Cambodia 14-Day Itinerary for Australians: 2026 Slow Trip (Siem Reap + Phnom Penh + Kampot + Koh Rong)

Days 1–4: Siem Reap in detail

Day 1 — Arrival, Angkor ticket office, easy first night

Most Singapore connections land into SAI early afternoon. Clear immigration with your printed eVisa and the scanned e-Arrival QR code, grab a tuk-tuk from the official rank ($10–15 USD / ~$15–23 AUD into town, fixed-price), and check in. Then head to the Angkor Enterprise ticket centre east of town — pick up the 3-day pass ($62 USD / ~$94 AUD), the right call for four Siem Reap nights. Bring your passport; the pass cannot be issued without it.

Spend the evening on a slow Khmer dinner. The Pub Street barbecue places are touristy but reliable; the riverside restaurants north of the Old Market are quieter. Early to bed; tomorrow starts at 4:30am. If you want the full airport rundown for the SAI side, the Cambodia airports guide for Aussies covers all three terminals you will use across the fortnight.

Day 2 — Angkor sunrise + small circuit

Pre-book a tuk-tuk driver for the day through your hotel ($20–25 USD / ~$30–38 AUD, English-speaking). Leave at 4:45am, be at Angkor Wat's west entrance by 5:15am, set up to the left of the central lily pond, and watch the sun rise behind the five towers. Work the small circuit: Angkor Wat for 90 minutes, Bayon (the smiling faces) for an hour, Ta Prohm for an hour, lunch opposite Angkor Thom. Back at the hotel by 2pm, then sunset at Pre Rup.

Day 3 — Big circuit + Phare circus

Same tuk-tuk driver, slightly later 6am start, out to Banteay Srei — the small pink-sandstone temple 35km north of Siem Reap with the finest carving on the whole circuit. Back via Banteay Samre, lunch, then East Mebon and Pre Rup. Evening: Phare, the Cambodian Circus. Tickets $18–38 USD (~$27–57 AUD) depending on seat — the mid-tier seats are fine, no bad sightlines, story-driven performances that are closer to Cirque du Soleil than to a traditional circus.

Day 4 — Tonlé Sap or slow morning, then prep for the bus

The flex day. Option A: Kampong Phluk floating village on Tonlé Sap — boats leave 7am, back by lunchtime, stilt houses at their tallest in green season (July–September). Option B: nothing. Long breakfast, an hour at the Angkor National Museum, slow lunch, pack for the bus. Most Aussies on the 14-day plan say the second option ages better.

Days 5–10: Phnom Penh and Kampot in detail

Day 5 — Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, riverfront evening

Giant Ibis bus, 8:30am from the SAI terminal, $13–15 USD (~$20–23 AUD), arrives Phnom Penh mid-afternoon. Working A/C, working seatbelts, working wi-fi, snack included. The alternative is a Cambodia Angkor Air or AirAsia internal flight at $45–60 USD (~$69–91 AUD), three hours door-to-door once airport time is factored in. On a 14-day trip the bus is the right call. Check into a hotel near Sisowath Quay, walk the promenade at dusk, eat on a balcony.

Day 6 — Royal Palace + Tuol Sleng + Choeung Ek

Start at the Royal Palace ($10 USD / ~$15 AUD) when it opens at 8am — long sleeves and long trousers required. The Silver Pagoda inside, with its solid silver floor tiles, is the unexpected highlight. Allow 90 minutes. From the palace, tuk-tuk south to Tuol Sleng (S-21), entry $5 USD (~$7.50 AUD) plus $3 USD (~$4.50 AUD) for the audio guide — take it. After a light lunch, tuk-tuk out to Choeung Ek, 17km south, $6 USD (~$9 AUD) inclusive of the audio guide. Back in town by 4pm, quiet evening, rooftop bar along the river.

Day 7 — Russian Market, Mekong cruise, prep for Kampot

Lighter day. Morning at the Russian Market (Phsar Tuol Tom Poung) for silk, silver and Cambodian coffee to take home. Lunch on Street 240 (Phnom Penh's small designer-and-coffee strip). Late afternoon, Mekong sunset cruise from Sisowath Quay — $10–15 USD per person (~$15–23 AUD) for 90 minutes with a beer. Pack for Kampot. The van leaves early.

Day 8 — Phnom Penh to Kampot, evening on the river

Shared van or minibus, $10–15 USD (~$15–23 AUD), three to four hours south through the rice paddies to Kampot. Most vans depart 8am and 12pm from a central pickup near Sisowath Quay. The drop-off is two blocks from the old market. Check into a riverside guesthouse (mid-range $30–50 USD/night / ~$45–75 AUD) and spend the evening at a riverbank bar watching the fishing boats. Kampot is the first town on the trip where you slow down completely.

Day 9 — Pepper farm, salt fields, sunset cruise

Hire a tuk-tuk or scooter for the day. South to a certified Kampot pepper farm ($5–10 USD entry / ~$7.50–15 AUD with a tour and tasting), then to the salt fields on the road to Kep. Lunch at the Kep crab market — $8–15 USD a head (~$12–23 AUD) for crab with green Kampot pepper sauce. Back in Kampot by 4pm, sunset cruise on the Praek Tuek Chhu ($8–10 USD / ~$12–15 AUD with a beer).

Day 10 — Phnom Chhngok caves or slow river morning

Final Kampot day. Option A: scooter out to the Phnom Chhngok cave temple, a small 7th-century pre-Angkorian brick temple inside a limestone cave 12km north of Kampot, $2 USD entry (~$3 AUD). Half a day comfortably. Option B: another nothing morning on the river. Pack for Koh Rong tomorrow — soft bag is easier than a hard suitcase on the ferry.

Days 11–14: Koh Rong and getting home

Day 11 — Kampot to Koh Rong via Sihanoukville

Shared van Kampot to Sihanoukville, $8–10 USD (~$12–15 AUD), roughly two hours west. Drop-off at the Serendipity pier where the Koh Rong ferries leave — $25 USD (~$38 AUD) return ticket, 45 minutes, six departures daily between 8am and 4pm. Book the morning ferry for a full afternoon on the island. Mid-range bungalows on Long Set or Sok San are a $5 USD (~$7.50 AUD) longtail transfer from the main pier.

Days 12 — Long Set beach, snorkel trip, bioluminescent plankton

Full Koh Rong day. Long Set (4K) beach is the wide quiet eastern stretch — soft sand, warm shallow water, virtually no current. Morning swim, beach-bar lunch, afternoon snorkel trip ($15–20 USD / ~$23–30 AUD for a four-hour group trip to nearby reefs). Sunset on the west side. After dinner, the night-swim bioluminescent plankton trip — Koh Rong's main party trick, and the evening most Aussies on this trip rate the single best of the fortnight.

Day 13 — Slow day, pick a beach

Either another slow Long Set day, or a longtail boat over to Koh Rong Samloem, the smaller quieter sister island 30 minutes south — $10 USD return (~$15 AUD), day trip only, Saracen Bay is the headline beach. Back at the bungalow by sunset for the final island dinner. Pack tonight — the morning ferry is early.

Day 14 — Koh Rong to Phnom Penh, fly home

Early ferry back to Sihanoukville (8am or 9am), then the internal flight from Sihanoukville Airport (KOS) up to KTI — $50–70 USD (~$76–106 AUD), 45 minutes, the only point on the 14-day trip where flying earns its keep. The road version is six to seven hours and lands you tired right before a long-haul international flight. Land at KTI mid-afternoon, slow late lunch on Sisowath Quay, evening flight out via Singapore.

If you want to extend or split the trip differently, the best-time-to-visit guide for Cambodia covers how the shape of this same itinerary changes between dry and green seasons, and the multiple-entry eVisa guide for Australians is worth a read if you are tempted to dip across to Vietnam in the middle of the fortnight — the standard Tourist eVisa is single-entry and that catches a lot of Aussie planners out.

Booking sequence and pairing with another country

Roughly four weeks out, lock the open-jaw flights. Three to four weeks out, apply for the eVisa on the Australian application walkthrough — three business days approval, valid three months from issue, so do not apply too early. Two weeks out, book the Giant Ibis SAI to KTI and the shared van KTI to Kampot. One week before flying, file the e-Arrival Card inside the 7-day window. Day before: print the eVisa PDF and the e-Arrival QR code, and pack soft bags for Koh Rong.

Fourteen days is also the length where Aussies start asking whether they should pair Cambodia with another country. Honestly, no — you have just enough time to do Cambodia properly. Splitting the fortnight 7-and-7 with Vietnam or Thailand pulls you back into the rushed 7-day shape on each side. If you have 21 days, the Cambodia tourist visa specialist guide covers the edge cases for longer trips. Smartraveller's Cambodia advisory is worth a five-minute read before you book, especially if your routing involves a Bangkok or Singapore stopover.

Pulling it together

Open-jaw flight, four nights at the temples, three for the capital, three on the river, three on the beach, one buffer at the end. eVisa locked three to four weeks out, e-Arrival inside the 7-day window. That is the whole shape of a 14-day Cambodia trip from Australia in 2026, and the version Aussies who have done both consistently say they would pick again over the 7-day plan if they had the leave to spend.

The land borders with Thailand have all been closed since June 2025, so an overland leg from Bangkok is no longer an option — every Aussie itinerary for 2026 starts with a flight in. Plan the trip around the flight schedule, not the other way around, and the rest falls into place.