Siem Reap & Angkor Very cheap
Fish amok and lok lak are the dishes to have. Eat at Khmer places off Pub Street rather than on it — the same meal costs a third as much and tastes considerably better.
Budget travel in Cambodia
What a visitor's money does in Cambodia: every guide rated from very cheap to very expensive, cheapest first, then the things that cost travellers money without buying anything — the ATM, the taxi, the SIM.
Very cheap average across 1 guide · 5 is very cheap
Money
US Dollar (USD) · Prices are in USD; change under $1 comes back as riel at ~4,000 · USD
Cambodia runs on US dollars and gives change in riel below a dollar — roughly 4,000 to one. Bring clean, untorn notes, because damaged ones are refused. There is no reason to buy riel deliberately.
ATMs
Avoid: machines at the temple gates, hotel lobby machines
Use: ABA, Acleda, Canadia
Every withdrawal costs $4-5, so take larger amounts less often. Ask for small notes — nobody at a market can break a fifty, and torn notes are refused outright.
Getting around
A short ride in Siem Reap & Angkor: $2–5 across town — cheap
From the airport: Phnom Penh airport to the riverside $8–12
The app is mostly a tuk-tuk, priced before you set off instead of haggled.
City by city, cheapest first
The cost rating is this site's own, for a visitor, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in. The general rules — the conversion prompt, shoulder season, the airport taxi — are in budget travel tips.
