Pickup at 4:30 AM, three hours at Angkor Wat for the dawn light, then the Bayon, Ta Prohm and Preah Dak village, with the 1-day entrance fee covered.
Updated 27 October 2026
In shortThe Angkor Wat photography tour is a private full day from Siem Reap that starts with a 4:30 AM hotel pickup for sunrise at Angkor Wat and runs 8-10 hours through the Angkor Thom South Gate, the Bayon, Ta Prohm and Preah Dak village. Transport is a private superior air-conditioned vehicle, the guide speaks English, and the 1-day temple entrance fee of $37 per person is already in the price. It suits anyone carrying a serious camera and wanting long stops: three hours at Angkor Wat, two hours at the Bayon, two more at Ta Prohm.
8–10 htour length
from $105per booking
★ 5.02 reviews
What the Angkor Wat photography tour includes
Pickup is at 4:30 AM from your hotel, which is early enough to be in position before the sky starts to change. Angkor Wat opens at 5:00 AM for sunrise (Srah Srang and Phnom Bakheng also admit visitors from 5:00 AM), and sunrise itself lands between about 05:39 at the June solstice and about 06:31 in mid-January, so the waiting time on the western causeway varies by season. At the hall where Angkor Park tickets are issued, the guide, holding a company sign, arranges the included 1-day pass.
The day is 8-10 hours and the stop times are long by Angkor standards: 180 minutes at Angkor Wat, 20 minutes at the Angkor Thom South Gate, 120 minutes at the Bayon, 120 minutes at Ta Prohm and 60 minutes in Preah Dak village. Transport is a private superior air-conditioned vehicle. You get four bottled waters and two cold towels per person, which matters more than it sounds by the third temple.
The 1-day temple entrance fee of $37 per person is covered by the price, the only tour on this site where that is the case. Tips and travel insurance are not included.
Two practical notes for cameras. Modest clothing is required to enter the temples and you can be refused admission to religious sites, including Angkor Wat, if what you are wearing is too revealing; tripods are discouraged inside the temples by the visitor code of conduct, as are backpacks and sharp-tipped umbrellas, and you need permission before photographing monks.
Angkor Wat Photography Tour, private, from $105
Hotel pickup at 4:30 AM, English-speaking guide, private air-conditioned transport, four bottled waters and two cold towels per person, and the 1-day temple entrance fee of $37 per person included.
Angkor Wat180 min Sunrise over the main complex, then three hours to work through it in order. The temple was built in the early 12th century by King Suryavarman II as a state temple dedicated to Vishnu, and the ticketing authority calls it the largest religious monument in the world. The two reflection ponds flank the 350 m causeway in front of the third set of steps, beside the outer libraries.
Angkor Thom South Gate20 min A short stop at the gate, about 23 metres tall, with its stone archway and the rows of gods and demons lining the causeway over the moat. Twenty minutes is enough for the approach shot and the faces above the arch.
Bayon Temple120 min The Bayon stands at the centre of Angkor Thom and was built in the late 12th century by King Jayavarman VII. Its stone faces are read either as Avalokiteshvara or as the king himself. The monument opens at 7:30 AM, which is why it comes after Angkor Wat rather than before it.
Ta Prohm Temple120 min Ta Prohm, the temple used in Tomb Raider, was built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, also under Jayavarman VII, and was left partly ruined, with tree roots running through the stonework. It sits about 3 km north-east of Angkor Wat and opens at 7:30 AM. Two hours allows for the light to move across the main root galleries.
Preah Dak Village60 min An hour in a village of rice fields and gardens east of the main temple group. You taste freshly tapped palm juice and palm sugar, palm cookies and Khmer rice wine, and the villagers talk about how the palm is worked.
Photos: ours and the tour operator's
What is included
Included
Cold towels, 2 per person
English-speaking tour guide
Private superior air-conditioned transport
Bottled water, 4 per person
Temple entrance fee, 1 day at $37 per person covering all the temples
Not included
Tips
Travel insurance
Meeting point and pickup
Ticket hall: after the 4:30 AM hotel pickup, the guide, with a company sign by the map at the entrance of the hall where Angkor Park tickets are issued, arranges the included 1-day pass.
Pickup: 4:30 AM from your hotel. Give the hotel name and full address when you book so the driver can time the pickup.
Dress: modest clothing is required to enter the temples.
Ages: infant 0–3, adult 4+
Other photography tour options compared
The listings below cover much the same temples at different prices and formats. The $23 sunrise departure is a group tour and the cheapest way to see dawn at Angkor Wat; the two private full days at $64 and $65 cost less than this page but do not include the temple entrance fee, and one of them ends at sunset instead of starting at dawn. The page here is the one to pick if you want three hours inside Angkor Wat, two at the Bayon and two at Ta Prohm.
The tour runs 8-10 hours from a 4:30 AM pickup, from $105, with the 1-day temple entrance fee included. Check availability for the dates you are in Siem Reap.
