Angkor Temples – Contemporary Witnesses in the Land of the Khmer

Everyone who travels to Cambodia for the first time wants to see them: The temples of Angkor. The temple ruins rise majestically into the sky, built by masters of architecture who are without equal. Witnesses to an advanced culture that is unique in the world.

Countless legends and myths slumber within the ancient walls of the Angkor temples. They tell of gigantomaniac rulers, their battles, their victories. About the efforts of all the people who created the magnificent monuments by the sweat of their brow. And yet, despite all the effort, the empire collapses in the 15th century.

Visit the Angkor Temples

With a ticket from $37 you can visit the Angkor temples. As these are sacred sites, appropriate clothing must be worn. These and other requirements for the protection of the temples are listed in the Code of Conduct.

The best way to explore Angkor is by tuk tuk or bicycle. There are two circuits, the Small Circuit and the Grand Circuit. Depending on how many days you have, you can put together different tours to visit the Angkor temples.

Whether with or without an Angkor tour guide depends on your personal interests. The tour guides are certified and regularly trained. They know the best places at the best times to visit which Angkor temple. They all speak good English.

Approximately one million people are said to have lived in the Angkor Empire on an area of about 1,000 km². Of the more than 1,000 temples and sacred sites discovered in the meantime, comparatively few are known. The most popular and most visited Angkor temples are Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom, Bayon and Phnom Bakheng.

Angkor Wat – the most important Angkor temple

By far the most famous Angkor temple is Angkor Wat. The scenery is magical and especially popular at sunrise. A very special highlight and architectural masterpiece: at the equinox, the sun rises directly over the middle of the five towers.

Ta Prohm – Roots conquer the masonry

Ta Prohm is not only famous for its overgrown walls. It has also secured one of the top places in the popularity scale of Angkor temples as a Tomb Raider backdrop.

Bayon – the temple of faces

Countless face towers carved in stone distinguish the Bayon, which is placed right in the centre of the city of Angkor Thom. The faces symbolise the 4 types of smile: charming, sad, happy and beautiful.

Phnom Bakheng – Sunset Hotspot

The Phnom Bakheng at sunset is particularly popular. A pyramid temple dedicated to the god Shiva northwest of Angkor Wat. But sunrise is also worthwhile, especially as there are few visitors at this time, even during large tourist flows to visit the Angkor temples.

More Angkor temples for sunset

There are other Angkor temples from where you can experience a beautiful sunset. The Phnom Krong, for example, is a hill south of Siem Reap towards Tonle Sap Lake. Pre Rup and Srah Srang are also popular. The latter is a lake. But this setting also has a certain something.

Here’s a tip: buy your Angkor ticket to visit the Angkor temples the night before. The ticket counters are open from 4.30 pm. Then you can go to Angkor Park the same evening and watch the sunset. The only drawback is that you probably won’t reach Phnom Bakheng in time, as the climb takes a while. And it’s too far to Phnom Krom in the south. But there are still many other beautiful places :-) Another good opton is to buy the ticket online.

Articles about Angkor

Many articles about Angkor have already appeared here at Visit Angkor. Here is a small selection. Click on the link “Temple of Angkor” to find all articles in this category.

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By the way: We write here at Visit Angkor with a lot of passion and love. Nevertheless, it can happen that information is no longer up to date or perhaps even incorrect. We would be happy to hear from you so that we can update the information accordingly. Thank you very much!