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Arriving in Cambodia

Four steps, in the order they happen. Anything that changes often, such as a visa fee or a SIM price, is not repeated here: this page sends you to the service that sets it, because a number copied onto a guide goes out of date the moment it is published.

  1. Step 1

    Before you fly

    Two official forms to understand, and four apps to install while you still have Wi-Fi.

    There are two separate official things, and confusing them is the most common mistake. The e-Visa is permission to enter, and whether you need one depends on your nationality and which border you cross. e-Arrival is the arrival declaration, and it is not a visa. Holding one does not give you the other.

    Both have official government addresses, and both have imitators that charge more for the same thing. Use evisa.gov.kh and arrival.gov.kh, and check the current fee and submission window on the service itself rather than trusting a figure on a travel site.

    Install these before you go, while the app stores are not region-locked:

    The full list, with store links and what each one is actually for, is on the apps page.

    Travel health advice depends on your route and the season, so it is a conversation with a travel clinic rather than something to read off a page. For what care looks like once you are in the country, we keep a separate healthcare guide.

  2. Step 2

    Your first hour

    Get connected, get some cash, and book your ride from inside the terminal.

    Get data working first, because everything else depends on it. SIM cards are sold in the arrivals hall at both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap international airports, and an eSIM bought before you fly does the same job without the queue.

    Then get some cash. Cambodia runs on US dollars and Cambodian riel at the same time: prices are usually quoted in dollars, ATMs dispense dollars, and riel turns up as change for anything under a dollar, at roughly 4,000 riel to the dollar. You do not need to exchange money into riel before you travel, and you will accumulate it whether you want to or not.

    Then book your ride from inside the terminal rather than negotiating at the kerb. Grab covers both international airports and shows you the fare before you accept it, which is the whole reason we suggest installing it at home. Drivers waiting outside will offer a price instead of a meter; with the fare already on your screen you are not guessing whether it is a fair one.

  3. Step 3

    Your first day

    Learn the QR code on the counter, and keep small notes.

    Almost every till, market stall and tuk-tuk driver displays a square black-and-white code called KHQR. It is a single national standard rather than one code per bank, which is why a shop only ever shows one and why scanning it works whichever Cambodian bank app the person opposite you uses. As a visitor you can join that system with Bakong Tourists, the central bank's own wallet, without a Cambodian bank account.

    For a short trip, cash is still simpler. Two habits make it easier: keep small notes, because a $50 note is hard to break outside a hotel or supermarket, and check the condition of dollar notes you are given, since torn or heavily marked ones are commonly refused.

    Save the emergency numbers now: 119 for an ambulance, 117 for police, 118 for fire. Our healthcare guide keeps these under a daily source check, along with the hospitals foreign residents actually use.

  4. Step 4

    Your first week

    Work out where you want to be, and what it costs to stay.

    Phnom Penh is the capital and the usual base for work and longer stays. Siem Reap is small, walkable, and organised around Angkor. Which one suits you is mostly a question of whether you want a city or a town.

    Rent is the number that decides the rest of your budget. GlobeScraper's rentals track around 30,000 listings with asking prices by district, so you can see what an area actually costs before you commit to it, and the cost of living calculator builds its rent line from those same live listings rather than from a survey somebody ran once.

    For what to do with the rest of the week, start with things to do, or go straight to Siem Reap, where the three entries are compared by length, effort and price so you can rule things out quickly.

This page is orientation, not advice on your particular case. Entry requirements, visas and health precautions depend on your nationality and route: confirm them with the Cambodian government services linked above and with your own government's travel advice before you book.