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Top 10 Tips for Visiting Angkor Wat with Kids
Planning a trip to Angkor Wat with Kids? I can help!
Our first-ever trip to Southeast Asia started at Angkor Wat with kids in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Nothing like “go big or stay home” am I right?!
Since then, we’ve become a digital nomad family and spent 18 months living in Southeast Asia. So we’ve figured out some tips that not everyone else knows about.
Exploring Angkor Wat with kids is an amazing adventure! So much so that we’re planning a return visit to explore there as well as further afield in Cambodia. And I can’t keep all that helpful information to myself!
Based on my own experience and ongoing research, here’s everything you need to know to make your Angkor Wat with kids trip even better. Let’s go!
Travel Tips for Visiting Angkor Wat with Kids
For many families, especially those with older kids who don’t have many travel years left together, a trip to Angkor Wat with kids is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. These tips will help make that adventure truly memorable!
1. Buy Your Entry Tickets After 4 pm
We went to the ticket office in advance to get our passes. Each ticket is a valid three-day pass to go anywhere in Angkor Wat. Our hotel suggested we do this to avoid long lines early in the morning.
This way, we could get the most out of the days we were going to be touring the temples.
On our way to the ticket office, our driver told us that buying tickets after 4 pm allows you free access to the ruins without counting as a day of use.
So we went over to the main temple to watch the sunset. It was beautiful! Sunrise is generally considered the best view because it rises behind the main temple.
However, sitting on the temple steps to watch the sunset over the surrounding jungle and structures was also pretty amazing!
While you’re visiting Angkor Wat, make time to either see the sunrise or the sunset at the main temple. It’s so peaceful and awe-inspiring. You won’t regret taking the time.
2. Start Early
Some people are such early risers that they can handle going to the main temple to see the sunrise. Jetlag hit us hard, so that was too much for us.
However, our first full day in Cambodia still started shortly after sunrise. We went from temple to temple seeing various types of architecture. It was fascinating!
Angkor Wat is the largest complex, and actually one of the largest religious monuments in the world.
Ta Keo was really interesting because it looked like an ancient mansion, but apparently it’s an unfinished temple that never had exterior carvings added.
3. Leave the Stroller at the Hotel
Or even better, don’t even bring it on this trip. Babywearing is the only way to carry little kids around this massive complex.
👉 I recommend the Tula Carrier for its durability and comfort. Plus it has different carriers that fit little ones from 7-60 pounds.
The downside to touring Angkor Wat with kids, at least the littlest ones, is that the stairs are steep and children under 12 are prohibited from climbing. So I had to opt-out of climbing to the top. David got to enjoy the views though!
4. Save Energy for Exploring the Night Markets!
After a long day of sightseeing, we headed over to the night market to do some shopping. That was the first time I’d ever seen a fish pedicure spa!
Although it certainly hasn’t been the last. We even saw them wild at some cenotes in Playa del Carmen, Mexico!
In hindsight, I wish we’d done some Christmas shopping there. The handicrafts and woven goods were absolutely beautiful. I held off because we still planned to visit Thailand, which is known for its night market culture.
However, after seeing them both I realized that Cambodian night markets sell many of the same things as the Chiang Mai markets but at a lower price. If you have a similar itinerary, stock up on souvenirs in Cambodia!
5. Wear Closed Toe Shoes
We didn’t do this and I regretted it. Like many Mayan ruins in Mexico, the ground is uneven. There are no paved paths, only dirt and the occasional stone walkway.
In addition, tree roots seem to be everywhere. They are certainly a tripping hazard, especially if you’re only wearing flip-flops.
Next time we go, we’ll be ensuring everyone is either in sneakers or closed-toe hiking sandals, like Keens. They help keep dirt and small stones out of your shoes.
👉 We love Keens footwear for our whole family!
6. Pace Yourself
You don’t need to see all the ruins in one day. You’ll get to see all of the major sites by the end of the second day, even if you start your tours after sunrise as we did.
While the first day took us to the main temple, on our second day we saw some more cool ruins including Banyon. This site had some of the most interesting features with faces built into the walls!
Ta Prohm which felt like an Indiana Jones movie with the trees growing atop the ruins. Parts of the Tomb Raider movie were filmed here!
We even saw a stone carving at Ta Prohm with dinosaurs on it! Although the temple is covered with carvings of various mythical creatures, how could the carvers know what dinosaurs looked like?!
7. Take Sun Protection
It’s hot in Cambodia. All the time. In addition to sunscreen, take sun hats and even an umbrella. Not for the rain but for sun protection.
The last thing you want when visiting Angkor Wat with kids is to have them wilting halfway through the day due to dehydration or sunstroke.
We generally travel with sunhats (David has a Buff and a baseball cap), umbrellas, and a two-liter water bladder in a small day pack to carry it all. This is in addition to copious amounts of sunscreen.
👉 I like this sunscreen for outdoor excursions and water activities.
8. Try the Local Food and Drinks
David is obsessed with curry. He has tried every kind he can find and was in heaven when we visited Thailand. From traditional red and green to Massman and seafood curries, David is a bit obsessed.
However, despite all the kinds he’s tried through the years, he has repeatedly said that the Kmer Curry is in the top five curries he’s ever tasted.
Spicy food doesn’t agree with me. Instead, I prefer to try the local beers wherever we go. There are several interesting varieties in Cambodia. They tend to cost around 3000 Riel (~$.75 USD) each. So that’s a really cheap happy hour!
If you have picky eaters in your family, prepare them in advance for the food in Cambodia. There isn’t a McDonald’s anywhere in the country. They don’t do fast food there.
The main diet staples are rice, fresh fruit, and various meats. While some restaurants have started catering to Western palettes, it’s much harder to find chicken nuggets and fries on a menu.
Little Man was 18 months old when we visited. He survived on baked chicken and fruit chunks.
9. Bring insect repellent and anti-itch cream
Cambodia can have mosquitoes and other biting insects that can be bothersome for kids. Packing insect repellent, especially natural kinds if you want to avoid DEET, can help prevent bug bites.
And bringing an anti-itch cream like hydrocortisone can help soothe any bug bites that do occur. Protecting kids from discomfort will help them better enjoy exploring the temples.
10. Get Travel Insurance
Especially nowadays, travel insurance is more important than ever before. It helps ensure that you are protected in case of a flight cancellation or lost luggage.
In addition, it will guarantee that if you get sick or injured you will be able to get transported to your home country for further treatment.
👉 While we have global health insurance for our day-to-day lives, we also elect travel insurance with SafetyWing for our spurts of fast travel adventure!
Getting to Angkor Wat with Kids
Angkor Wat is located in the city of Siem Reap in central Cambodia. The train system in Cambodia is non-existent. It’s possible to take a train in Thailand to the Cambodian border, walk across, and take a bus to Siem Reap.
However, it takes a really long time. Based on conversations I’ve had with the single backpackers who’ve done it, I don’t recommend it for families.
The most popular way to get to Siem Reap is by plane. It is a quick flight from several cities in Asia, including Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. We flew from Bangkok to Siem Reap. The Bangkok airport terminal for planes to Cambodia has a cool kids’ play area!
For those who know at least a week in advance about their visit to Angkor Wat with kids, getting an e-visa will save a lot of time.
We didn’t realize this and waited in line for almost an hour at the Siem Reap airport. As of 2019, there was a $6 USD processing charge per e-visa.
You can also fly into Phnom Penh International Airport from pretty much anywhere in Asia, and then take a shorter flight into Siem Reap.
Where to Stay Near Angkor Wat with Kids
We stayed at a lovely little hotel called Golden Temple Villa. It was rated one of TripAdvisor’s top budget hotels in Siem Reap the year we visited.
In addition to an A/C room with a queen bed and private bathroom, we also got a free airport pickup and free welcome drinks for $45/night!
We liked our Tuk Tuk driver so much that we also booked him to take us on a day trip to the Angkor ruins for $12/day. This meant he would pick us up and drop us off at any time we chose.
It was such a great deal, I didn’t even bother trying to haggle! He was so friendly that he even told us facts about each site before we arrived, so I didn’t feel like we were missing out by not hiring a private guide.
There are several hotels for any budget in Siem Reap. You can get a budget room with a fan or stay in a suite at a luxury, five-star resort. We saw a bit of each when we explored the town, both on foot and with our driver.
Final Thoughts on Angkor Wat with Kids
Cambodia has a lot of history that we didn’t have time to dig into further. Three days at Angkor Wat with kids was not enough to see and enjoy everything. Someday we’ll return to keep exploring.
It’ll also be fun to see it again because many sites are still being excavated. Our Tuk Tuk driver told us it would take at least 15 years to finish excavating what they’d found so far.
After our repeat visit to Chichen Itza showed us such different things than the first time, I know that a second visit to Angkor Wat will be just as amazing as the first.
