Cambodia Travel Itinerary

If you're heading to Cambodia and are looking for recommendations, this is the short and sweet blog post you've been looking for. Let's cut to the chase...

Phnom Penh

I'll be honest, I didn't hear many great things about Cambodia's capital, and as I only had 2 weeks in the country, I decided to follow the advice of my friends and not stick around for too long. As well as a night out with the hostel, I thought it was important to educate myself about the history of Cambodia so I went to the Genocide Museum. It was pretty heavy stuff to learn about, but you need to visit as a sign of respect for the country and to educate yourself.

Where I stayed: Mad Monkey Hostel. I felt safe here and it was a social place, especially good for a solo female traveller. They had a bar crawl with the hostel so I could go out with people, make friends, and not be alone in the city at night. Perfect. Stayed for 1 night.

I always recommend asking other travellers how they get around from place to place as well as the hostel reception staff. In Cambodia, buses are the most common mode of transport and can be booked with the hostel. Also, Cambodia has their own currency, Cambodian Riel, but they prefer to use USD. Make sure you double-check your change as they like to confuse you by using the two currencies.

Koh Rong

I got a bus from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and then a ferry transfer to Koh Rong. Getting off the boat, I made friends with a girl named Mac, who I ended up travelling the rest of Cambodia with. The sand was pure white and there was a gorgeous restaurant a little walk away that had the best homemade hummus I've ever had in my entire life. Make sure you book the $10 boat trip.

Where I stayed: Nest Beach Club. 10/10 recommend it as it's the only place you can stay anyway. But regardless of that, it was a lovely hostel on the beach with a nice atmosphere, double bunk beds (if you stay in room 4) and on Saturdays, they run Nestival, which is basically like sports day on the beach.

Koh Rong Sanloem

This is another Island off the coast of Cambodia which is equally as beautiful and I recommend visiting both. It's a little bigger and I enjoyed spending a few hours walking to the lighthouse to see the island from birds-eye view. It's a bit of a dodgy climb but if you pay $1, you can make your way to the top. Make sure you bring plenty of water.

Where I stayed: Onederz Hostel. Bright and clean, right on the beach.

Kampot

After spending a week on the islands, we headed to my favourite and most memorable place in Cambodia. There were dirt tracks, Mount Bokor National Park, and lots of adventures - we loved it here! If you can, hire out a moped for a few days and ride around the countryside by the waterfalls, Mt Bokor, and most definitely out to Kep, where the local crab markets are! Drive safely.

Where I stayed: Karma Traders Hostel. Some rooms were inside which was nice. There are overflow rooms outside in converted storage containers which you should try to avoid. Overall a cute hostel and they let me check out super late when I got food poisoning from a nearby restaurant. Don't trust the cheesecake at Epic Arts Cafe.

Siam Reap

Home to Angkor Wat, one of the 7 Wonders of The World, Siam Reap was the main thing I wanted to see in Cambodia. After a painstaking 15-hour bus ride with food poisoning, we finally arrived at our destination ready for another travel adventure. As well as Angkor Wat, we also visited the floating markets (although due to Covid there wasn't much left to see. It may have recovered by now as I visited in June 2022), and other temples on a tuk-tuk tour.

Where I stayed: Onederz Hostel. The staff were rude to me but the rooms were nice. They arranged our tours to Angkor Wat and the other temples.