Capital to Angkor visitor route

Six stops from the capital to the temples. From Phnom Penh the route goes north to the old royal capital of Oudong and on to Battambang, then to Siem Reap, Angkor Wat and the Tonle Sap. Travel to Cambodia has the practical side of a visit.

Start at stop 1: Phnom PenhFollow in the Explorer

Illustration, as an impression, of a country road through rice fields in Cambodia.

1. 1

   Phnom Penh

   The capital, where the Tonle Sap and the Bassac meet the Mekong; its name comes from Daun Penh and the hill she raised.

2. 2

   Oudong

   The royal capital from the early 17th century to the 1860s; its hill carries the stupas of past kings.

3. 3

   Battambang

   A city on the Sangker River in a province long called Cambodia's rice bowl; a 1907 treaty returned it to Cambodia from Siam.

4. 4

   Siem Reap

   The city nearest the temples of Angkor, on a river that rises in the Kulen hills and ends in the Tonle Sap.

5. 5

   Angkor Wat

   Built in the 12th century for Vishnu by Suryavarman II, it became a center of Buddhist worship that monks kept up for centuries.

6. 6

   Tonle Sap

   The great lake that swells in the flood; people live on its water in floating and stilt villages.

End of the trail

The six stops run back through the country's seats of power, from the capital at Phnom Penh to the old royal capital at Oudong and on to the temples of Angkor, by way of Battambang's rice country and the great lake.

Follow in the ExplorerStart again at stop 1: Phnom Penh

Other trails through these places

• Angkor visitor route Place trail · 10 stops · shares 3
• Lake and rivers visitor route Place trail · 6 stops · shares 2
• Phnom Penh visitor route Place trail · 8 stops · shares 2