Angkor Pass: 1, 3 or 7 Days? Count Your Temple Days First

For most first trips, buy the 3-day pass. At $62 it costs less than two 1-day passes ($74), and its three days can be any three within a seven-day window, so you can rest between temple days. Pick the 1-day pass ($37) only if you have a single day and want just the headline temples, and the 7-day pass ($72) once a fourth temple day looks likely.

The prices, and the math that decides it

Two temple days already make the 3-day pass the cheaper buy, and a likely fourth day makes the 7-day pass cheaper still.

What's on sale. Angkor Enterprise, the only official seller, lists three Angkor passes (checked October 2026): 1 day for $37; 3 days for $62, expiring 7 days after the start date; and 7 days for $72, expiring after 30 days. The days don't have to be consecutive, there is no 2-day pass, and every pass opens every temple in the Angkor Archaeological Park.

The math. Two 1-day passes cost $74, so if you're planning two temple days, the 3-day pass saves $12 and leaves a spare day for rain or a second sunrise. A 3-day pass plus an extra 1-day pass comes to $99, against $72 for the 7-day, which is why the 7-day wins as soon as a fourth day is on the cards. Used in full, the 3-day pass works out at about $21 a day and the 7-day at about $10.

Ignore older numbers. Blog posts quoting $20, $40 or $60, or saying the days must run back to back, describe rules that no longer apply.

When one day is enough

One day works if you only want Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm and can handle a long, hot day.

What it covers. Angkor Enterprise's own FAQ pairs the 1-day pass with the Small Circuit: Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng, Bayon, Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei, Srah Srang, Ta Nei and the smaller temples between them. It leaves the Grand Circuit (Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon and Pre Rup) to 3- and 7-day holders, though the same FAQ says any pass opens every temple in the park.

What travelers say. Opinions split sharply. In a 2017 post, the blogger behind Live and Let's Fly spent six hours at Angkor Wat, Bayon, Baphuon and Ta Prohm in 35°C heat, called it "more than enough" and didn't go back during a three-night stay. A couple writing at Maptrotting in 2026, who used a 3-day pass, are blunt the other way: "1 day just isn't enough!" On a Travellerspoint forum thread, answers ran from a single day to "3 days is a minimum".

Get a free sunset. Buy a ticket for the next day after 4:45 PM and you can enter that evening for sunset; the ticket then keeps its full validity the next day, sunrise included. Angkor Enterprise's FAQ describes this for the 1-day ticket, and Adventures Cambodia, a Siem Reap tour operator, says it works for any pass dated for the next day. Phnom Bakheng lets only 300 people up at a time and travelers advise arriving before 4 PM, so on a 4:45 PM ticket head for one of the calmer sunset spots in our guide's skip-or-swap list.

Why three days suits most first trips

Three days covers the Small Circuit, the Grand Circuit and a third day for Banteay Srei and the outlying temples, without forcing you through the midday heat.

Spread the days out. Because the pass days can fall anywhere in the seven-day window, you can put a rest day in the middle. The Maptrotting couple stayed five nights and went temple exploring on days 1, 2 and 4, with a stroll around town and rest on day 3. Day trips to Phnom Kulen, Koh Ker or the Tonle Sap lake villages need their own tickets, so they make good in-between days that don't use up the pass.

Pace it for the heat. Even keen visitors flag by the third day. One Travellerspoint poster cut the last of three days to a half day when the heat passed 40°C, and Maptrotting describes "three long, sweaty days" and gives one top tip: go slow. In March and April especially, plan dawn starts and long midday breaks (see when to go in our guide).

Only two days? Buy the 3-day pass anyway; the spare day is insurance against a washed-out morning. For day-by-day routes, see the sample itineraries in our Siem Reap and Angkor travel guide.

When the 7-day pass is worth the extra $10

Buy the 7-day pass if a fourth temple day is likely, or if you'd rather see Angkor in short morning sessions.

Who it suits. The writer of Hit the Road Ket bought the 7-day pass, gave Angkor four days and says they would have done even more. The 30-day window lets you go out only in the cooler early hours, skip a wet day without losing value, or return to a favourite temple in different light. Maptrotting's verdict is that seven days is a bit much unless you're a big fan of Khmer temples or want to move very slowly, which makes a fair test: if neither describes you, three days will do.

Buying the pass without losing a morning

Buy it the day before, and only from Angkor Enterprise: online, in its Angkor Pass app or at the ticket office.

Where and when. The ticket office, at the corner of Road 60 and Apsara Road, opens daily from 5:00 AM to 5:30 PM and takes dollars in cash as well as Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, JCB, Diners and Discover cards. Third-party booking sites charge well over face value: one listed the 1-day pass at €57 in October 2026, against $37 direct.

The photo. The 1-day ticket needs no photo. The 3- and 7-day passes need one for identification, taken at the counter or uploaded during online checkout, so each multi-day pass belongs to one person.

The QR code. Online tickets arrive by email as a QR code. Adventures Cambodia says the code on your phone is accepted at every checkpoint, but the family travel blog Sas Crossing Countries reports officers asking for a printed copy and refusing phone-only QR codes, so carry both. If an online payment fails, don't just retry: Angkor Enterprise warns that retrying can charge you twice and asks you to contact support first.

What the pass doesn't cover. Koh Ker has its own $15 ticket on the official site, and Phnom Kulen charges about $20 (Adventures Cambodia, August 2026). Beng Mealea ($10) and Kbal Spean ($5) also sell single tickets. Adventures Cambodia and HelloAngkor, a Siem Reap visitor site, say a valid Angkor pass gets you into both anyway, but Angkor Enterprise doesn't say so on its ticket or FAQ pages, so carry enough cash for the single ticket in case.