This post was updated in November 2019.
Cambodia, the country with such a heartbreaking past… It made a lasting impression on me, every time I think about my time there I still feel the weight of its terribly sad history.
That being said, Cambodia is a very interesting country to visit and a very cheap one as well. In this post, you can read how to travel Cambodia on a budget, as well as detailed information on how much you can expect to spend on accommodation, transport, food, and activities.
Cambodia on a budget
Cambodia travel budget: important facts and figures
- I traveled Cambodia with my husband, all expenses mentioned are for the two of us together.
- We spent 8 days in Cambodia, entering the country in the Southeast from Ha Tien, Vietnam and leaving to Thailand via the border at Poipet.
- I quote prices in $ as this is the currency that is used most in Cambodia. For payments smaller than $1 you’ll get change in Cambodian Riel, $1 is about 4000 riel. Unfortunately for everybody from Europe, including myself, the € has been decreasing steadily and €1 is worth only slightly more than $1. Therefore I don’t quote prices in €, it’s now pretty much the same as the $ ;-).
- In total we spent $585 in 8 days, which comes down to an average of $73 a day.
- All expenses in Cambodia are included, plus the transportation costs for the trip from Siem Riep to Bangkok.
Our Cambodia expenses are divided into four categories
1. Accommodation: 16% of our daily travel costs
2. Transportation: 14% of our daily travel costs
3. Food & Drinks: 39% of our daily travel costs
4. Paid activities: 19% of our daily travel costs
These categories add up to 88%, the other 12% is attributed to the $35 1-month single entry visa that we bought to enter Cambodia. Officially the visa costs $30…
But there is a $5 corruption fee levied at the border. Yes, I am strongly against corruption, bribing, etc. But I paid the $5 per visa extra anyway because I did want to enter Cambodia… Perhaps that makes me a bad person:-(. Anyway, I digress…
The total for two people was $70, which comes down to $9 a day. Better to stay in a country a bit longer, to spread the visa costs over more days;-).
1. Cost of accommodation in Cambodia
In total we stayed at three hotels and spent $96 in 8 days, the average price per night was $12. In the table below you can find the places I stayed at. You can read more about these hotels in my Cambodia itinerary.
| Kampot | Bohemiaz resort | €12,30/$13,50 | Agoda | Booking |
| Phnom Penh | Diamond Palace II | €14,50/$16 | Agoda | Booking |
| Siem Riep | Overflow Guesthouse | €13,20/$14,50 | Agoda | Booking |
2. Cost of transport in Cambodia
Our total transportation costs were $80, so $10 on an average travel day. Check out our complete Cambodia itinerary to read more about getting around and which places you can’t miss on your Cambodia trip!
In general: the faster you travel, the higher your average daily transportation costs. It’s better to stay put every once in a while if you want to stick to your budget;-).
3. Cost of food & drinks in Cambodia
In total, we spent $224 on food and drinks, on average $28 a day. I think 90% was spent on Amok, a delicious traditional Khmer dish that is one of my favorite dishes off all times! I actually cook Amok on a regular basis now that I am back in the Netherlands. It tastes pretty good, though never as good as in Cambodia…
Nope, the dish pictured above is not Amok! I cannot believe I do not have one single picture of my favorite dish! Probably because I ate it all before I could get my camera out. This noodle soup was pretty tasty as well though!
The other 10% was probably spent on fresh smoothies… Hmm, smoothies, so jummie!
4. Cost of paid activities in Cambodia
Total costs for paid activities came to $112, a daily average of $14.
Which activities did we do for $114?
Well, we rented a scooter and went exploring around Bokor, Kampot and Kep. We watched the movie ‘The Killing Fields’ in Ecran Movie House in Kampot. A private cinema! Well, a room with a big TV, but the movie is a must see when you are in or going to Cambodia no matter how and where you watch it.
In Phnom Penh we went to the Tuol Sleng Museum and the Choeung Ek Killing Fields, I found difficult to find the right words to write about these visit which is why I made a photo essay about the heartbreaking history of Cambodia instead…
And in Siem Riep we didn’t really do anything… Just kidding, obviously we went to Angkor Wat!
That’s pretty much it, all our Cambodia travel expenses! Cambodia was a little more expensive for us than the other countries in Southeast Asia we visited. You can compare our Cambodia travel costs with my budget breakdown posts for the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.
The main reason for these slightly higher costs is that we only spent a week in Cambodia. Plus Euro isn’t putting up a good fight against Dollar which also did not help our travel budget.
Still, daily costs of living are definitely higher in the Netherlands… And temperatures are much lower. So go to Cambodia, let its history impress you and its people even more. And eat loads of Amok!
Below you can download the Cambodia budget breakdown infographic.
Want to read more about Cambodia? Check out these posts as well:
- Itinerary for Cambodia
- Bokor Hill Station: a ghost town in Cambodia
- The heartbreaking history of Cambodia
Aniek
I would really like to visit Angkor Wat, but always thought it would be expensive travelling there. So this blog turned out to be really useful 🙂 Do you think spending one week in Cambodia is enough? Or would you recommend a longer trip?
Lotte
Happy to hear you find the post helpful:-) Angkor is actually not that expensive and so amazing to visit! There were more places I wanted to visit in Cambodia, like Koh Rong in the South and the Mekong Delta near the Cambodian-Lao border in the North, so if you have more time…
Aniek
So much to see…. looks like you could use a week or two. Thanks for your reply!
Lotte
Yes I think 2 weeks would be better. Have a great trip:-)
Yvon
Cambodia! It’s been on my list since 2010, but something else always came up…
I expected it to be a bit cheaper, to be honest. But I guess 8 days isn’t too long for Cambodia, so you could possibly do if for cheaper.
Lotte
Nope, I agree, it wasn’t the cheapest country in Southeast Asia. Two reasons:
1 => The euro-dollar exchange rate.
2 => The short period of time I spent in Cambodia. It can be done cheaper, if you travel more slowly;-)
Hope you get opportunity to visit the country soon!
Jessics
Hello, Me, my sister and boyfriends are looking at either traveling Vietnam and Cambodia in one go or Japan. And i wondered if you could help? We are torn on what to do. Did you have a preference? is there a big budget difference between Vietnam, cambodia and japan? How long would you suggest in each country? Any information would be great! Thank you, Jess.
Lotte
Hey Jessica, thanks for your comment! Awesome you have plans to travel to Vietnam, Cambodia or Japan. Each country was very different and it’s hard to pick a favorite…
Japan is definitely the most expensive, I am currently working on a budget post for our 1 month trip but I guess our expenses were between 100-120 euro a day (mind you, I had a sponsored car for Hokkaido so that definitely saved us a lot of money). Both Cambodia as well as Vietnam are very affordable, you can check my budget breakdown for Vietnam for more info.
Japan was the most varied I suppose, we experienced 4 seasons in 1 month (snow, sakura, sun and some rainy days as well) and the nature is so different across the various regions. Vietnam is very easy to travel and the food is fresh, cheap and delicious. Cambodia made a deep impression upon me because of it’s terrible history. But each country is worth a visit. I spent a month in both Japan and Vietnam and think you need at least that amount of time (though more would be better;-). I was in Cambodia for only 8 days but 2 weeks would be perfect I suppose (you would have time to visit Kampot, Phnom Penh, Siem Riep and Koh Rong).
Long story short, you can’t really make the wrong decision. I would mostly look at your budget to decide where to go. Please let me know if there is anything else you would like to know!
Z
Thank you for this post and loving some of your other SE Asia posts. It’s hard to find newer information and hard to find info on costs 🙂
I am heading to Cambodia and a few other places next week and can’t wait!!!
Lotte
I am really happy to hear that, thanks:-). Have a great trip in Cambodia and the other places you are going to visit!