Daytours are excluded.)

 Day 8:  Bye bye paradise!

             After breakfast, transfer to the bus station in Sihanoukville.

End of package tour "Classic & Beach".

It will be hard to leave this fantastic place, that's why there are options for extensions in The Cove Beach Bungalows (just contact us).

From Sihanoukville's bus station, all other destinations can be easily reached (Koh Kong, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Saigon). If you need assistance in booking your tickets, please contact us.