Angkor Wat Private Tour in a Tuk Tuk from Siem Reap
Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm in one morning, by tuk tuk instead of a shared van
A private tuk tuk tour of Angkor National Park from Siem Reap visits Angkor Wat, Bayon, Angkor Thom, the Terrace of the Elephants and Ta Prohm with a live English, French or German-speaking guide and hotel pickup included. The tour runs 6 to 7 hours and covers the major temples in sequence, starting at 8 am from your accommodation.
Options for this experience
3 optionsStep-by-step itinerary
Explore Angkor temples by tuk-tuk
- Pickup at 8 am from hotel
- Visit Angkor Thom capital city
- Explore Bayon temple with smiling faces
- See Terrace of the Elephants and Leper King
- Tour Ta Prohm jungle temple
- Visit Angkor Wat temple complex
- Siem Reap 10m
- Angkor Thom 40m
- Bayon 40m
- Terrace of the Elephants 30m
- Ta Prohm Temple 1h
- Angkor Wat 2h
What’s included
- Hotel or airport pickup and drop-off in Siem Reap.
- a private tuk tuk for the full day.
- a live guide speaking English, French or German.
- bottled water during the tour.
- Every day 07:00 07:10 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00
Information
Pick up at your Siem Reap hotel at 8 am and spend the morning at Angkor Wat, then move through Angkor Thom's 200 smiling faces at Bayon.
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The experience
The tuk tuk picks you up at your hotel in Siem Reap at 8 am, and from there the day moves through the temples of Angkor National Park on a route built around what you actually want to see. Angkor Wat comes first: the world's largest religious building, built in the early 12th century as a state temple and capital city. The temple sits inside a moat 3.6 kilometers long, with three rectangular galleries rising toward a central quincunx of towers. The bas-reliefs and guardian spirits carved into its walls are what make it the best-preserved temple at the site.
From Angkor Wat, the tuk tuk carries you to Angkor Thom, the capital city King Jayavarman VII built at the end of the 12th century after driving out the Chams. The city is nearly square, surrounded by an 8-meter-high wall a little over 12 kilometers long and enclosed by a 100-meter-wide moat. Inside, Bayon stands at the center: a richly decorated Khmer temple built as the state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist king, famous for more than 200 smiling faces carved into its towers. The arrangement of Bayon is complex, with three levels of square galleries, passages and steps that create dim lighting and narrow walkways. The Central Sanctuary dominates the third level. You also visit the Terrace of the Elephants, where the king once viewed his army's victorious return, and the Terrace of the Leper King with its detailed carvings winding along a narrow passageway.
The final stop is Ta Prohm, built around 1186 by King Jayavarman VII and dedicated to his mother. The temple is among the largest monuments in the Angkor complex, with a series of long low buildings enclosed by a rectangular laterite wall and connected by passages that form a sacred way into the heart of the monument. Ta Prohm's state of ruin, with jungle growth reclaiming the stone, is what sets it apart from the other temples on the tour. Your guide is a live speaker in English, French or German, and the tuk tuk is yours alone for the day, so the pace and the stops stay under your control.
Top questions
What languages is the tour guided in?
Live guide in English, French and German.
Can children come?
Yes. Ticket types: Child (3 to 11 years); Infant (under 3): free.
What is Angkor Wat and why is it on every temple tour?
Angkor Wat is the world's largest religious building, built in the early 12th century as a state temple and capital city. It is the only temple at Angkor to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation, first as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, then as a Buddhist one. The temple is designed to represent Mount Meru, the home of the devas in Hindu mythology, and is admired for the grandeur and harmony of its architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs and the guardian spirits adorning its walls.
What are the 200 smiling faces at Bayon?
Bayon is a richly decorated Khmer temple at the center of Angkor Thom, built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the state temple of King Jayavarman VII. The temple's towers are decorated with more than 200 carved smiling faces, which are the distinctive feature that makes Bayon instantly recognizable. The temple has three levels: the first and second are square galleries with bas-reliefs, and the third level is dominated by a circular Central Sanctuary.
Why is Ta Prohm different from the other temples?
Ta Prohm was built around 1186 by King Jayavarman VII and is among the largest monuments in the Angkor complex. Unlike the other temples on the tour, Ta Prohm has been left largely in its state of ruin, with jungle growth reclaiming the stone structures. The complex originally included 260 statues of gods, 39 towers with pinnacles and 566 groups of residences, and the center is reached by a series of towers connected with passages that form a sacred way into the heart of the monument.
Does the tour include the Angkor National Park ticket?
The Angkor National Park ticket is not included in this tour and must be purchased separately at the Angkor National Park Ticket Office. Your guide and tuk tuk are included, along with hotel pickup and drop-off, bottled water during the tour, and transportation between the temples.
What time does the tour start and how long does it take?
The tour picks you up at 8 am from your hotel in Siem Reap and runs for 6 to 7 hours, so you return to your accommodation in the early afternoon. The tuk tuk is private, so the pace and timing stay flexible within that window.
Operated by Green Era Travel. Explorevia does not run this tour: we compare it with similar options, and you book it with our booking partner.
Prices and times updated yesterday
Angkor Wat Private Tour in a Tuk Tuk from Siem Reap
6h–7h · EN · FR · DE · at your hotel
from US$ 45 per person
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