The best time to visit
Dry season, green season and the shoulder weeks nobody talks about — what each one actually looks like on the ground.
5 min read
Cambodia has two seasons and four distinct travelling moods. The received wisdom — come between November and February — is right, and also the reason those months cost the most and feel the busiest. Knowing what the other eight months are really like is what lets you choose properly.
November to February — cool and dry
The classic window. Mornings around 24°C, afternoons in the low thirties, almost no rain and low humidity. Temple days are comfortable, the sea is flat and the light is clean. It is also peak season: hotels are at their highest, Angkor sunrise is a crowd, and the best rooms in Siem Reap and on the islands go weeks ahead.
March to May — hot
Genuinely hot: 35 to 40°C in the afternoon, with April the peak. Temples are best done at dawn and abandoned by eleven. In exchange, prices drop, sites empty out, and Khmer New Year in mid-April fills the whole country with water fights, family travel and street celebrations. If you can handle the heat, mid-April is one of the most memorable weeks of the year to be here.
June to October — green season
It rains, but not the way people imagine. Most days bring a heavy downpour in the late afternoon lasting an hour or two, then clear. The countryside turns luminous green, the moats at Angkor fill and reflect, waterfalls run, and rates fall to their lowest. September and October are the wettest and the only months where a coastal day can be genuinely washed out.
The two shoulder windows
Late October to mid-November, and late February to mid-March. Rain is finished or barely started, the landscape is still green, crowds have not arrived or have just left, and prices sit between the two extremes. These are the weeks experienced travellers quietly book.
Common questions
Is the rainy season worth avoiding?
Not for the temples or the cities — the rain is short and the landscape is at its best. Avoid it only if beach days are the point of your trip.
When is Angkor least crowded?
June to September, and any day if you start at the far temples and work back toward the main enclosure rather than following the standard loop.
Keep reading
Cambodia in a nutshell
A small country with an enormous history: what Cambodia actually feels like once you land, and how long you really need.
Visas and entry
e-Visa, visa on arrival or nothing at all: which one applies to you, what it costs, and the paperwork worth doing before you fly.
Money: dollars, riel and cards
Cambodia runs on two currencies at once. Here is how that actually works at a market stall, a hotel desk and an ATM.
