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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Southeast Asia’s longest-running photography festival, with free outdoor projections and exhibitions across town. The dates move, so check before you book around it.
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 of it plays. Water throwing, temple games and offerings.
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, the Auk Ambok rice ceremony and a moon salutation.
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; the 2026 edition falls on 6 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.
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 to Siem Reap, so the road is the alternative to flying.
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.
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.
Cambodia’s national dish: freshwater fish steamed with coconut cream and kroeung paste in a banana-leaf cup.
Lok lak
Cubes of beef seared hard with black pepper, served over rice with a lime, salt and pepper dipping sauce.
Kuy teav
Clear pork-broth rice noodles, and the standard Cambodian breakfast. The herbs and lime go in at the table.
Nom banh chok
Cold rice noodles under a green fish curry, with banana flower, cucumber and herbs. Sold from shoulder baskets in the morning.
Bai sach chrouk
Thin slices of grilled pork over broken rice with pickles and a bowl of broth alongside. Eaten before eight.
Prahok ktis
A dip of fermented fish paste, minced pork and coconut cream, eaten with raw vegetables. The strongest thing on a Khmer table.
Samlor korko
The everyday Khmer soup: whatever vegetables are in season, toasted ground rice, and a little fish or pork.
Kralan
Sticky rice, beans and coconut roasted inside a bamboo tube and split open at the roadside, sold on the way up to Phnom Kulen.
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
Interesting facts
Angkor Archaeological Park covers roughly 400 square kilometres and holds the remains of every Khmer capital from the 9th to the 15th century. UNESCO inscribed it in 1992.
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 across its towers, generally 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, and the Water Festival marks the moment it turns back.
Banteay Srei was completed in 967 and founded by two courtier brothers rather than a king, which makes it one of the few major Angkor temples not raised for a monarch.
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