Our favorite Cambodia tours and excursions

“You start with crickets and a beer.” That’s Angelina Jolie’s advice on Cambodian street food — but don’t worry, it’s not all about deep-fried tarantulas. 

Travel by tuk-tuk on a night-time tour of Phnom Penh and you’ll soon find out: Khmer cuisine all about rich, coconutty amoks, fish so fresh it’s almost flapping, pungent fermented sauces, fragrant cardamom and — of course — the spicy, eucalyptus zing of Kampot pepper. Accompanying your culinary introduction to the capital will be a range of freshly prepared exotic cocktails, and plenty of photo opportunities at some of the city’s most impressive landmarks lit up against the night sky.

Recognizable by their distinctive snub-noses and enigmatic smiles, the largest population of Irrawaddy dolphins in the world lives in the Mekong, where — if you’re lucky — you might spot their little dorsal fins dancing about above the water not far from the village of Kampi. 

With just 92 left in the wild, this may be your last chance to see them — though we certainly hope not. Thankfully, conservationists have teamed up with fishermen to run low-volume dolphin-spotting tours, which supplement local incomes and motivate the conservation of these critically endangered (and strikingly cute) creatures.

Take a monkey’s-eye view of the jungle as you fly, climb and swing though the treetops on a mixture of ziplines, hanging bridges and platforms.

This conservation-friendly tour does not damage the trees in any way, using a clever rigging and counter-weighted system to keep the equipment in the canopy. Even better, a percentage of their profits go toward reforestation and primate rehabilitation, and you might even be lucky enough to spot a gibbon as you soar through their home! At the very least, your dedicated “Sky Ranger” will be able to tell you some fascinating facts about the surrounding jungle and wildlife.

Soksabike is one of our absolute favorite partners in Cambodia. A local company with a wholehearted commitment to forging real connections between travelers and local people, they’re not interested in parading tourists through show villages. 

Instead, their cycle tours  get you involved in the daily life of the villages, farms and cottage industries of the Battambang countryside by introducing you to some of its most interesting people. Whether you’re making rice paper or trying the local cakes, this is exactly the kind of slow, explorative, and mutually beneficial travel that Cambodia is all about.

When it comes to Phare, “circus” barely begins to cover it. This is world-class performance art — telling the stories of Cambodian legend and history through ambitious choreography, spine-tingling live music, and almost terrifying acrobatics that’ll have you gripping the edge of your seat.

As if that weren’t enough, it’s also a social enterprise that provides a vocation for disadvantaged young people, helping to fuel a Cambodian cultural renaissance in the wake of the Khmer Rouge. We know circus might not be high on your Cambodia bucket list but trust us: just go!