Cambodia in April: Khmer New Year and the hottest month, planned properly

Last updated: November 5, 2026 · By Wander Cambodia

April is Cambodia at full volume. It is the hottest month of the year — lowland highs around 35–36°C — and in the middle of it the country stops for Khmer New Year, its biggest holiday. Neither fact should cancel a trip. Both should shape it. This guide follows our March guide and completes the month-by-month run that began with November.

Khmer New Year runs the month

Chaul Chnam Thmey — Khmer New Year — falls in mid-April, with public holidays typically across three days around April 14–16 (confirm the exact gazetted dates for 2027 before you book). In practice the country slows for longer: city businesses close, staff travel home to their provinces, intercity buses and island ferries fill with domestic travellers, and prices on the popular routes firm up. Siem Reap celebrates hardest in public — the Angkor area hosts festivities and the town fills — while Phnom Penh empties out in a way regulars quietly love.

The planning rules are simple. Book April transport and island rooms early — the New Year legs sell out the way Christmas legs do elsewhere. Expect closures: that family-run restaurant or small tour desk may simply be shut for four or five days, and the visa-extension agent you meant to visit will be too — anyone staying longer should read our extension guide and time the paperwork outside the holiday. And join in where you are invited: water and talc blessings are part of the fun in tourist areas; keep your phone in a dry bag and your valuables at the hotel.

The heat, planned around honestly

April heat is not March heat with a new label — humidity climbs through the month and the middle of the day becomes genuinely punishing for temple touring. The working pattern is the one locals use: out at dawn, done by ten, shade and water until four, then the evening. At Angkor that means sunrise starts and the non-consecutive days of a 3-day or 7-day pass used as designed — pass prices are in our Angkor Pass cost answer, and the season advice in best time to visit Angkor Wat matters more this month than any other. Air-conditioning stops being a preference and becomes the budget line that decides whether you enjoy the trip; our travel insurance answer covers why heat makes medical cover a planning item, not an afterthought.

Where April works best

The islands are April's reward before the seas turn: the water is at its warmest and clearest early in the month, and Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem are still running on dry-season ferry reliability — go early in April rather than late, and book the New Year weekend well ahead via the Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville route. The northeast highlands around Mondulkiri stay the coolest corner of the country and earn the detour. Kampot and Kep run hot but slow, with the river doing the cooling. Late in the month, the first real storms can roll in on April afternoons — dramatic, brief, and a preview of May rather than a ruined trip.

Costs and the paperwork check

Outside the New Year window, April prices soften as the high season ends — mid-range rooms negotiate again and two weeks' lead time is plenty. Inside the window, invert that: holiday demand is domestic, strong, and books early. Paperwork stays boring and unchanged: the $30 tourist eVisa (or the $35 Ordinary entry if you might stay on), bought only at evisa.gov.kh, and the free e-Arrival card in the seven days before you fly. Packing for April is its own discipline — lightest clothes, serious sunscreen, electrolytes, a dry bag for New Year water as much as for sweat — and our buy before you fly list covers what costs double if you leave it to buy here.

Weather figures are long-term April averages for Cambodia's lowlands, checked November 2026. Khmer New Year 2027's exact public-holiday dates should be confirmed against the official gazette before booking mid-April travel.

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