Our favourite Cambodia tours and excursions

Get an insider’s perspective on daily life in Cambodia with our hand-picked, hands-on experiences, each one designed to get you beneath the surface of the local culture.

What do we mean by “experience”? Well, what we don’t mean is cookie-cutter walking tours and ticking off TripAdvisor’s top-ten list. These experiences will take you inside the lives of ordinary Cambodians, putting you in touch with the culture through some of its most extraordinary people.

We get it — not everyone is a fan of guided day tours. Maybe that’s you. But then again, maybe you just haven’t been on a really great one yet. If that’s the case, let us be the ones to persuade you — because a tip-top tour or a hands-on cultural experience can absolutely make your vacation.

People are the key — we can’t stress that enough. We’ve combed the country for the most knowledgeable and engaging guides, and we’re rigorous about ensuring that the experiences we support benefit local communities. What’s more, we only ever recommend experiences we’ve tried and loved ourselves.

Take our bike tour of the Battambang countryside, for example. Sure, anyone can just rent a bike and go. But would you be able to visit cottage industries to see the craftspeople at work? Would you get to hear the local legend about that quiet, rural temple? Or be able to ask the village silk weaver how she does it? These are the little differences between a good experience and a great one; between seeing Cambodia and really experiencing it.

Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields

Between 1975 and 1979, as many as two million Cambodians — a quarter of the country’s population — were persecuted and killed by the Khmer Rouge. While it’s tempting to turn away from such nightmares, grappling with them is the only real way to appreciate the incredible resilience, determination and drive of the Cambodian people.

The genocide is commemorated at the Tuol Sleng Museum, a former school that served as a Khmer Rouge prison camp, and at the Killing Fields, where prisoners were taken to be executed. Visiting these sites is a profoundly chilling experience but, we think, an important one.

Villages of Siem Reap

Today, Siem Reap is a buzzing tourism hub packed with hotels, hostels, bars and shops, so it’s difficult to imagine that just a few years ago it was little more than a rural backwater.

That is, until you head a few minutes out of town and suddenly find yourself among farmers planting rice, weaving thatch, harvesting vegetables, and transporting fresh produce to market by oxcart. This countryside tour is a chance to immerse yourself in the rural activity of Siem Reap, and a window into a way of life that can feel as though it hasn’t changed since Angkor was built.

La Plantation pepper farm

Whether you’re a seasoned connoisseur or simply spice curious, you can’t possibly leave Cambodia without a taste of Kampot pepper.

Practically revered in the culinary world, this musky, eucalyptus-noted peppercorn is widely considered the best of the best – and La Plantation is our favourite place to try it. First, tour the farm, smell and taste the different varieties, and learn to cook some Khmer dishes where pepper is the star of the show. Then check out the shop – stuffed with everything from black to pink and salted pepper, and even (wildly popular) pepper-infused rum. Be warned: you may need another suitcase.

Aerial view of kayakers in Botum Sakor National Park

Wildlife hikes & kayaking in Botum Sakor National Park

Cardamom Camp isn’t just an extraordinary glamping experience in the heart of an incredibly beautiful jungle. Channelling all their profits into protecting their little slice of rainforest from illegal logging and poaching, this is one of the most determined and impressive conservation efforts we've seen anywhere.

Join the rangers to check camera traps, catalogue flora, and seek out and record animal trails – then take it all in from a different perspective as you kayak on the river between rolling banks of jungle as far as the eye can see. With a plush double bed and a hot shower waiting for you in your luxurious safari tent, Cardamom Camp is something else.

Kayaking on Tonlé Sap Lake

If exploring Tonlé Sap’s sunken fields and stilt villages by longtail boat is like taking a bus, we like to think of kayaking as the waterborne equivalent of a leisurely stroll.

Under your own steam – and without the annoying buzz of an outboard motor – you’re free to slow it down, explore, and perhaps spot things you’d never have noticed otherwise. We also find it’s the best way to interact with locals, as you can stop to chat at your leisure or hop off for lunch at a floating café. For us there’s no question: this is the best way to see Tonlé Sap.

Cruising on the Lower Mekong

From its source in the Tibetan Plateau to its delta in Vietnam, the Mekong has many different personalities.

In Cambodia, its wide, deep and slow waters make for the perfect cruising conditions, and it’s a fantastic way to see the palm-fringed paddy fields of the countryside if you’re not into trekking or cycling. By boat, you can visit little villages, remote temples, community farms and local workshops that are difficult to access by road — all while travelling in comfort and style. The Mekong also winds through Phnom Penh, which makes a great stop of modern history buffs, and in high water seasons you can make a side trip to the stilt villages of Tonlé Sap Lake.