In shortAngkor Wat lets visitors in from 5:00 AM for sunrise and closes at 5:30 PM. The park gates admit visitors from 5:00 AM and close at 6:30 PM. The Bayon and the Baphuon stay shut until 7:30 AM, Preah Khan runs 7:00 AM to 6:30 PM, and Phnom Bakheng is listed 5:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
5:00 AMpark entry opens
6:30 PMpark closes
5:00 AM–5:30 PMAngkor Wat hours
7:30 AMBayon and Baphuon open
Angkor Wat opening hours and the park gates
Entry to Angkor Archaeological Park starts at 5:00 AM and the park closes at 6:30 PM, the hours printed against every pass type by the ticketing authority. Angkor Wat keeps a shorter day, 5:00 AM to 5:30 PM. You can walk in while it is still dark, and you have to leave a full hour before the park itself shuts.
Inside the temple, the upper level runs on its own clock. The wooden stairway on the eastern side up to the Bakan opens at about 6:40 AM rather than with the temple, so the first part of a dawn visit belongs to the 350 m western causeway, the outer gallery and the Preah Poan cloister. Access to the Bakan is reported as groups of 100 at a time for visits of 15 to 30 minutes, modest dress required, and on the four Buddhist holy days of each month it is reserved for Cambodian visitors at worship.
Angkor Archaeological Park hours, monument by monument
Each monument keeps its own hours. The pattern worth memorising runs 5:00 AM at Angkor Wat and Phnom Bakheng, 7:00 AM at Preah Khan, 7:30 AM at the Bayon, the Baphuon and Banteay Srei.
- Banteay Srei shows 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM on its temple page and different hours on the ticket-counter page of the same official site, so confirm the time the day before an early departure.
- Phnom Bakheng is listed to 7:00 PM, but plan to be down by the park's 6:30 PM closing.
- Ta Prohm's 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM is widely listed; confirm it at the checkpoint on the day.
| Monument | Opens | Closes | Note |
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| Angkor Wat | 5:00 AM | 5:30 PM | Opens at 5:00 AM for sunrise |
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| Bayon, centre of Angkor Thom | 7:30 AM | 5:30 PM | The face-tower state temple of Jayavarman VII |
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| Baphuon, Angkor Thom | 7:30 AM | 5:30 PM | Reopened after a stone-by-stone restoration finished in April 2011 |
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| Phnom Bakheng | 5:00 AM | 7:00 PM | Hill temple about 1.5 km from Angkor Wat, the classic sunset viewpoint |
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| Preah Khan | 7:00 AM | 6:30 PM | North-east of Angkor Thom, one of the few temples usable late |
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| Banteay Srei | 7:30 AM | 5:30 PM | Half a day minimum, since it stands some 25 km north-east of the main group |
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| Ta Prohm | 7:30 AM | 5:30 PM | A 3 km hop north-east from Angkor Wat |
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| Srah Srang | 5:00 AM | — | Early dawn viewpoint inside the park |
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| Pre Rup | 6:00 AM | — | Second early viewpoint, on the grand circuit |
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| Angkor Archaeological Park gates | 5:00 AM | 6:30 PM | Hours printed beside every pass type |
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| Koh Ker, Beng Mealea, Kbal Spean | 6:00 AM | 6:30 PM | Outlying sites on their own passes, later entry |
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The 5:00 AM opening, privately
To be at Angkor Wat the minute the gates open and reach Angkor Thom only once the 7:30 AM temples start letting people in, this 8-hour private sunrise tour from $60, rated 5.0 ★ (3,558 reviews), handles the timing with private transportation and an English tour guide.
★ 5.0/5 · 3,558 reviews
What is open at first light
At 5:00 AM the list is short. Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng and Srah Srang admit visitors from the park's opening minute, and Pre Rup follows at 6:00 AM. Everything inside Angkor Thom waits until 7:30 AM and Preah Khan until 7:00 AM, so a dawn arrival starts at Angkor Wat or at one of those viewpoints; the Bayon is not an option.
Sunrise comes later than most people plan for. The sun clears the horizon at about 05:39 at the June solstice, about 06:08 at the March equinox, about 06:22 at the December solstice and latest around 06:31 in mid-January, which can mean a long wait on the causeway if you arrive at opening. At the two equinoxes the wait pays: Angkor Wat faces west, and the rising sun lines up with the central tower seen from the western causeway.
- From 5:00 AM: Angkor Wat (to 5:30 PM), Phnom Bakheng, Srah Srang
- From 6:00 AM: Pre Rup, plus the outlying sites of Koh Ker, Beng Mealea and Kbal Spean
- From 7:00 AM: Preah Khan (to 6:30 PM)
- From 7:30 AM: the Bayon, the Baphuon, Ta Prohm, Banteay Srei (all to 5:30 PM)
When the gates shut, and what stays open after
Angkor Wat ends its day at 5:30 PM, and the Bayon, the Baphuon, Ta Prohm and Banteay Srei lock up at the same minute. Preah Khan, beside the Jayatataka baray north-east of Angkor Thom, runs to 6:30 PM, and Phnom Bakheng is listed to 7:00 PM on its temple page while the passes close the park at 6:30 PM. The Bakheng summit has been reported capped at 300 visitors at a time, so climb with margin instead of arriving at the last moment.
Sunset falls at about 18:34 at the June solstice, 18:15 at the March equinox and 17:43 at the December solstice. In December the sun is down before the park closes; in June it is not, and the 6:30 PM closing printed on the pass is the figure to work to. A late plan therefore runs mid-afternoon into Preah Khan or up the Bakheng hill, with the galleries of Angkor Wat covered earlier in the day.
Which start time to book
Pick the temples first and let their hours choose the start time. A pre-dawn pickup is worth the alarm only if Angkor Wat is the first stop; if your list is led by the Bayon, the Baphuon or Ta Prohm, that same alarm buys you two hours in front of closed gates. A late-afternoon start suits anyone who wants Preah Khan or the Bakheng hill without the causeway crowd.
The tours on this site are built around those hours. The 8-hour Angkor Wat Sunrise or Sunset Tour with Guide from Siem Reap, from $18 and rated 5.0 ★ (13,742 reviews), lets you take the dawn shape of the day or the late-afternoon one, with an English tour guide, an air-conditioned vehicle, cold water and a cold towel; the Angkor pass is not included. For the 5:00 AM opening at your own pace, the Angkor Wat Sunrise Private Tour with Guide from Siem Reap runs 8 hours from $60, rated 5.0 ★ (3,558 reviews), with private transportation and an English tour guide, entrance tickets and meals not included. If you would rather start the day after breakfast, the Angkor Wat Private Day Tour from Siem Reap is the daytime option: 6-7 hours from $49, rated 5.0 ★ (1,052 reviews), with hotel pickup and drop-off, an experienced English-speaking guide, cold bottled water, and a tuk-tuk for 1-3 passengers or a minivan from 4 upwards, the listing noting that each passenger needs the $37 park ticket, which it does not include.
Questions people ask
Can I get a pass before 5:00 AM for a sunrise start?
Nothing opens before 5:00 AM. Apsara Road, at the corner of Road 60 and about 4 km out from central Siem Reap, holds the main Angkor Enterprise counter, and its day runs 5:00 AM to 5:30 PM; the Angkor Pavis counter next to the main Angkor Wat entrance keeps the same window. Buy after 5:00 PM and the pass counts for the following day, per the official help centre, and a guide can obtain one on your behalf, one of five official channels that also take in the website, the app, a kiosk and a staffed counter.
Do Koh Ker, Beng Mealea and Kbal Spean keep the same hours as Angkor?
No. Their passes carry a later opening, from 6:00 AM, with the same 6:30 PM close, so a first-light start is out of reach on a day spent out there. Each of those sites is ticketed separately from the Angkor pass.
Do the temples close in the middle of the day?
The published hours run straight through, with no midday break on any of the temple pages. Heat sets the practical limit instead, and the Angkor National Museum on the main road towards the temples keeps hours of 08:30-18:00 between 1 April and 30 September and 08:30-18:30 between 1 October and 31 March, which covers the hot part of the afternoon.
Does anything close for holidays or restoration work?
The ticketing authority publishes no closure calendar for public holidays, ceremonies or restoration, so ask the evening before if your plan hangs on one monument. The one documented pattern is at the Bakan, the upper level of Angkor Wat, reported to open only to Cambodian visitors for worship on the four Buddhist holy days of each month.
Is a second sunrise worth it, or should I use the late hours instead?
Use the late hours. Angkor drew 510,528 foreign visitors from January to September 2026, 27.6% fewer than the same months a year earlier, so the pressure to be first through the gate is lower than the old advice assumes. A mid-afternoon start still reaches Preah Khan to 6:30 PM and the Bakheng hill after Angkor Wat has closed at 5:30 PM.
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