The Angkor Wat Grand Circuit and the Small Circuit

What the Angkor small circuit covers

The small circuit is the shorter of the two park loops, about 17 km (10.5 miles) measured from Angkor Wat. It heads east to the Srah Srang reservoir, doubles back west for Ta Prohm and Ta Keo, then enters Angkor Thom through the Victory Gate in the eastern wall, with the Bayon and the Baphuon standing at the centre.

Nothing on this loop is far apart. Ta Prohm sits about 3 km north-east of Angkor Wat, so the driving between stops is measured in minutes. The four temples most people arrive wanting to see are all on it, which is why a single day from Siem Reap is nearly always a small-circuit day with dawn at Angkor Wat in front of it.

• Angkor Wat, where both loops begin: it takes visitors from 5:00 AM and shuts its gates again at 5:30 PM, ahead of the rest of the park
• Srah Srang, open from 5:00 AM, usable as a dawn stop
• Ta Prohm, open from 7:30 AM, with wooden walkways and platforms at the tree-root spots
• Ta Keo, on the same stretch between Srah Srang and Angkor Thom
• Angkor Thom by the Victory Gate, then the Bayon and the Baphuon, both from 7:30 AM

The Angkor Wat grand circuit, temple by temple

At about 25 km (15.6 miles), the grand circuit opens on the same stretch of road as the small one. Where the small loop turns west at Srah Srang, this one carries on east and north: Pre Rup, East Mebon, Neak Pean and Preah Khan, then back in through Angkor Thom's north gate to the Bayon.

Preah Khan is the reason to drive this loop. Jayavarman VII raised it as a tribute to his father, the main image went in during 1191, and conservators have chosen not to rebuild what fell, so the walk takes you past leaning doorways and propped lintels instead of reassembled galleries. The official temple page gives hours of 7:00 AM to 6:30 PM, which makes it one of the few major monuments still open in the last hour before the park closes at 6:30 PM.

Pre Rup counts for a different reason: it admits visitors from 6:00 AM, so it works as a second sunrise once you have already stood on the Angkor Wat causeway at first light. Neak Pean and East Mebon fill the quieter middle of a grand-circuit morning, with a fraction of the traffic Ta Prohm sees at the same hour.

• Pre Rup, open from 6:00 AM, the dawn option on this loop
• East Mebon, on the eastern side beyond Srah Srang
• Neak Pean, reached from the road along the northern side
• Preah Khan, 7:00 AM to 6:30 PM, beside the Jayatataka baray north-east of Angkor Thom
• Angkor Thom's north gate and the Bayon to finish

Opening hours decide the order of the loop

Angkor Wat opens at 5:00 AM for sunrise (Srah Srang and Phnom Bakheng also admit visitors from 5:00 AM), and it shuts at 5:30 PM. Three of the loops' headline stops, the Bayon, the Baphuon and Ta Prohm, hold their gates shut for another two and a half hours, until 7:30 AM. Run the small circuit in map order from a 5:00 AM start and you will be standing outside Ta Prohm with an hour to kill.

Build the day from both ends. First light belongs to Angkor Wat. The walls and gates of Angkor Thom can be walked before the inner temples open, and the last hour goes to Preah Khan on the grand circuit, open to 6:30 PM, or to Phnom Bakheng, about 1.5 km from Angkor Wat, which is listed to 7:00 PM, but plan to be down by the park's 6:30 PM closing.

Banteay Srei's own temple page states 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM, while its ticket-counter page shows a different window. Confirm the hour on the day before you commit a morning to the drive north-east.

The temples most visitors want to see

Between them the two loops touch a small share of what the pass admits you to: more than 50 accessible temples stand inside Angkor Temples Park, and the ticketing authority counts more than 90 across every site it sells tickets for. Nobody sees them in a week. Work through this order instead, with the loop each one falls on.

• Angkor Wat, small circuit. Suryavarman II put it up in the early 12th century to serve as his state temple and eventually his mausoleum; Vishnu held it first, and it had turned Buddhist before that century was out. It covers 162.6 hectares (402 acres), faces west, and its central tower rises 65 m above the ground.
• The Bayon, small circuit, inside Angkor Thom. The state temple of Jayavarman VII, late 12th or early 13th century. It opens at 7:30 AM, the one fact that reshapes a sunrise day.
• Ta Prohm, small circuit. A Mahayana Buddhist monastery dated by its foundation stele to 1186 and dedicated to the king's mother, with silk-cotton and thitpok trees through the stonework and walkways installed to keep visitors off the ruins.
• Preah Khan, grand circuit. Dedicated in 1191, deliberately left mostly unrestored, open to 6:30 PM.
• Phnom Bakheng. Built at the end of the 9th century under Yasovarman as the principal temple of Yasodharapura, over two centuries before Angkor Wat, and the classic sunset hill above the main temple. The summit is widely reported to be limited to 300 people at a time.
• The Baphuon, small circuit, inside Angkor Thom. Udayadityavarman II raised it as his state temple in the mid 11th century, and taking it apart and rebuilding it stone by stone ran for 51 years; it has only stood open again since April 2011.
• Banteay Srei, outlying. Consecrated on 22 April 967 AD and cut in reddish sandstone that holds unusually fine carving, about 25 km north-east of the main group.
• Pre Rup, grand circuit, for the 6:00 AM opening and the view over the eastern plain.

One day, two days or a longer stay

With one day, take the small circuit and leave it at that. Dawn at Angkor Wat, the galleries while the light is still low, Angkor Thom and the Bayon once 7:30 AM has passed, Ta Prohm late morning, and Phnom Bakheng in the afternoon if your legs hold. Adding the grand circuit on the same day means 25 km of extra road and a thin half-hour at each stop.

With two days, split the loops. Day one is the small circuit with the sunrise; day two is the grand circuit, starting at Pre Rup from 6:00 AM and finishing at Preah Khan, which stays open an hour after Angkor Wat has closed. The $62 three-day pass fits this shape of trip: the official site states it expires in 7 days, so the visit days need not be consecutive and a storm-ruined afternoon costs you nothing.

Three days or more is where the outlying sites earn their place. Banteay Srei is roughly 25 to 30 km from Siem Reap and takes a half-day of its own, with its own staffed counter. Beng Mealea has a separate $10 ticket, Koh Ker $15 and Kbal Spean $5, and all three admit visitors from 6:00 AM rather than 5:00 AM. On a driven day out like that the ticket can be handled for you by the guide.

Loop driving gets harder between June and October, the monsoon months, when storms break up roads, set off landslides and bring flash flooding; the dry season is when the 25 km version of the day stays comfortable. Out at the rural temples, keep to the main routes and marked paths, and plan the running order so the driving between sites is finished before dark.

• One day: small circuit, about 17 km (10.5 miles), sunrise at Angkor Wat
• Two days: small circuit, then the grand circuit, about 25 km (15.6 miles)
• Three days or more: both loops plus a half-day for Banteay Srei, and separate tickets for Beng Mealea, Koh Ker or Kbal Spean

Riding the circuits by bike, e-bike or tuk-tuk

The small circuit is the loop that works on two wheels. About 17 km (10.5 miles) of flat road between temples makes a comfortable day if you start at dawn and finish before the afternoon heat. The grand circuit at about 25 km (15.6 miles) is a longer push, which is where a support vehicle and the tuk-tuk option matter.

The sunrise bike tour on this site runs 9 hours from $60 and is rated 5.0 ★ (638 reviews). A Trek mountain bike and helmet come with it, swapped for an e-bike when you book that option; an English-speaking cycle guide rides with you, a support vehicle follows the loop, pick-up and drop-off are at your hotel, and breakfast, lunch, bottled water and snacks are covered. Temple entrance is a separate fee, listed at $37 for single-day entry.

For the same loops without the pedalling, the private day tour runs 6 to 7 hours with hotel pickup and drop-off, an experienced English-speaking guide and cold bottled water, in a tuk-tuk for 1 to 3 passengers or a minivan from 4 upwards. From $49, rated 5.0 ★ (1,052 reviews), with the $37 park ticket required and not included.

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