Best Angkor Temples

Best Angkor Temples

Estimates list some 70 major temples or temple ruins within the Angkor Historical Park so….which ones to include and which to skip? Best Angkor temples is admittedly a rather spurious description and it’s more a case of which ones fit in – geographically and historically – bearing in mind time and travel considerations. Visitors have neither the time nor inclination to visit every one so the Angkor programme included on our Cambodia tours aims to show a varied cross-section, in terms of style, historical period, condition and setting, with an emphasis – as with all our Southeast Asia small group tours – on combining the famous sites with the lesser-known, more off-the-beaten-track ones.

Another vital element of any Angkor tour is the timing; a comprehensive visit at a relaxed pace is what we’re aiming for. The jungle temple setting is hot and humid and a certain amount of climbing up and down stone staircases is involved. Furthermore, we don’t want to just park a minibus outside each site and forest walks between temples provide a pleasant intermission as well as helping to put the various sites in perspective. However, we don’t want to wear anyone out and if you’re hot, bothered and weary you won’t enjoy the tour, which is precisely why we spread our Angkor visit across 4 days.

There are plenty of other things to do in Siem Reap; museums and markets to explore, myriad coffee shops, cafes and bistros to try out and with early starts to avoid the heat and crowds we reckon it’s essential to fit in some downtime during hotter parts of the day when you can just relax with a chilled shake by the hotel pool, try out a massage or hone your haggling skills in the handicraft shops.

Best Angkor Temples – the ‘Big 3’

These are the must-sees – the most famous sites. Regrettably, many visitors on 1-day temple passes aren’t going to have time to see much more than these three and a comprehensive tour of just the ‘big 3’ would require a full day with little downtime.

Angkor Wat

Needs no introduction and laying claim to being the World’s largest religious building, its iconic silhouette even figures on the Cambodian national flag.  Note, the Khmer word angkor, (derived from the Sanskrit nagara), means city and wat is temple, (usually Buddhist but in this case Hindu), so Angkor Wat is Temple City. The overall site – with its 70-plus temples – is known as Angkor with Angkor Wat referring to the one specific structure.

Our Cambodia tours feature the obligatory sunrise visit followed by an early morning tour of the temple itself with a mid-morning return to our hotel for brunch or late breakfast.  As most standard itineraries include sunrise followed by a time-wasting return to the hotel and a visit later in the day, this means that our early morning slot is appreciably quiet.

Bayon

Bayon is a late 12th-century Buddhist temple featuring the famous, giant, carved faces. The structure is not one of the larger Angkor temples but is confusing and even claustrophobic with multiple stairways, towers and dark corridors leading in every direction. The sanctuary is actually the central feature of the huge Angkor Thom* ancient city and was the state temple of King Jayavarman VII. (*Thom means big in Khmer so literally Big City.)  Apart from a brief glance at the Terrace of the Elephants, this is usually all that visitors see of Jayavarman’s vast, walled, imperial capital.

Our Angkor programme includes a walk through the city (it’s flat and shady), taking in some of the less-visited temples and finishing at Bayon late afternoon when it’s cooled down and most visitors have left.

Ta Prom

Prasat Ta Prom, the famous  ‘Tomb Raider’ temple with its giant trees and sprawling roots, is another ‘must-see’ that features on even the briefest of Angkor tours so can get very busy. Our outside-the-box Ta Prom visit  avoids the crowds as much as possible, although some are inevitable, but this spectacular jungle-clad ruin can not be missed.

Best Angkor Temples for atmosphere

We’d say atmosphere is one of the essential ingredients at Angkor temples and the jungle setting with squawking parakeets, the sometimes deafening cicadas and sprawling roots and creepers covering the mysterious carvings is what turns ‘a pile of stones’ into an unforgettable experience. A coach load of noisy, selfie-stick-wielding visitors is a passion-killer so our favourite atmospheric sites are consequently the less-frequented ones.

Preah Khan

Another sprawling labyrinth of vine and moss-covered passageways, reliefs and shrines, Preah Khan is right up there with Ta Prom yet sees far fewer visitors. (The late 12th-century complex is large and we allow 1 to 1/12 hours for a full visit, meaning it’s near impossible to fit into a single-day tour.

Legend claims the sanctuary is inhabited by the spirit of its founder Jayavarman VII’s wife* so ask the guide to show you the secret apsara carving which superstitious locals believe represents Queen Jayarajadevi herself. (*When his beloved queen passed away, the king subsequently married her sister, Indradevi, who is also thought to be represented by an adjacent apsara figure.)

Banteay Kdei

A curiously overlooked temple, Banteay Kdei is another Jayavarman VII Buddhist sanctuary, high on atmosphere and also featuring the iconic, carved faces.  We time our visit for dusk on the first day, when you’ll have this fantastic site pretty much to yourself.

Best Angkor Temples for photography

Beng Melea

Another large, spectacular temple, situated approximately 1 hour east of the main Angkor complex, for which we allow a full morning tour, including the return drive from Siem Reap and a village coffee break. The evocative ruin is, in our opinion, one of the most photogenic, with colossal stone structures emerging from the surrounding jungle  – some collapsed into huge piles of masonry and certain sections strangely intact. Surprisingly little is known about this enigmatic site and while it entails a 2-hour drive, missing this one would be a big mistake.

Honorable Mentions

Just as you won’t have time to visit every site, we don’t have the space to describe everyone, but below are a few more historically important temples that we include in our Angkor tour programme.

Phnom Bakheng

Occupying the summit of the Historical Park’s solitary hill, the early 10th-century Hindu sanctuary Prasat Phnom Bakheng is probably the oldest temple you’ll visit at Angkor. The stepped pyramid structure sits on the artificially flattened hilltop with each level featuring multiple brick shrines. The setting and architectural style are in contrast to any of the above-listed sites and this was the earliest, large temple to be constructed at Angkor and, in its day, the central point of the empire.

Ta Keo

Another massive, stepped pyramid construction which dates to the mid-10th century and is considered to be the first Angkor temple to have been constructed entirely from stone. (Earlier temples, such as the above, used primarily brick.) According to legend, workers considered the site to be cursed as several were apparently killed by lightning and so construction of Jayavarman V’s state temple was never completed. Lacks the decor and frills of others but is still an imposing structure affording great views from the top.

Baphuon

Situated a short distance north of Bayon, this is another major temple site that is often omitted from most shorter itineraries. As well as being an historically and architecturally important sanctuary – the stepped pyramid was the state temple of Udayadityarman II as well as giving its name to an entire Angkorian art style – the site has an interesting recent history. (Read more on our World’s largest jigsaw puzzle post.)

Which we can’t include

Banteay Srei

The best-known temple we don’t include is the miniature temple of Banteay Srei, which is located some distance north of the main Angkor Park and features many well-preserved, red sandstone reliefs.  It is a beautiful structure although its size and popularity mean the tiny temple gets seriously crowded while many intricate reliefs are roped off for conservation reasons. Taking into account traffic, it’s the best part of an hour each way, which in our opinion – with an inevitably limited time frame, is best spent elsewhere. Nonetheless, with flexibility being one of our keywords, we have included Banteay Srei on certain past tours due to specific requests.

Rolous – Bakong

Missing picturesque Prasat Bakong – one of the so-called Rolous Group along with Lolei and Preah Ko –  is probably a greater regret with the sole reason simply being lack of time. Banteay Kdei forms our dusk visit on day 1 with day 2 consisting of Angkor Wat in the morning and the various temples of Angkor Thom (Bayon etc) filling the afternoon. The following morning are the 2 large sites of Preah Khan and Phnom Bakheng with the afternoon taken up by the ‘jungle temples’ Ta Nei, Ta Keo and Ta Prom. Our final day in Siem Reap sees a visit to Beng Melea in the morning and an afternoon at leisure. We’d say the latter is indispensable – after 2 and 1/2 days of temples – and some downtown is essential for both those on our shorter Highlights of Cambodia tour who would be departing the following day or those on the Cambodia Overland tour who’d be journeying by boat to Battambang.

Again, with flexibility in mind, Rolous can replace Beng Melea on the morning of day 3 while on the free afternoon, you’d still have your Angkor pass and an extra visit could be arranged.

We’ve omitted many of the smaller, lesser-known but often equally interesting temples that we include between the above sites but many of these will vary anyway. (Each guide having their own personal favourite stops.)  Also bear in mind that the above are sites within, or relatively close to, the Angkor area and that many of the most spectacular – including the 3 World Heritage Sites of Preah Vihear, Sambor Prei Kuk and Koh Ker – lie in other parts of the country.

Most of those are included on our Cambodia small group tour Beyond Angkor and are described in our recent post, Off-the-beaten-track temples in Cambodia.