Angkor Wat
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Angkor Wat is not ticketed on its own. Every visitor needs an Angkor pass, which covers the whole archaeological park…
532 tickets & tours
By type
Best ancient temples to visit worldwide
Ancient temples in this catalogue are sanctuaries whose original cult has ended or changed: Greek temples, Egyptian temple complexes, the Khmer and Javanese stone mountains, Maya pyramids and early Indian cave shrines. What survives is the stone frame. Look for the processional route that led worshippers inward, from a gateway or pylon through courts and colonnades to a small, dark sanctuary only priests entered, and for the reliefs and inscriptions that explain who built the place and for which god.
How to visit an ancient temple: tickets, heat and rules — Tickets, hours, heat, guides, climbing rules and conservation at the ancient temples of Egypt, Greece, Italy, Angkor and the Maya world.
Borobudur
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Visiting Borobudur now involves two decisions rather than one.
370 tickets & tours
Prambanan Temple
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Prambanan is easy to visit independently: you buy an entry ticket at the gate or online, and the ticket covers the main…
297 tickets & tours
My Son Sanctuary
Hoi An, Vietnam
My Son lies in a wooded valley about 40 km southwest of Hoi An, and almost everyone visits it as a half-day trip from…
213 tickets & tours
Ayutthaya Historical Park
Ayutthaya, Thailand
Ayutthaya is not a fenced park with a single gate. The ruins are scattered across an island formed by three rivers and…
141 tickets & tours
Teotihuacan
Mexico City, Mexico
Teotihuacan lies about 50 km northeast of central Mexico City, and the choice is mainly between going on your own and…
74 tickets & tours
Tikal
Flores, Guatemala
Almost everyone reaches Tikal from Flores, the island town on Lake Peten Itza about 64 km to the south-west, and the…
71 tickets & tours
Palenque
Palenque, Mexico
Palenque is straightforward to visit on your own. The ruins lie inside a national park about 8 km from the modern town…
63 tickets & tours
Temple of Poseidon, Cape Sounion
Sounion, Greece
Cape Sounion lies at the southern tip of Attica, about 70 km from central Athens, and most visitors come on a half-day…
48 tickets & tours
Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho
Khajuraho, India
Kandariya Mahadeva stands in the fenced Western Group of temples, and a single ticket from the Archaeological Survey of…
45 tickets & tours
Coba Maya Ruins
Tulum, Mexico
Coba lies inland, about 47 km north-west of Tulum and a little over two hours by road from Cancun, so most visitors…
41 tickets & tours
Tulum Archaeological Zone
Tulum, Mexico
The Maya walled city of Tulum is one of the few ancient sites in Mexico that you can easily visit on your own: it…
36 tickets & tours
Garni Temple
Garni, Armenia
Garni is about 30 km east of Yerevan and almost every visit is made by road, either by taxi or private driver or on an…
31 tickets & tours
Ajanta Caves
Aurangabad, India
The Ajanta Caves lie in a remote gorge about 100 km north of Aurangabad, now officially Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, so…
29 tickets & tours
Uxmal
Yucatán, Mexico
Uxmal lies in the Puuc hills about 62 km south of Merida, roughly an hour's drive, and entry is paid at the…
29 tickets & tours
Ellora Caves
Aurangabad, India
Ellora sits about 29 km northwest of Aurangabad, and almost everything sold online is built around getting there and…
28 tickets & tours
Abu Simbel Temples
Abu Simbel, Egypt
Abu Simbel stands in the far south of Egypt, close to the Sudanese border and roughly 280 km by road from Aswan, so the…
27 tickets & tours
Segesta Temple and Theatre
Trapani, Italy
Segesta is an archaeological park rather than a living shrine, and you can simply buy a ticket at the entrance, near…
26 tickets & tours
Valley of the Temples, Agrigento
Agrigento, Italy
The Valley of the Temples is one of the most visited sites in Sicily, and almost every kind of visit is on offer.
26 tickets & tours
Paestum Greek Temples
Paestum, Italy
Paestum is easy to visit independently: the archaeological area and its museum share one ticket, sold at the gate, and…
24 tickets & tours
Parthenon
Athens, Greece
The Parthenon stands on the Acropolis of Athens and is seen on the Acropolis ticket, which now requires a timed entry…
24 tickets & tours
Luxor Temple
Luxor, Egypt
Luxor Temple stands in the middle of the modern city on the east bank of the Nile, so it is the easiest of the great…
20 tickets & tours
Sukhothai Historical Park
Sukhothai, Thailand
The park is divided into zones, each with its own gate and ticket bought on the spot, so there is no need to book entry…
18 tickets & tours
Koh Ker
Preah Vihear, Cambodia
Koh Ker has its own ticket, sold at a checkpoint on the access road and online as a one-day pass;
12 tickets & tours
Most are archaeological sites rather than places of worship, so there is rarely a dress code; the real needs are a hat, water, sun protection and shoes with grip for worn steps and slippery marble. The exceptions matter: Angkor Wat and Borobudur are still sacred, so cover shoulders and knees there, and take your hat off in the upper sanctuary at Angkor. Climbing on fallen stones is forbidden almost everywhere, drones need permits, and in the heat the hour after opening is the best of the day.
The strongest examples are Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Borobudur near Yogyakarta, the Parthenon in Athens, the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento in Sicily, Luxor Temple in Luxor and Teotihuacan outside Mexico City. Each repays a full morning, and the reliefs of Angkor and Borobudur are far easier to read with a guide.