Cambodia First Trip Budget for Australians in 2026: Real AUD Daily Costs

Why a Cambodia trip is one of the easier Aussie travel budgets

Cambodia is one of the best-value Southeast Asian destinations for an Aussie traveller in 2026 — but only if you actually plan the spend instead of guessing. The country runs on a mixed USD-Riel economy where most tourist-facing prices are quoted in US dollars, which means the budgeting work is less about exchange rates and more about understanding three separate cost layers: pre-trip fixed costs (visa, flight, insurance), daily on-the-ground spend, and a small buffer for the unplanned.

An honest Cambodia budget is also a useful planning tool. The daily spend at the mid-range tier — $50 to $100 AUD per person — is roughly half what the same trip would cost in Thailand and a quarter of Singapore. Where Aussies overspend is almost always on flights (impulse-booking a one-week trip at peak fare) or on insurance (not realising over-50s pricing kicks in early). This guide walks the full ledger in AUD, with worked examples at each tier.

The companion first-trip planning checklist covers the sequencing, the month-by-month weather guide covers when to actually go, and the cost guide for Aussies in 2026 is the deeper read on the eVisa line item itself.

Pre-trip fixed costs (per Aussie traveller)

Before you leave Australia you spend four discrete line items: the Cambodia eVisa, the return flight, travel insurance, and the verified e-Arrival Card. Everything else (taxis, hotels, food) is on-the-ground spend. Locking the pre-trip numbers down first is the easiest way to know whether the trip you are imagining is the trip you can actually afford.

The Cambodia eVisa line

The Cambodia tourist eVisa is $80 USD (~$122 AUD) all-in per traveller. Business eVisa is $90 USD (~$137 AUD) and covers meetings, paid work, conferences, sales calls, supplier visits, due-diligence, long stays, and sponsored events. Both are Approved in 3 business days, Delivered as a printable PDF by email, valid 3 months from issue, single entry, 30-day stay. The cleanest sequence is to apply 1–2 weeks before your flight — earlier is fine since the validity runs from issue, not from flight date. AUD shows at checkout so you do not have to convert anything yourself.

What the eVisa does not require: a return flight booking, a hotel reservation, a bank statement, or proof of insurance. The application is genuinely short. Our Australian application walkthrough covers each field, and the documents-required guide lists exactly what to have open in another tab.

Flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth

Direct flights from Australia to Cambodia are limited; almost every Aussie route runs one-stop via Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, or Ho Chi Minh City. From Sydney and Melbourne, return economy fares to Phnom Penh's new KTI (Techo International, opened September 2025) typically sit at $900–$1,200 AUD across most of the year, with December–January peak pushing to $1,200–$1,400 AUD. Brisbane runs $850–$1,150 AUD on a typical route. Perth is the closest Australian capital to Southeast Asia and runs $700–$1,000 AUD, often the cheapest Aussie departure point.

Book 6–12 weeks out for the best fare. Tuesday or Wednesday departures tend to be 10–20% cheaper than Friday or Saturday. If you flex your dates across a 2-week window you can usually shave $100–$200 AUD off the headline fare. Direct fares for Siem Reap (SAI) are rare; most Aussies fly into KTI and connect domestically or take a 6-hour drive.

Travel insurance

DFAT strongly recommends every Aussie traveller carries basic travel insurance for Cambodia. A 1-week comprehensive policy for an under-50 traveller is typically $80–$120 AUD. Over-50 pricing kicks in early — a 55-year-old often pays $150–$220 AUD for the same coverage, a 65-year-old $250–$400 AUD. Adventure activities (motorbiking, scuba diving) often need an add-on at $20–$40 AUD. Buy the policy before you fly; insurance bought after departure is usually invalid for the dates you have already left on. The major Aussie insurers — Cover-More, Allianz, Travel Insurance Direct, World Nomads — all cover Cambodia under their standard Southeast Asia tier.

Daily on-the-ground spend at three tiers

Once you are in Cambodia the daily spend falls into three honest tiers. Each one assumes you are paying for accommodation, three meals, transport, and one or two activities per day — the standard 'tourist day' shape. Drinks, souvenirs, and the unplanned tuk-tuk ride sit on top.

Backpacker tier ($25–$40 AUD per day)

A $25–$40 AUD daily budget in Cambodia is genuinely comfortable for a young Aussie backpacker who is not chasing premium experiences. Hostel dorm beds in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap run $8–$15 AUD per night. Street food and market meals are $2–$5 AUD per plate, and a local beer is $1.50 AUD. The Angkor 1-day pass at $37 USD (~$57 AUD) is the single biggest backpacker line item and is usually amortised across the trip. Shared tuk-tuks are $1–$3 AUD per person across town.

Mid-range tier ($50–$100 AUD per day)

Mid-range is where most Aussie first-time visitors land — a mid-tier boutique or 3-star hotel double room at $40–$80 AUD per night (so $20–$40 AUD per person), three meals out at $8–$15 AUD each, a private tuk-tuk for the day at $20–$25 AUD split between two travellers, and one or two paid attractions. At this tier you can comfortably do dinner at a riverside restaurant with cocktails, take an air-conditioned car to the airport, and book a private guide at Angkor for the morning.

Luxury tier ($200–$400 AUD per day)

Luxury in Cambodia is one of the best-value Southeast Asian markets — a top-tier 5-star resort in Siem Reap (Amansara, Park Hyatt, Raffles Grand) runs $400–$800 AUD per night for two, with breakfast and pool service included. Fine dining is $40–$80 AUD per head, private drivers are $80–$120 AUD per day, and a premium private Angkor guide is $80–$150 AUD for a full day. At the luxury tier the trip is essentially the same Cambodia experience as mid-range but with the friction stripped out — air-con cars, private guides, butler-style hotels.

The hidden line items most Aussies miss

Beyond the headline tiers there are five small line items that catch Aussie first-timers out. None are large individually, but together they typically add $200–$400 AUD across a 10-day trip — enough to push a budget over its bracket if you are not expecting them.

• Angkor temple passes: 1-day $37 USD (~$57 AUD), 3-day $62 USD (~$95 AUD), 7-day $72 USD (~$110 AUD). Most Aussies budget for 1-day and end up upgrading to 3-day on arrival.
• Domestic transfer KTI to Siem Reap: $50–$80 AUD by domestic flight, or $30–$50 AUD shared van for the 6-hour drive.
• Tuk-tuk day-hire: $15–$25 AUD per day in Siem Reap, $20–$30 AUD in Phnom Penh. Split between two travellers it is excellent value.
• Cambodia tourist SIM card: $5 USD (~$7.50 AUD) at the airport, 10 GB, 30 days. Pay this once on arrival, not before.
• ATM withdrawal fee: $3–$5 USD ($4.50–$7.50 AUD) per withdrawal at airport and bank ATMs. Pull $200–$300 USD (~$305–$460 AUD) at a time, not $50.

The other line that Aussies regularly forget is travel insurance excess — if you make a claim, the first $100–$250 AUD usually comes out of your pocket. For a Cambodia trip without adventure activities the chance of a claim is low, but it is worth checking your policy excess before you fly. Our hidden-fees truth guide breaks the rest of the spend down line by line.

Worked example: 10-day Aussie couple, mid-range standard

Here is a fully worked 10-day Cambodia trip for an Australian couple in 2026, booked at the mid-range tier — the bracket most first-time Aussie visitors target. The itinerary is Phnom Penh (3 nights), Siem Reap (4 nights), and Sihanoukville coast (2 nights), with a return flight from Sydney or Melbourne via Singapore.

The single biggest swing factor is flights — Christmas peak departures from Sydney push the headline number to the top of the range, while a flexible May or July departure from Perth can land at the lower end. The second biggest is hotel tier; sliding the booking from $60 AUD per night up to $100 AUD per night across 9 nights adds $360 AUD to the couple total. Everything else is small and predictable.

If your dates flex, the month-by-month weather guide pairs naturally with the budget question — July is the cheapest Aussie-school-holiday window at a 30–50% hotel discount, while December delivers premium pricing for premium weather. The 7-day itinerary covers a shorter Aussie trip shape, and the 14-day itinerary breaks out the longer family or honeymoon version.

Pulling the budget together

Cambodia is one of the most predictable Aussie travel budgets in Southeast Asia. The pre-trip fixed costs are small and locked. The daily tiers are honest. The hidden line items add up to roughly 10% of the trip total if you forget them. For most Aussie first-time visitors the mid-range $50–$100 AUD per day per person tier is where the experience and the value land cleanly — a clean mid-tier hotel, three meals out, a private tuk-tuk for the day, and a paid activity or two without watching every cent.

Once your numbers are settled, the eVisa is the practical next step — Tourist $80 USD (~$122 AUD), Business $90 USD (~$137 AUD), Approved in 3 business days, Delivered as a printable PDF by email, with Aussie-timezone support if anything needs a fix. Free resubmission if Immigration flags a correction. The cost guide for Aussies in 2026 is the deeper read on the visa line itself, and the do-Australians-need-Cambodia-visa pillar is the eligibility background.

Next steps and related reading for Australians: apply for your Cambodia eVisa when you are ready to lodge, bookmark our Cambodia visa hub for Australian citizens as the single canonical reference, skim the FAQ on Cambodia visa cost for quick answers, and use our glossary of Cambodia visa terms to decode any acronym in this guide.