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Siem Reap, Cambodia, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)
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Top 10AsiaCambodia

Top 10 Things To Do in Siem Reap

Country
Cambodia
Best months
Nov · Dec · Jan
Population
245K
Language
Khmer
Budget / day
$60–120
Quick answer

The best things to do in Siem Reap are Angkor Wat at sunrise, the face towers of the Bayon, the strangler figs of Ta Prohm and the carving at Banteay Srei. Give the temples three days on a multi-day Angkor pass, come between November and January for dry and comparatively cool weather, and keep an afternoon for the stilt villages out on the Tonlé Sap.

Best of Siem Reap

▶ Video guideOpen the film page (11:00) →

Siem Reap is a small town with the largest religious monument on earth on its doorstep. Below are the ten things worth your time, each mapped, with the practical detail the day actually turns on: what the Angkor pass costs, which temple rewards which hour, and where to eat once the light goes. Three days is the honest minimum.

The 10 best things to do in Siem Reap

Watch sunrise over Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia
1

Watch sunrise over Angkor Wat

Landmark· Angkor Archaeological Park, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia

The largest religious monument in the world, raised for Suryavarman II in the first half of the 12th century and never fully abandoned since. Come at first light for the reflection in the northern pond, then walk the bas-relief gallery on the east wing once the crowd drifts back to breakfast. The Churning of the Sea of Milk panel is the one to slow down for.

Time3–4 hrs
CostAngkor pass, $37 a day
Best atSunrise
TipBuy the pass online
Map↗ Website
Meet the faces of the Bayon, Siem Reap, Cambodia
2

Meet the faces of the Bayon

Landmark· Angkor Thom, Angkor Archaeological Park, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Jayavarman VII put his state temple at the exact centre of Angkor Thom, and more than 200 carved faces look out from its towers. The prevailing reading is Lokeshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, wearing the king’s own features. Come in by the south gate so you cross the causeway of gods and demons before you reach it.

Time2–3 hrs
CostAngkor pass
Best atMid-morning
TipEnter by the south gate
Map↗ Website
Walk into Ta Prohm, Siem Reap, Cambodia
3

Walk into Ta Prohm

Landmark· Angkor Archaeological Park, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Left deliberately unrestored by the archaeologists who cleared the rest of Angkor, so silk-cotton and strangler figs still grip the galleries they cracked open. It is the most photographed ruin in the park and the most crowded by nine in the morning, which is the entire argument for going first.

Time1–2 hrs
CostAngkor pass
Best atEarly morning
TipArrive before 08:00
Map
Read the carving at Banteay Srei, Siem Reap, Cambodia
4

Read the carving at Banteay Srei

Landmark· Banteay Srei District, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

Completed in 967 and founded by two courtier brothers rather than by a king, which makes it a rarity among the major Angkor temples. The fine-grained pink sandstone holds the deepest and sharpest relief work anywhere in the park, and the temple is small enough to read properly in an hour. It sits well north-east of the main group, so the numbers thin out.

Time1 hr
CostAngkor pass
Best atMorning light
TipPair with the Landmine Museum
Map
Cross Preah Khan end to end, Siem Reap, Cambodia
5

Cross Preah Khan end to end

Landmark· Angkor Archaeological Park, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Jayavarman VII dedicated Preah Khan to his father in 1191, and at 56 hectares it is one of the largest complexes in the park. Walk it in a straight line from one gate to the other: the corridors narrow as you go, doorway inside doorway, and the two-storey building near the east entrance has no parallel at Angkor.

Time1–2 hrs
CostAngkor pass
Best atLate afternoon
TipWalk west to east
Map
Phnom Bakheng, Siem Reap, Cambodia (Wimup)
6

Take the sunset from Phnom Bakheng

Viewpoint· Phnom Bakheng, Angkor Archaeological Park, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Yasovarman I raised the first temple-mountain at Angkor on this hill at the end of the 9th century, about 1.5 km north-west of Angkor Wat. The draw now is the view back over Angkor Wat as the light goes. Numbers on the summit are capped, so start the climb well before sunset rather than with it.

Time2 hrs
CostAngkor pass
Best atSunset
TipStart the climb early
Map↗ Website
Ride out to the stilt villages at Kampong Phluk, Siem Reap, Cambodia
7

Ride out to the stilt villages at Kampong Phluk

Day trip· Kampong Phluk, Prasat Bakong District, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

Three Khmer villages built on stilts six to eight metres high inside the Tonlé Sap floodplain. In the dry months the houses stand exposed on their poles and the scale of the flood is obvious; when the lake fills, the water reaches the floorboards. Boats run out through a flooded mangrove forest where macaques work the branches.

TimeHalf day
CostBoat fee on top
Best atLate afternoon
TipBook through your guesthouse
Map
8

Book a night at Phare, The Cambodian Circus

Show· Ring Road, south of Sok San Road, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia

Not a circus in the animal sense: Cambodian theatre, acrobatics and live music performed by graduates of the Phare Ponleu Selpak arts school in Battambang, which the ticket funds. Shows run an hour, the main performance starts at 20:00, and the venue is a genuine big top about 2 km from the Old Market.

Time1 hr
Cost$18–28
Best atEvening
TipBook ahead in season
Map↗ Website
Angkor National Museum, Siem Reap, Cambodia (Wimup)
9

Start at the Angkor National Museum

Museum· 968 Vithei Charles de Gaulle, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia

Eight galleries of Khmer sculpture arranged by theme rather than by date, including a room lined with a thousand Buddhas. Go before the temples rather than after. Labelling at the sites themselves is thin, and an hour here is the difference between looking at carved stone and reading it.

Time2 hrs
Cost$12
Best atDay one
TipGo before the temples
Map↗ Website
Climb through Beng Mealea, Siem Reap, Cambodia
10

Climb through Beng Mealea

Day trip· Beng Mealea, Svay Leu District, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

A 12th-century temple on the scale of Angkor Wat that nobody has straightened out: collapsed galleries, blocks the size of cars and a boardwalk picking a way through the middle of it. It lies about 60 km east of town, which is an hour and a half each way and worth the diesel.

TimeHalf day
CostAngkor pass
Best atMidday
TipCombine with Koh Ker
Map

Siem Reap, mapped

Siem Reap · 9 spots
AllTemplesMuseumsBeyond the park

Siem Reap travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Siem Reap?+
Three days is the honest minimum: one for the small circuit, one for the grand circuit and Banteay Srei, and one for the town, the Tonlé Sap or a longer temple run east. Two days covers the headline temples and very little else.
How much does the Angkor pass cost?+
The official Angkor Enterprise price is $37 for one day, $62 for three days and $72 for seven. The three-day pass is valid on any three days inside a week and the seven-day on any seven inside a month, so the days need not run consecutively. Children under 12 enter free.
When is the best time to visit Siem Reap?+
November to January is dry and comparatively cool, and it is also the busiest and priciest stretch of the year. April and May are the hottest months, often above 35°C. June to October brings the rain, greener temples and the fewest visitors.
Is Angkor Wat worth doing at sunrise?+
Once, for the reflection in the northern pond, and you will share it with a crowd. After that the light falls better on the west face in the late afternoon and the causeway is far quieter.
How do you get around Siem Reap and the temples?+
Tuk-tuks, booked through Grab or PassApp or hired by the day for a temple circuit. The centre is flat and walkable, and Angkor Wat is a comfortable 6 km bicycle ride north of the river.
Beyond the top ten

Best temples in Siem Reap

The temples that reward a second and a third day on the pass.
Ta KeoSmall Circuit

Ta Keo

Unfinished state temple · 11th c.

Jayavarman V’s temple-mountain, abandoned before the carvers began, so the bare sandstone geometry is unusually easy to read.

Map
Small Circuit

Banteay Kdei

Monastery · 12th c.

A rambling Buddhist monastery facing the Srah Srang reservoir, built in the same style as Ta Prohm and a fraction as busy.

Map
Neak PeanGrand Circuit

Neak Pean

Island shrine · 12th c.

A small shrine on an artificial island ringed by four bathing basins, reached along a boardwalk over the reservoir.

Map
Ta SomGrand Circuit

Ta Som

Forest ruin · 12th c.

Ta Prohm’s atmosphere without the coaches. A strangler fig has swallowed the east gate tower whole.

Map
Pre RupGrand Circuit

Pre Rup

Temple-mountain · 961

Rajendravarman II’s state temple of 961, in warm brick and laterite, and the usual alternative to Phnom Bakheng at sunset.

Map
East MebonGrand Circuit

East Mebon

Temple-mountain · 953

Built on an island in the East Baray, which is now dry farmland, so it stands over fields with stone elephants at its corners.

Map
Angkor Thom

Baksei Chamkrong

Brick pyramid · 10th c.

A steep little brick pyramid just south of the Angkor Thom south gate, usually passed at speed and worth the five minutes.

Map
BakongRoluos

Bakong

Roluos group · 881

The first sandstone temple-mountain the Khmer built, dedicated by Indravarman I in 881 and still an active pagoda site.

Map
Preah KoRoluos

Preah Ko

Roluos group · 879

Six brick towers raised by Indravarman I for his ancestors, carrying the finest surviving stucco work at Angkor.

Map
ThommanonSmall Circuit

Thommanon

Twin temple · 12th c.

A compact Hindu temple with unusually well-preserved devata figures, paired with Chau Say Tevoda across the road.

Map
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Siem Reap

Khmer cooking at every price, from a training kitchen to the town’s best dining room.
Pokambor Avenue

Malis Siem Reap

Modern Khmer · $$$

The Siem Reap room of Cambodia’s best-known fine-dining Khmer kitchen, and the easiest place in town to eat amok done properly.

Map↗ Website
Central Siem Reap

The Sugar Palm

Home-style Khmer · $$

Kethana’s wooden upstairs dining room, and the source of the fish amok recipe half the town now cooks. Home-style Khmer, unhurried.

Map↗ Website
Pokambor Avenue

Chanrey Tree

Contemporary Khmer · $$$

A riverside dining room turning classic Khmer recipes out with restraint rather than reinvention. Book for the terrace.

Map↗ Website
Wat Polanka

Marum

Training restaurant · $$

Part of the Tree Alliance network, staffed by young Cambodians training for hospitality work. Small plates in a garden.

Map
Central Siem Reap

Mie Cafe

Khmer-French · $$

Chef-owned, small, and consistently the most interesting cooking in town for the money. Khmer technique with a French accent.

Map
Wat Bo Road

Pou Restaurant and Bar

Family Khmer · $$

Chef Mengly Mork’s family recipes served in a courtyard off Wat Bo Road, at prices the setting does not suggest.

Map↗ Website
What to bring home

Best markets and shopping in Siem Reap

Silk, carving and produce, from the town’s oldest market to a street of ateliers.
Old Market quarter

Psar Chas (Old Market)

Market · Daily

The oldest market in town: produce, prahok and noodle stalls at the centre, silk and souvenirs around the edge. Busiest and cheapest early.

Map
Angkor Night MarketSivatha Boulevard

Angkor Night Market

Night market

The original of the town’s night markets, laid out in a garden, with silk paintings, shadow puppets and stone carving.

Map
King’s Road Angkor

Made in Cambodia Market

Artisan market

Around thirty stalls of Cambodian-made goods with live music alongside, a clear step up from the mass-produced souvenir stands.

Map
Hup Guan Street

Kandal Village

Boutique strip

A short street of independent boutiques, ateliers and cafes, including hand-woven silk from Soieries du Mékong.

Map
Stung Thmey Street

Artisans Angkor boutique

Crafts · Fixed prices

The workshop’s own shop, where the stone carving, lacquer and silk you watched being made is for sale at a fixed price.

Map↗ Website
After dark

Best bars and nightlife in Siem Reap

One loud street, and the quieter rooms either side of it.
The Lane

Miss Wong

Cocktail bar

A 1920s Shanghai front room a lane off Pub Street: lacquer screens, paper lanterns and cocktails that lean Asian.

Map
The Lane

Asana Old Wooden House

Cocktail bar

Drinks under a preserved traditional Khmer stilt house, with cocktail classes run in the same room by day.

Map
Street 08

Pub Street

Nightlife strip · Free

The pedestrianised strip everyone ends up on: cheap draft, neon and volume. Worth one walk, rarely two.

Map
Street 09

Laundry Bar

Late bar

A long-running late bar with a deep record collection and DJs at the weekend, a block back from the noise.

Map
Wat Bo

IB Taphouse

Craft beer

Cambodian craft beer on tap over in Wat Bo, where the bars are quieter and the crowd is more local.

Map
The other history

Best museums and galleries in Siem Reap

What the temples leave out: the war, the mines, and the artists working now.
Banteay Srei road

Cambodia Landmine Museum

Museum · $5

Aki Ra’s collection of the ordnance he has cleared, with a school for children affected by mines attached. On the road out to Banteay Srei.

Map↗ Website

APOPO Visitor Center

Visitor centre · $10

The demining charity that trains African giant pouched rats to find buried mines. The tour ends with the rats working a practice field.

Map↗ Website
War Museum Cambodia

War Museum Cambodia

Museum · $5

Tanks, helicopters and small arms from the civil war years, most of it outdoors, guided by veterans who were there.

Map
Veal Village

Theam’s Gallery

Gallery · $5

Lim Muy Theam’s house, studio and collection in one: lacquer work, painted elephants and restored Khmer objects, ten minutes from the temples.

Map↗ Website
Made here

Best crafts and workshops in Siem Reap

Three places where the craft is being taught, not just sold.
Artisans AngkorStung Thmey Street

Artisans Angkor

Workshops · Free tour

Founded in 1999 to bring craft training back to the villages. Free guided tours run through the stone and wood carving, lacquering and silk painting workshops.

Map↗ Website
Puok district

Angkor Silk Farm

Silk farm · Free tour

Artisans Angkor’s farm out in Puok district, about half an hour from town, covering every stage from mulberry to loom.

Map↗ Website
Charles de Gaulle road

Khmer Ceramics & Fine Arts Centre

Pottery class

Founded in 2006 to revive Khmer ceramics, with a training programme and daily wheel-throwing classes open to anyone.

Map↗ Website
Out of town

Best day trips in Siem Reap

Where the road goes once the main circuits are done.
120 km north-east

Koh Ker

Temple city · Ticketed separately

Jayavarman IV moved the capital here in 928. The seven-tier pyramid of Prasat Thom stands clear of the forest, and UNESCO listed the site in 2023.

Map
Kbal Spean50 km north

Kbal Spean

River carvings · Angkor pass

A walk uphill through forest to a riverbed carved with lingas and Hindu figures, with water running over them once the rains come.

Map
Phnom Kulen50 km north-east

Phnom Kulen

National park · Ticketed separately

The sandstone plateau the Angkor quarries came from, and where Jayavarman II declared the Khmer Empire in 802. A waterfall and a reclining Buddha at the top.

Map
Battambang170 km south-west

Battambang

City · Bus or boat

Cambodia’s best-preserved French colonial streets, the bamboo railway and the Phare Ponleu Selpak school that trains the circus performers.

Map
Preah Vihear210 km north

Preah Vihear

Cliff temple · Ticketed separately

An 11th-century Shiva temple strung along a spine of the Dangrek escarpment on the Thai border, UNESCO listed in 2008. A long day, and a spectacular one.

Map
165 km north-west

Banteay Chhmar

Jungle temple

A vast, barely visited Jayavarman VII complex with surviving multi-armed Avalokiteshvara reliefs and a community homestay scheme in the village.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Siem Reap (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
Feb

Angkor Photo Festival

Southeast Asia's longest-running photography festival, with free outdoor projections across town. The dates move each year.

Feb or Mar (full moon)

Meak Bochea

Candlelit processions circle the pagodas on the full moon of the third lunar month.

14–16 Apr

Khmer New Year (Chaul Chnam Thmey)

The country's biggest holiday, and three days when much of the town shuts and the rest plays. Water throwing and temple games.

May (full moon)

Visak Bochea

Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death marked on one day, with candlelit processions at the town’s pagodas.

May

Royal Ploughing Ceremony

The royal oxen pick from seven trays to forecast the harvest. A national holiday, staged in the capital and watched everywhere.

10–12 Oct 2026

Pchum Ben

Ancestors’ Day: a fifteen-day season of offerings that closes with three public holidays. Quiet streets, full pagodas.

Nov (full moon)

Bon Om Touk (Water Festival)

Marks the reversal of the Tonlé Sap's flow, with boat races on the Siem Reap river and the Auk Ambok rice ceremony.

Early Dec

Angkor Wat International Half Marathon

Runners set off in front of Angkor Wat at first light. The race has been held every year since 1996, each December.

Getting around

Siem Reap transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
SAI

Siem Reap Angkor International Airport

The city’s airport since October 2023, roughly 45 km east of town at Sotr Nikum. Allow an hour by road and agree the fare before you set off.

Map↗ Website
Bus

Long-distance coaches

Giant Ibis and the other VIP operators run Phnom Penh to Siem Reap in six to seven hours, from offices near the Old Market. There is no passenger railway here.

Map↗ Website
Tuk-tuk

Tuk-tuks and ride-hailing

Grab and PassApp both work here and both quote the fare up front, which takes the haggling out of it. Drivers also hire out by the day for a temple circuit.

Map↗ Website
Bike

Bicycles and walking

The centre is flat and small enough to cross on foot. Angkor Wat is about 6 km north of the river, a comfortable ride out in December and a punishing one in April.

Map
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Siem Reap, Cambodia

The classics to order before you leave.
Lok lak, Siem Reap (Wimup travel guide)

Lok lak

Cubes of beef seared hard with black pepper, served over rice with a lime, salt and pepper dipping sauce.

Kuy teav, Siem Reap (Wimup travel guide)

Kuy teav

Clear pork-broth rice noodles, and the standard Cambodian breakfast. The herbs and lime go in at the table.

Nom banh chok, Siem Reap (Wimup travel guide)

Nom banh chok

Cold rice noodles under a green fish curry, with banana flower and herbs.

Prahok ktis, Siem Reap (Wimup travel guide)

Prahok ktis

A dip of fermented fish paste, minced pork and coconut cream, eaten with raw vegetables.

Samlor korko, Siem Reap (Wimup travel guide)

Samlor korko

The everyday Khmer soup: whatever vegetables are in season, toasted ground rice, and a little fish or pork.

Fish amok (amok trey)

Cambodia’s national dish: freshwater fish steamed with coconut cream and kroeung paste in a banana-leaf cup.

Bai sach chrouk

Thin slices of grilled pork over broken rice with pickles and a bowl of broth alongside. Eaten before eight.

Kralan

Sticky rice, beans and coconut roasted inside a bamboo tube and split open at the roadside.

Siem Reap fact sheet

Siem Reap at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
Cambodia
Region
Siem Reap Province
Population
245,494 municipality (2019 census)
Founded
Angkor founded 802 CE
Nickname
Gateway to Angkor
Language
Khmer
Currency
Riel (៛), US dollars accepted
Time zone
ICT · UTC+7
Calling code
+855 63
Airports
SAI
Power
230V · Types A, C, G
Emergency
117 police · 119 ambulance · 118 fire
Ideal length
3–4 days
Getting around
Tuk-tuk & bicycle
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • Angkor Archaeological Park covers roughly 400 square kilometres and holds every Khmer capital from the 9th to the 15th century.
  • Angkor Wat has appeared on every Cambodian national flag since 1863, which no other building on earth can claim of its own country.
  • The Bayon carries more than 200 carved faces, read as the bodhisattva Lokeshvara wearing the features of Jayavarman VII.
  • The Tonlé Sap changes direction twice a year. Monsoon water backs up from the Mekong and swells the lake several times over.
  • Banteay Srei was completed in 967 and founded by two courtier brothers rather than a king, which is rare among Angkor temples.

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