What to Pack for Cambodia: Temple Dress Code and Weather Checklist for Americans

The core Cambodia packing list for Americans

Cambodia is a place where less is genuinely more. The heat punishes overpacking, laundry is cheap and fast almost everywhere, and you will live in three or four light outfits on rotation. Build the list around breathable fabrics — cotton, linen, and quick-dry technical blends — in light, natural colors that reflect heat and hide dust. Skip anything heavy, dark, or synthetic that traps sweat. Here is the core list that covers both the climate and the temples.

Beyond the clothing, a few small things make a disproportionate difference. A reusable water bottle keeps you hydrated in the heat and cuts down on plastic — many guesthouses and cafes will refill it. A portable power bank matters because you will be photographing temples all day and charging on the move. Bring any prescription medication in its original packaging with enough for the whole trip, a basic first-aid kit with rehydration salts, and hand sanitizer. A small flashlight or your phone light helps at pre-dawn temple visits when the paths are dark.

On money: the US dollar is widely used across Cambodia for everyday spending, so you do not need to convert everything to riel before you go — small change often comes back in riel. Bring some clean, undamaged smaller-denomination bills, because torn or heavily marked notes are sometimes refused. A no-foreign-transaction-fee card covers most hotels, nicer restaurants, and tours, with cash for markets, tuk-tuks, and rural stops.

How your packing changes by season

Cambodia has two seasons rather than four, and the only real packing variable between them is rain. The temperature stays hot in both, so your core clothing list barely changes — what shifts is whether you add a rain layer and how much you plan around the afternoon. Knowing which season you are flying into lets you trim the bag accordingly.

Dry season (November to April)

This is the easy window to pack for. From November to February the air is cooler and the humidity drops, so a light layer for early temple mornings is worth having — sunrise at Angkor can feel almost cool before the sun climbs. March and April are the hottest stretch of the year, regularly pushing into the upper 90s, so lean even harder into loose, light, sweat-wicking fabrics, pack extra sunscreen, and bring electrolyte tablets. You can leave the heavy rain gear at home in the dry months; a small folding umbrella for shade is plenty.

Green season (May to October)

The green season brings the rain, but not the all-day soak most Americans picture. The pattern is usually a hot morning, building cloud, and then a short, heavy downpour in the afternoon that clears quickly. Pack a packable rain shell or a compact travel umbrella, fast-drying clothes you will not mind getting damp, and sandals or shoes that handle wet stone. Quick-dry everything earns its place here — cotton that soaks through stays wet for hours in the humidity, while technical fabrics are dry again by dinner.

If you have not locked your travel month yet, the season changes far more about your packing than it does about your visa. Our month-by-month guide to the best time to visit Cambodia weighs the dry and green seasons side by side so you can match your suitcase to the weather you are actually going to get.

The documents you actually carry through the airport

Here is the part that surprises most first-time American visitors: the paperwork is the lightest thing in your bag. Cambodia does not ask you to carry a flight itinerary, a hotel confirmation, a bank statement, or a printed insurance certificate to the immigration desk. The arrival process is built around two things — your visa and your e-Arrival Card — and both live on your phone or a single printed sheet.

1. 1
   Check your passport

   Confirm at least six months of validity and one blank page for the entry stamp.

2. 2
   Apply for the eVisa

   A Tourist eVisa is $80 USD all-in, approved in 3 business days, valid 3 months from issue for a 30-day single-entry stay.

3. 3
   Print the eVisa PDF

   It arrives by email as a printable PDF; print two copies and save a screenshot on your phone.

4. 4
   Submit the e-Arrival Card

   A separate 14-field form submitted within 7 days before arrival; it produces the QR code the officer scans.

5. 5
   Pack the airport kit

   Carry the passport, printed eVisa, e-Arrival QR saved offline, a no-foreign-fee card, and a little USD cash.

Your Cambodia eVisa is the main document. A Tourist eVisa is $80 USD all-in, approved in 3 business days, valid for 3 months from issue, and good for a 30-day single-entry stay; a Business eVisa is $90 USD on the same timeline. It arrives as a printable PDF by email, and the simple move is to print two copies — one for your daypack, one in your checked bag as a backup — and save a screenshot on your phone. You apply online before you fly; the full picture of cost, documents, and timing sits in our Cambodia visa for US citizens guide.

The second piece is the e-Arrival Card — a separate, mandatory step from the visa. It is a short digital form, 14 fields, submitted within 7 days before you arrive, and it produces a QR code that the officer scans at the desk. You cannot lodge it months ahead, so the practical habit is to set a phone reminder for the week before you fly. Travelers who skip it are the ones pulled aside at arrivals to finish it on the spot, which is exactly the delay you do not want after a long flight.

Round out the document pocket with the basics every international trip needs: your physical passport with at least six months of validity and a blank page for the stamp, a printed copy of your eVisa, your e-Arrival QR code saved offline, a card with no foreign transaction fee, and a little USD cash for the taxi or tuk-tuk into town. That is the entire airport kit. Everything else — accommodation address, onward plans — is either optional or already captured on the e-Arrival Card.

Putting the bag together before you fly

Strip it back and the whole thing fits in a carry-on. Three or four breathable outfits that all pass the shoulders-and-knees test, a scarf or sarong, comfortable shoes, serious sun and insect protection, a rain layer if you are traveling May to October, and a small kit of the practical extras. Pack light, plan to do a load of cheap laundry mid-trip, and leave room for the inevitable market finds on the way home. The heat rewards a light bag, and a light bag rewards you on every tuk-tuk, temple stair, and humid afternoon.

A little context on the destination goes a long way too — knowing the local customs, the dress norms beyond the temples, and the small etiquette points makes the whole trip smoother. Our rundown of the things to know before your first Cambodia trip covers the cultural ground that does not fit on a packing list but absolutely belongs in your head before you land.

With the bag sorted, the visa is the simple part: a Tourist eVisa at $80 USD or a Business eVisa at $90 USD, approved in 3 business days, delivered as a printable PDF by email, with free resubmission if Immigration flags a correction and US-timezone support if you get stuck. When your dates firm up, apply for your Cambodia eVisa, then set a reminder for the e-Arrival Card in the week before you fly.