Battambang is small, but there is more around it than you can fit into two days. Caves, rice fields, a rattling stretch of old railway and a town full of murals, all within a fifteen minute ride. You do not have to do all of it, and the travellers who end up staying longest here usually do the least.
A few things really belong on the list: the bats at sunset and a morning on a bicycle between the villages. Others are a nice extra if you have a day to spare. Know in advance where you want your time to go and you easily keep a whole day free for the countryside.
So where do your two days in Battambang go, and what do you save for next time?
Below are the places themselves. Where to sleep, how to get around and how many days to plan are all on our Battambang page.
The bats of Phnom Sampeau
Every evening at around quarter to six, a stream of bats pours out of a cave at the foot of the hill and does not stop for twenty minutes. Around three million of them, in a ribbon that curls away over the rice fields and only disappears when it is almost dark. It costs nothing, and it is the most impressive thing you will see in Cambodia without buying a ticket.
The cave is 12 kilometres southwest of town. Most backpackers come here by tuk-tuk at the end of a half day, which costs about €10, or on the tour that also covers the bamboo train and the Killing Caves. At the bottom of the hill there are stalls where you grab a drink and simply sit down to wait.
Be there well before six, because you do not want to pull up while they are already flying out. Bring mosquito repellent, and if you ride back in the dark, make sure your scooter’s headlight works.
Our verdict: absolutely, and plan your day around it
A morning cycling the countryside
Flat land starts right behind the town: rice fields to the horizon, fish farms and small villages where the work simply happens outdoors. This is Cambodia’s rice bowl, and you only notice that when you move through it slowly instead of speeding past in a minivan.
A guided cycle tour costs from about €20 and takes half a day, usually in the morning before it gets too hot. Along the way you stop at people making rice paper, frying banana chips and distilling rice wine, and you get to taste everywhere. It is flat everywhere here, so you do not need to be a cyclist.
Rather do it yourself? Rent a scooter for about €7 a day. You miss the explanations, but you decide how long you hang around anywhere. Do stay on the surfaced roads, wear a helmet, and check the licence rules for Cambodia on our travel insurance page before you ride.
Our verdict: a must, this is what Battambang is all about
The Killing Caves
At the top of the same hill as the bats are the Killing Caves, a site from the Khmer Rouge years where a memorial now stands. It is one of the most important historical places in the region and also the hardest. It is not a sight you tick off on the way, and you feel that the moment you step inside.
Entry for the whole hill is about €2.50, and with the bats added you are there for two to three hours. The road up is steep with little shade, so bring water. Walking is perfectly doable, but for about €1.50 a moto takes you to the top.
Do this before you go and wait for the bats below, not after. At the top you also find the temples and the viewpoints over the plain, and that order gives your afternoon exactly the right shape.
Our verdict: go, and give it the attention it deserves
The bamboo train
A wooden plank on wheels with a small engine on the back, rattling along old, crooked rails through the countryside. There is nothing around it: no walls, no railing, just the plank and you. You will hardly find this thing anywhere else in the world, and that is exactly why everyone wants a ride.
About 7 kilometres there and back, roughly 40 minutes, and around €5 a person. Hold on tight to your things, because there is literally nothing to fasten them to and it goes faster than you expect.
There are two lines. The newer one at Banan is the polished tourist version, while the old one still feels like the improvised transport it once was. Ask your driver beforehand where he is taking you.
Our verdict: great fun, and done in forty minutes
Street art between the French shopfronts
No town in Cambodia has as much art per street as this one. Between the old colonial shopfronts by the river you find galleries, workshops and murals that sometimes cover half a wall, and nobody turns it into an attraction. You stumble across it while looking for something else.
It costs nothing and in an hour or two you have seen the centre. Most of it is around the water, so it is easy to combine with breakfast or a walk along the river.
Go at the end of the afternoon. That is when the light is low against the yellow shopfronts and the galleries are open, whereas around midday it is mostly hot and quiet.
Our verdict: an hour of wandering, and that is just right
A cooking class that starts at the market
Khmer food is subtler than the Thai food you have probably just come from, and a class is the quickest way to understand why. It does not start in the kitchen but at the market, where you learn what goes into kroeung and why you might want to leave that one fermented tub alone.
It takes half a day and costs from about €15. You usually make amok, lok lak and a curry, and at the end you eat your own work. That is your lunch or dinner sorted.
Do this on your first day rather than your last. Then you know what to order for the rest of your time in Cambodia.
Our verdict: perfect for a third day, and then definitely do it
An evening along the Sangker
The riverside promenade is where the town heads at around six. Locals work out, kids run around, people sit on plastic chairs by the water and dinner costs a few euros a plate. It is not a sight, it is simply where the day ends here.
It costs nothing. Early in the morning it is just as beautiful and a lot quieter, so if you are awake anyway after your night bus, walk a loop before breakfast.
If the Phare circus is performing while you are in town, that is the best night out Battambang has. It does not run every evening, so ask at your hostel as soon as you arrive.
Our verdict: your best evening here, and it costs nothing
Got time to spare in Battambang?
Picking the right bamboo train
There are two: the old line and the newer one at Banan. The experience everyone has told you about is on the old line, with that rattling platform over sagging rails. The newer one is more neatly laid out, smoother, and has a row of stalls at the end. Ask beforehand which of the two your driver means, and you get exactly the ride you had in mind.
Getting up Phnom Sampeau
The climb to the caves is steep and there is barely a tree, while around midday it is about 31 degrees, and from March to May as much as 37. For about €1.50 a moto takes you to the top in a few minutes, and you arrive fresh enough to enjoy it. That €1.50 is the best money you will spend here.
Your evenings by the river
Battambang is all about culture, nature and calm, and the evenings fit that. There are friendly bars and a rooftop or two, and by the river you eat really well while the town slowly goes quiet. Want a proper big night out? Save it for Siem Reap or the islands, and keep your evenings here for the best food on your route.
By scooter through the countryside
The land around town is gorgeous and the best of it lies right along the surfaced roads: rice fields, villages and people waving. Do stay on the surfaced roads and marked paths, because there are still landmines in this province, and never touch anything metal you spot lying in a field. Stick to that rule and this is one of the most beautiful rides in Cambodia.
Our top five in Battambang
Only got a few days? These are the five we would do no matter what:
- The bats of Phnom Sampeau, at around quarter to six at the foot of the hill
- A morning on a bicycle past the rice paper makers and the villages
- The Killing Caves at the top of the hill, just before you go and wait for the bats
- The bamboo train, on the old line
- An evening along the Sangker, or the Phare circus if it is on
Still got time after that? A cooking class that starts at the market is the most fun way to fill a third day. Or simply rent a scooter for €7 and ride the surfaced roads without a plan until you stumble onto something.
So what do you really have to do in Battambang?
Everything on this list is worth it, but Battambang is above all a town to experience rather than tick off, and that is exactly why people like it so much. The travellers who booked one night here and stayed four took their time over the things that spoke to them.
If we had to pick just one thing: take a bicycle out into the countryside. Not because it is spectacular, but because within ten minutes you are out of town and among people laying out rice paper to dry who do not even look up at you. That is the Cambodia everyone says they are looking for and hardly anyone stops for.
Then finish that same day with the bats. Twenty minutes sitting still with a drink while three million of them curl away over your head, and afterwards a ride back through the dark to the river for a plate of lok lak. A day in Battambang does not get better than that.
