Angkor Wat Bike Tour: The 30 Km Full Day Ride

In the Price

The listing includes a quality mountain bike and helmet with full vehicle support, an expert English-speaking cycling guide, snacks, fruit and bottled water, and free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure. Children's bikes, baby seats and tag-along trailers are available on request, and child seats take children weighing 14 kg. Discounts apply to children aged 12 and under with kids bikes.

One conflict needs your attention: the Includes list says hotel pick-up and drop off, while the meeting point is Gingold coffee in town at 7:15 AM. Confirm with the operator which applies to your booking before you plan your morning.

What You Pay on Top

The Angkor Pass is the big extra. The listing does not state an amount, but the official one-day pass from Angkor Enterprise is $37, which is why the day reads $70 in total. You can buy it online before the tour or on entry to the Angkor zone on the tour morning.

Children under 12 enter Angkor free with their passport. Lunch is the second extra unless you chose the with-lunch option. The listing does not state a price for that option, so ask when booking.

Tips and personal expenses are not stated as included, so carry small cash.

The Bike and the Fit

The ride is on quality mountain bikes with helmets, and full vehicle support follows the group. The listing asks every participant to give their height in advance so the right frame is waiting, and a traveler reports the bikes were fitted to their heights beforehand. Children's bikes, baby seats and tag-along trailers are available on request, with child seats taking children weighing up to 14 kg.

Tell the operator any dietary requirements at the same time, since lunch is only on the with-lunch option.

From the Meeting Point to Ta Prohm

You meet your guide at 7:15 AM at Gingold coffee in Krong Siem Reap, though the description names Pte Kru Cafe, so confirm the exact spot when booking. Cycling starts at 7:30 AM along a quiet road beside the Siem Reap River toward the Angkor Archaeological Park. Angkor Wat is about 6 km from Siem Reap, so the first riding stretch is short.

After Angkor Wat the route moves to Angkor Thom, where the listing gives 1 hour, then the Bayon for 1 hour and the Elephant Terrace complex for 1 hour. A local restaurant stop runs 1.5 hours, then Ta Prohm for 1 hour. The final stretch passes through Siem Reap with about 1.5 hours of riding and passing before you arrive back at Gingold coffee mid-afternoon.

The Tracks Between the Temples

The selling point is the route itself. Instead of the main roads the guide leads the group along forest tracks and village paths, past farms and stilt houses, using routes the listing says are known to experienced local cycling guides. The itinerary can change, and the exact mix of tracks depends on the guide and conditions on the day.

Which Way the Route Runs

The Planet Edit tells independent riders to go anticlockwise around the Small Circuit because most tour groups run clockwise, and Rambling Feet says east-facing ruins catch better morning light that way. The tour listing does not state which direction this group rides. Ask the guide at the 7:15 AM meeting if it matters to you.

Angkor Wat and the Angkor Thom Gate

Angkor Wat opens the day. It was built under Suryavarman II in the 12th century, with construction running from about 1122 to 1150, and the complex was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1992. It covers 162.6 hectares, the moat is 190 m wide and more than 5 km around, and the gallery walls carry almost 1,000 square metres of bas-reliefs.

You walk the island, the bike stays off it. Next comes a gate of Angkor Thom, the walled city Jayavarman VII founded in the late 12th century. Each gate tower stands 23 m tall and the gateways are 3.5 m wide, so the whole group funnels through on bikes with faces looking down.

The Bayon

The group gets a full hour at the Bayon, Jayavarman VII's state temple at the centre of Angkor Thom. It originally had 49 face towers and 37 survive, with a central tower rising 43 m. Count the faces and you join an old argument: Wikipedia gives about 200 on the upper terrace in one passage and 216 in another, while some guides print 54 towers and 216 faces.

Expect more than 200 large carved faces.

Elephant Terrace and Ta Prohm

The Elephant Terrace gets an hour. It is about 350 m long and served as the king's reviewing stand for public ceremonies. The last major stop is Ta Prohm, one hour again.

Jayavarman VII founded it as a Buddhist monastery, completed in 1186, and its stele records more than 12,500 residents including 18 high priests and 615 dancers. The trees growing through the ruins are either silk-cotton or thitpok for the big ones, and strangler fig or gold apple for the small ones, depending on which botanist you believe. For more on each temple, see the guides to Angkor Thom, the Bayon and Ta Prohm.

Small Circuit, Grand Circuit and This Ride

This tour rides the Small Circuit stops: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, the Bayon, the Elephant Terrace and Ta Prohm. The Grand Circuit is the longer loop that adds Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon and Pre Rup, and The Planet Edit says it suits tuk-tuk riders better than cyclists. This ride does not cover it.

Published distances differ, partly because operators may count the town legs differently. The Planet Edit puts the Small Circuit itself at 17 km and the Grand Circuit at 26 km, while Hello Angkor quotes about 30 km for the Small Circuit and 40 km for the Grand Circuit as round trips from Siem Reap. Discova quotes 30 km for this day, and Guiding Cambodia quotes 38 km round trip for its own version over 6 to 7 hours.

Wikivoyage puts Angkor Wat about 6 km from Siem Reap, so the town roads add to any total that starts in town.

Why the Numbers Never Match

There is no single official circuit length, so compare what is inside the day rather than the headline figure. A figure that starts inside the park covers the temple loop alone, while one that starts at a Siem Reap cafe adds the 6 km approach and the ride home. Wikivoyage skips kilometres altogether and gives travel times instead: at most 15 minutes between sites on the Little Circuit and about 30 minutes on the Big Circuit.

Bikes cannot be taken onto the Angkor Wat island, so expect some walking there too.

Check These Before You Book

The listing states the tour is not suitable for pregnant women. There is no stated minimum age, but child seats take children weighing 14 kg only, so older toddlers need the kids bikes or tag-along trailers available on request. A 30 km ride in Siem Reap heat, with the park opening hours running to 6:30 PM, is hard work for anyone who does not ride regularly.

The price of $33 also leaves out the $37 Angkor Pass and lunch unless you choose that option, so plan the full cost before comparing. If any of these limits rules you out, a seat in a vehicle covers the same temples with far less effort: the Angkor Wat Small-Group Sunrise Tour starts at $15 per person with hotel pickup, or the Angkor Sunrise Tour by Vespa or Tuk Tuk at $39 includes breakfast and lunch. Cyclists who want the dawn hour can look at the Angkor Sunrise Cycling Tour, a shorter 15 to 25 km ride that starts around 4:30 AM. For the full range, see all Angkor Wat tours.

• Not suitable for pregnant women, no stated minimum age
• 30 km of riding on the day, in heat that reaches the mid-30s Celsius
• The $37 Angkor Pass is extra and bought on the tour morning
• Lunch is extra unless you pick the with-lunch option
• Group size is stated as both 8 and 10, so confirm at booking

Why Average Riders Cope With 30 Km

The 30 km sounds like a training ride, but the terrain does the work. The Planet Edit describes the park as flat, with dedicated bike lanes on most roads and shady forest trails, and the day is broken up by five temple stops and a 1.5 hour lunch break. One GetYourGuide reviewer called the route mostly flat and easy to ride, while another found the day grueling with muddy trails.

The vehicle support means a struggling rider has an exit that a solo renter does not.

What Each Option Costs

Bike hire in Siem Reap runs roughly $1-8 a day depending on quality, according to Wikivoyage, and shops mostly do not open before 07:00. The Planet Edit found a mountain bike at $6 for the day and notes many hostels and hotels lend bikes free. Rambling Feet rented from the White Bicycles charity at $2 a day and priced a power-assisted bike at $10 for 24 hours.

Against that, this tour costs $33 per person, or $70 with the official 1-day pass, and includes the bike, the helmet, a guide, vehicle support, snacks, fruit, bottled water and a route through forest tracks.

The Honest Case for Each

Renting gives you freedom to linger and costs pocket change, but the 6 to 7 km of road from Siem Reap to the park is real traffic. The Planet Edit advises keeping to the hard shoulder on Charles de Gaulle Street and riding predictably, and says many shops will drive you and the bike to the gate for a fee. Rambling Feet needed a tuk-tuk to bring a bike back and brought a chain and lock.

On a guided day the guide carries the route, the history and the vehicle that follows with support, which matters most in the heat. If you want the temples without pedals at all, look at Angkor Wat tours from Siem Reap by tuk-tuk or car instead, or the Angkor Sunrise Cycling Tour if you would rather ride at dawn.

The Angkor Pass

The official Angkor Enterprise site sells the one-day Angkor Temples Park pass for $37, valid for 1 day, and the pass gives access to more than 50 temples. Buy it online at ticket.angkorenterprise.gov.kh or through the Angkor Pass app, or at the ticket office on the tour morning. Park entry runs from 5:00 AM to 6:30 PM.

Your photo is printed on the pass and it is checked at almost every site. Children under 12 enter free with their passport. For the full breakdown, see the guide to Angkor Wat tickets.

Heat and Seasons

The wet season runs from May to October and the dry season is the other six months. January averages a high of 31.7 C and April a high of 35.8 C, and guides say March to May can reach 40 C. On this ride you are exposed all day, so bring the sun hat, sunglasses and sunscreen the listing asks for and ride the early hours hard before the peak heat. Sunrise in mid-January is at 6:31 am, so the 7:30 AM start is an hour after first light.

More on timing in the Angkor Wat sunrise guide.

Dress Code and Documents

Angkor's dress code is long trousers or a long skirt with covered shoulders, and a scarf over bare shoulders is not accepted. The listing itself says sleeveless shirts are not allowed, so pack riding clothes that cover up. Most visitors need a Cambodian tourist visa: the e-visa costs $30, is single entry and allows up to 30 days, and the FCDO advises applying at least 4 days ahead.

Carry your passport, the pass, water and small cash for lunch and tips.

Shorts, Shoulders and the Dress Code

Wikivoyage gives the Angkor dress code as long trousers or a long skirt with shoulders covered, and says a scarf over bare shoulders is not accepted. This listing bars sleeveless shirts. Wikivoyage says enforcement is strictest on Angkor Wat's uppermost level.

For a cycling day, lightweight long trousers solve both the dress code and the sun.

The Three Tiers

The official Angkor Enterprise site sells three Angkor Temples Park passes: 1 day for $37 (US$37), expiring in 1 day, 3 days for $62 (US$62), expiring in 7 days, and 7 days for $72 (US$72), expiring in 30 days. Park entry runs 5:00 AM to 6:30 PM on all three. For this single ride the 1-day pass is the one.

A 3-day pass makes sense if you add a second Angkor day, for example a tuk-tuk tour or an Angkor Wat 2-Day Tour, and the 7-day pass suits slow travelers working out to Banteay Srei and beyond. Wikivoyage reports the 3-day pass as any 3 days within one week and the 7-day as any 7 days within one month.

Where to Buy and What Gets Checked

Passes are sold online at ticket.angkorenterprise.gov.kh and in an official app. The Planet Edit and Rambling Feet place the ticket office on Road 60 near the Apsara Road roundabout. Your photo goes on the pass, so buying online means uploading one, and the pass is checked at almost every temple.

Rambling Feet says the checkpoint turns back riders without a pass and sits about 8 km out of Siem Reap, which is a long way to pedal for nothing. Sales end at 17:30, and Wikivoyage notes a pass bought after 17:00 counts from the next day, so an evening before works if you want the sunrise crowds gone by the time you ride. Wikivoyage adds that children under 12 enter free with their passport.