US$37, $62 or $72 — and the difference between a temple checklist and actually seeing the empire is how you spend day two.
01Tickets and the only place to buy
One-day $37, three-day $62 (use within 10 days), seven-day $72 (within a month). Buy at the official Angkor Enterprise centre on Road 60 or online at angkorenterprise.gov.kh — the QR on your phone now works at every checkpoint. Nobody legitimate sells passes at the temple gates; 'discount pass' offers from drivers end at a turned-away checkpoint.
02Why three days is the honest answer
Day one: the greatest hits — sunrise Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm at opening, Bayon late morning. Day two is where trips are made: the outer circuit's Preah Khan and Neak Pean, then Banteay Srei at 07:00, 25 km out, carved pink sandstone with nobody there. Day three: your Angkor Wat revisit for the galleries you rushed, plus whatever stole your heart.
03Moving between temples
A tuk-tuk driver for the day ($18–25 small circuit, $28–35 for Banteay Srei days) doubles as shade, cold-water supply and timing coach. Bicycles suit the walled-city day; e-bikes split the difference. Distances are real — Angkor is a 400 km² archaeological park, not a walking museum.
04Passes, dress and checkpoint reality
Every temple entrance scans the QR — screenshot it in case of dead zones. Shoulders and knees covered is enforced at Angkor Wat's upper tier and Baphuon, spot-checked elsewhere. The pass is non-transferable and photo-matched at random; lending it around is a $100+ fine conversation.
05Sunrise logistics, minute by minute
04:30: tuk-tuks stage outside guesthouses — agree the full day, not just the ride in. 04:50: checkpoint scans work by phone light; have the QR ready, not the email. 05:05: the left (north) reflection pool fills first because guides favour it; the right pool gains fewer tripods and nearly the same mirror. 05:40–06:10: the show. Here's the professional's move: when the crowd erupts and starts leaving at 06:15, walk into the temple — the east-facing galleries are lit gold and almost empty until 07:30, which is the actual reward the sunrise crowd walks away from. Coffee carts by the moat charge double and are worth it.
06What the pass doesn't cover
The Angkor Pass is broad but not total. Phnom Kulen (the waterfall-and-reclining-Buddha mountain) is a separate $20; Koh Ker and Beng Mealea — since being folded into the Angkor Enterprise system — are now included on the standard pass, which quietly made the 7-day ticket better value than it used to be. Sunset boat rides on the moat, balloon ascents, and the Angkor National Museum ($12, air-conditioned, genuinely useful before your first temple day) are all separate. Budget $15–30 beyond the pass for a full three-day program, more if Kulen calls.
07Heat, dress and the etiquette that actually gets enforced
Angkor's dress code is enforced at exactly one choke point: the upper level of Angkor Wat, where bare shoulders or above-knee shorts end the climb regardless of the queue you just stood in — a light long-sleeve in the daypack solves it forever. Elsewhere the rules are softer but the sun is not: April–May afternoons exceed 38°C on shadeless causeways, and the smart pattern is temples 05:30–11:00, pool until 15:00, golden hour after. Drones are banned without permits, monks are photographed only with permission, and the painted 'no climbing' ropes are load-bearing archaeology, not suggestions. None of this restricts a good visit; it describes one.
08Questions we actually get
Do children need a pass?
Under-12s enter free with a passport as proof — carry a copy.
Sunrise crowd worth it or skip?
Do it once from the left reflection pool, then never again — 07:30 gallery-quiet is the connoisseur's slot.
Can I split the 3 days non-consecutively?
Yes — any 3 days within 10; a rest day in Siem Reap's cafés in between is the pro move.
Can I leave the park and re-enter on the same day?
Yes — the pass allows unlimited same-day re-entry, which is exactly how the sunrise + midday-rest + golden-hour pattern works.
Founder of Mekong Atlas. Twelve years riding buses, trains and slow boats across Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia — every route on this site travelled in person, prices re-checked on the ground.