Private or small group
The difference is not comfort, it is control of the clock. This page explains where the price gap comes from, and names the cases where the cheaper option is the better one.
What you are actually buying
| Small group (max 8) | Private | |
|---|---|---|
| Departure dates | Fixed, published | Any day you like |
| Start time each morning | Set by the group | Set by you, changed at breakfast |
| Vehicle | Shared minibus or two cars | Your own car and driver throughout |
| Guide | Shared, one guide for up to eight | Yours alone |
| Hotel level | Fixed at booking | Yours to move up or down |
| Pace changes mid-trip | Rarely possible | Normal, and free |
| Typical price gap | Baseline | 35 - 60 percent more for two people |
Everything on that list follows from one fact: a car, a driver and a guide cost the same whether one person or eight are using them.
Where the price gap comes from, in numbers
These are the supplier costs behind a normal temple day in Siem Reap. They are not our selling prices, they are what a day costs before anyone makes anything.
| Item | Cost per day | Shared between 2 | Shared between 6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licensed English-speaking guide | USD 45 - 60 | USD 25 each | USD 9 each |
| Car and driver, fuel included | USD 45 - 65 | USD 28 each | USD 10 each |
| Minibus and driver (up to 8) | USD 75 - 95 | - | USD 14 each |
| Boat, Tonle Sap, private | USD 70 - 110 | USD 45 each | USD 15 each |
Two people travelling privately are paying roughly USD 55 a day each for the guide and car alone. Six people pay under USD 20. That gap, multiplied by the number of days, is essentially the entire difference between our private and small-group prices.
Hotels, entrance fees, the Angkor pass, domestic flights and meals cost exactly the same in either format. Group size only moves the transport and guiding line.
When small group is the better choice, not just the cheaper one
- You are two people and would rather spend the difference on three extra days or a much better hotel. This is the most common case and it is usually right.
- You are travelling alone and would like company at dinner without committing to it.
- It is your first time in Southeast Asia and you would find someone else's decisions restful rather than annoying.
- You want a fixed, published price with nothing to negotiate.
Eight people is small enough that all of these hold. At sixteen they stop holding, which is why we do not run sixteen.
When private earns its money
- You are four or more. At four, the per-person gap has already shrunk to about 20 percent and you get the whole trip on your own clock.
- You are travelling with children under ten. Fixed group timings and small children are a bad combination, and the flexibility to abandon an afternoon is worth more than the money.
- You have a specific interest: Khmer epigraphy, textiles, birds, food, the pre-Angkorian sites. A shared guide cannot go deep on one thing without shortchanging seven others.
- You have limited mobility or heat tolerance and need the day rebuilt around a rest.
- You are photographers. Photographers and non-photographers should not share a sunrise.
A five-step decision, if you want one
- Count your party. Four or more, book private; the gap is small and the gain is large.
- If you are two, decide whether the extra USD 45 - 60 per person per day buys more than the same money spent on days or hotels. Usually it does not.
- Check the calendar. Fixed departures in November to February fill three months out; if your dates are rigid and late, private may be the only option.
- Ask what you would do differently if you could. If the honest answer is 'nothing', you do not need private.
- Book the shorter private trip over the longer group one only if the reason is a real constraint, not a preference for the word 'private'.
We will tell you which one we think you want after the first email, and we have talked people out of private trips more often than into them.
What we will not do
We will not put you into a group larger than eight, and we will not merge two small groups into one large one to fill a bus. If a departure has three people booked, it runs with three people, at the published price.
We also will not sell a 'private' tour that shares a guide with another car, which is a common arrangement here. If your trip is private, the guide has one phone number in use that day and it is yours.
Questions travellers ask most
What is the minimum group size for a fixed departure?
Two. Below that we contact you and offer either a small supplement or a nearby date that already has bookings. We do not cancel departures that have people on them.
Can we start as a group and split off for a day?
On small-group departures, yes, for an extra car and guide charged at cost, usually USD 90 to USD 120 for the day. Tell us in advance rather than on the morning.
Is a private guide better than a group guide?
Not automatically. We use the same guides for both. What changes is how much of that guide's attention and time you control, and whether the day can be rebuilt at breakfast.
Do you ever recommend the group option to families?
With teenagers, often, because the social side helps. With children under ten, almost never, because a fixed departure cannot wait for a nap and a private car can.
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Tell us what you want out of Cambodia
Dates, party size and the places you care about are enough to start. You get a draft route and an indicative price, not a brochure.