Siem Reap Airport to Town: 45 km, and Why Your Old Guidebook Is Wrong

Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI) opened on 16 October 2023, replacing the old field that sat a few kilometres from town and dangerously close to the temples. The new site is roughly 45 kilometres east, out towards Sotr Nikum, and the drive in is 45 to 60 minutes in normal traffic - stretching to about 75 in the rains or at peak hour, when National Road 6 fills up.

The old airport was a ten-minute run. That is the assumption baked into a large amount of advice still sitting on the internet, and it breaks things that matter:

Arrival-day plans. Landing at 14:00 no longer means a temple at 16:00 with time to spare. It means reaching your hotel around 15:30, and the Angkor pass office closing at 17:30 becomes the actual deadline for the day.

Sunrise on the morning after a late landing. A 23:00 arrival now puts you in bed past midnight for an 04:00 alarm. Worth knowing before you book both.

Departure day. Allow two and a half to three hours from your hotel for an international flight: an hour on the road plus the usual airport time, plus slack for National Road 6.

The other airport moved too. Phnom Penh switched to Techo International Airport on 9 September 2025, about 20 to 24 kilometres south of the city. If you are doing both cities, both ends of the trip are longer than they used to be.

Pre-booked private car - the least friction and what most people should do on arrival. A driver is waiting with your name, the car is air-conditioned for an hour you will want it, and there is no negotiation after a flight. Expect from about USD 30 for a saloon, more for a van or a late-night arrival.

Airport shuttle bus - around USD 8 per person one way, running to a central drop-off, and taking roughly the same time as a car. Good value if you are travelling light and not arriving at 01:00.

Airport taxi - available on arrival at a fixed counter rate, typically a little more than a pre-booked car because you are buying it at the point of need. Perfectly workable.

Tuk-tuk - technically possible and a bad idea for 45 kilometres on a national road, particularly at night or with luggage. This was the obvious choice from the old airport and is no longer sensible.

Hotel transfer - many Siem Reap hotels include or offer one. Ask before booking anything else; free is hard to beat and they know your flight number.

Grab and PassApp work in Siem Reap and can be cheaper, though pickup from the airport terminal can be restricted to designated bays. Have the hotel address in Khmer script on your phone either way - it removes a conversation.

Visa - most nationalities can get a visa on arrival at SAI, or an e-Visa in advance through the official Cambodian government site. The e-Visa is the calmer option because it takes the queue out of the equation after a flight; be careful to use the government domain rather than one of the many lookalike sites that add a fee.

Money - Cambodia runs on US dollars. ATMs dispense them, prices are quoted in them, and riel appears only as change below a dollar (roughly 4,000 riel to the dollar, and small change often comes in riel by design). Two practical consequences: bring clean, untorn notes, because a damaged bill gets refused by shops and even by some banks; and take out more than you think in the city, because rural ATM fees add up.

SIM - Cellcard, Smart and Metfone all sell tourist data SIMs at the airport, cheaply and with sensible data allowances. Coverage across the temple park is good. Buy at the airport rather than in town; the price difference is negligible and the convenience is not.

Time from landing to the road is usually short - SAI is a new and comparatively quiet airport, and immigration moves faster than the size of the terminal suggests.

Siem Reap itself is small. The old market, the river, the night-market grid and most of the hotels sit inside a twenty-minute walk, and the traffic is light by regional standards.

Tuk-tuk is the normal way to move - a few dollars for a hop across town, and around USD 18-25 for a full temple day on the small circuit. The important thing to understand is that a temple day is hired by the day, not by the trip: your driver waits at each temple rather than dropping you and leaving, which is why the rate looks high next to a single ride and is not.

Private car with driver runs roughly USD 35-55 a day and earns it from March to May, when the heat sits in the mid-thirties from late morning, and on the long runs out to Banteay Srei, Koh Ker or Preah Vihear.

Bicycle or e-bike is genuinely good from November to February. The small circuit is seventeen flat kilometres and the back lanes between temples are the best part of the day. From March to May, do not.

Grab and PassApp cover the town for short hops and are useful at night when you would otherwise be negotiating.

One piece of etiquette worth knowing: your temple driver is sitting in the heat for eight hours while you walk around. A tip at the end of a full day is normal and appreciated, and the good drivers are worth keeping for the rest of your stay.