---
title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Siem Reap, Cambodia | Wimup"
description: "The 10 best things to do in Siem Reap, mapped and ranked: Angkor Wat at sunrise, the Bayon, Ta Prohm and Banteay Srei. Angkor pass prices, how many days you need and when to go."
url: https://wimup.com/city/siem-reap
type: City guide
updated: 2026-10-07
publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com)
---

# Top 10 Things To Do in Siem Reap

Siem Reap, Cambodia · Asia · By Wimup Editorial, 16 min read

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.

## 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.

## Quick facts

- **Best months:** Nov · Dec · Jan
- **Ideal length:** 3–4 days
- **Budget per day:** $60–120
- **Language:** Khmer
- **Getting around:** Tuk-tuk & bicycle
- **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://tourism.gov.kh/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## The 10 best things to do in Siem Reap

### 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.

- **Time:** 3–4 hrs
- **Cost:** Angkor pass, $37 a day
- **Best at:** Sunrise
- **Tip:** Buy the pass online

Links: [Website](https://www.angkorenterprise.gov.kh/en?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 2–3 hrs
- **Cost:** Angkor pass
- **Best at:** Mid-morning
- **Tip:** Enter by the south gate

Links: [Website](https://www.angkorenterprise.gov.kh/en?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 1–2 hrs
- **Cost:** Angkor pass
- **Best at:** Early morning
- **Tip:** Arrive before 08:00

### 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.

- **Time:** 1 hr
- **Cost:** Angkor pass
- **Best at:** Morning light
- **Tip:** Pair with the Landmine Museum

### 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.

- **Time:** 1–2 hrs
- **Cost:** Angkor pass
- **Best at:** Late afternoon
- **Tip:** Walk west to east

### 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.

- **Time:** 2 hrs
- **Cost:** Angkor pass
- **Best at:** Sunset
- **Tip:** Start the climb early

Links: [Website](https://www.angkorenterprise.gov.kh/en?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** Half day
- **Cost:** Boat fee on top
- **Best at:** Late afternoon
- **Tip:** Book through your guesthouse

### 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.

- **Time:** 1 hr
- **Cost:** $18–28
- **Best at:** Evening
- **Tip:** Book ahead in season

Links: [Website](https://pharecircus.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 2 hrs
- **Cost:** $12
- **Best at:** Day one
- **Tip:** Go before the temples

Links: [Website](https://angkornationalmuseum.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** Half day
- **Cost:** Angkor pass
- **Best at:** Midday
- **Tip:** Combine with Koh Ker

## Best temples in Siem Reap

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

1. **Ta Keo** (Unfinished state temple · 11th c. · Small Circuit): Jayavarman V’s temple-mountain, abandoned before the carvers began, so the bare sandstone geometry is unusually easy to read.
2. **Banteay Kdei** (Monastery · 12th c. · Small Circuit): A rambling Buddhist monastery facing the Srah Srang reservoir, built in the same style as Ta Prohm and a fraction as busy.
3. **Neak Pean** (Island shrine · 12th c. · Grand Circuit): A small shrine on an artificial island ringed by four bathing basins, reached along a boardwalk over the reservoir.
4. **Ta Som** (Forest ruin · 12th c. · Grand Circuit): Ta Prohm’s atmosphere without the coaches. A strangler fig has swallowed the east gate tower whole.
5. **Pre Rup** (Temple-mountain · 961 · Grand Circuit): Rajendravarman II’s state temple of 961, in warm brick and laterite, and the usual alternative to Phnom Bakheng at sunset.
6. **East Mebon** (Temple-mountain · 953 · Grand Circuit): Built on an island in the East Baray, which is now dry farmland, so it stands over fields with stone elephants at its corners.
7. **Baksei Chamkrong** (Brick pyramid · 10th c. · Angkor Thom): A steep little brick pyramid just south of the Angkor Thom south gate, usually passed at speed and worth the five minutes.
8. **Bakong** (Roluos group · 881 · Roluos): The first sandstone temple-mountain the Khmer built, dedicated by Indravarman I in 881 and still an active pagoda site.
9. **Preah Ko** (Roluos group · 879 · Roluos): Six brick towers raised by Indravarman I for his ancestors, carrying the finest surviving stucco work at Angkor.
10. **Thommanon** (Twin temple · 12th c. · Small Circuit): A compact Hindu temple with unusually well-preserved devata figures, paired with Chau Say Tevoda across the road.

## Best restaurants in Siem Reap

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

1. **Malis Siem Reap** (Modern Khmer · $$$ · Pokambor Avenue): The Siem Reap room of Cambodia’s best-known fine-dining Khmer kitchen, and the easiest place in town to eat amok done properly. [Website](https://malis.thalias.com.kh/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **The Sugar Palm** (Home-style Khmer · $$ · Central Siem Reap): Kethana’s wooden upstairs dining room, and the source of the fish amok recipe half the town now cooks. Home-style Khmer, unhurried. [Website](https://www.thesugarpalm.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Chanrey Tree** (Contemporary Khmer · $$$ · Pokambor Avenue): A riverside dining room turning classic Khmer recipes out with restraint rather than reinvention. Book for the terrace. [Website](https://www.chanreytree.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
4. **Marum** (Training restaurant · $$ · Wat Polanka): Part of the Tree Alliance network, staffed by young Cambodians training for hospitality work. Small plates in a garden.
5. **Mie Cafe** (Khmer-French · $$ · Central Siem Reap): Chef-owned, small, and consistently the most interesting cooking in town for the money. Khmer technique with a French accent.
6. **Pou Restaurant and Bar** (Family Khmer · $$ · Wat Bo Road): Chef Mengly Mork’s family recipes served in a courtyard off Wat Bo Road, at prices the setting does not suggest. [Website](https://www.pinakpou.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best markets and shopping in Siem Reap

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

1. **Psar Chas (Old Market)** (Market · Daily · Old Market quarter): The oldest market in town: produce, prahok and noodle stalls at the centre, silk and souvenirs around the edge. Busiest and cheapest early.
2. **Angkor Night Market** (Night market · Sivatha Boulevard): The original of the town’s night markets, laid out in a garden, with silk paintings, shadow puppets and stone carving.
3. **Made in Cambodia Market** (Artisan market · King’s Road Angkor): Around thirty stalls of Cambodian-made goods with live music alongside, a clear step up from the mass-produced souvenir stands.
4. **Kandal Village** (Boutique strip · Hup Guan Street): A short street of independent boutiques, ateliers and cafes, including hand-woven silk from Soieries du Mékong.
5. **Artisans Angkor boutique** (Crafts · Fixed prices · Stung Thmey Street): The workshop’s own shop, where the stone carving, lacquer and silk you watched being made is for sale at a fixed price. [Website](https://www.artisansdangkor.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best bars and nightlife in Siem Reap

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

1. **Miss Wong** (Cocktail bar · The Lane): A 1920s Shanghai front room a lane off Pub Street: lacquer screens, paper lanterns and cocktails that lean Asian.
2. **Asana Old Wooden House** (Cocktail bar · The Lane): Drinks under a preserved traditional Khmer stilt house, with cocktail classes run in the same room by day.
3. **Pub Street** (Nightlife strip · Free · Street 08): The pedestrianised strip everyone ends up on: cheap draft, neon and volume. Worth one walk, rarely two.
4. **Laundry Bar** (Late bar · Street 09): A long-running late bar with a deep record collection and DJs at the weekend, a block back from the noise.
5. **IB Taphouse** (Craft beer · Wat Bo): Cambodian craft beer on tap over in Wat Bo, where the bars are quieter and the crowd is more local.

## Best museums and galleries in Siem Reap

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

1. **Cambodia Landmine Museum** (Museum · $5 · Banteay Srei road): 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. [Website](https://www.cambodialandminemuseum.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **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. [Website](https://www.apopo.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **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.
4. **Theam’s Gallery** (Gallery · $5 · Veal Village): Lim Muy Theam’s house, studio and collection in one: lacquer work, painted elephants and restored Khmer objects, ten minutes from the temples. [Website](https://theamsgallery.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best crafts and workshops in Siem Reap

Three places where the craft is being taught, not just sold.

1. **Artisans Angkor** (Workshops · Free tour · Stung Thmey Street): 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. [Website](https://www.artisansdangkor.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Angkor Silk Farm** (Silk farm · Free tour · Puok district): Artisans Angkor’s farm out in Puok district, about half an hour from town, covering every stage from mulberry to loom. [Website](https://www.artisansdangkor.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Khmer Ceramics & Fine Arts Centre** (Pottery class · Charles de Gaulle road): Founded in 2006 to revive Khmer ceramics, with a training programme and daily wheel-throwing classes open to anyone. [Website](https://www.khmerceramics.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best day trips in Siem Reap

Where the road goes once the main circuits are done.

1. **Koh Ker** (Temple city · Ticketed separately · 120 km north-east): 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.
2. **Kbal Spean** (River carvings · Angkor pass · 50 km north): A walk uphill through forest to a riverbed carved with lingas and Hindu figures, with water running over them once the rains come.
3. **Phnom Kulen** (National park · Ticketed separately · 50 km north-east): 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.
4. **Battambang** (City · Bus or boat · 170 km south-west): Cambodia’s best-preserved French colonial streets, the bamboo railway and the Phare Ponleu Selpak school that trains the circus performers.
5. **Preah Vihear** (Cliff temple · Ticketed separately · 210 km north): 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.
6. **Banteay Chhmar** (Jungle temple · 165 km north-west): A vast, barely visited Jayavarman VII complex with surviving multi-armed Avalokiteshvara reliefs and a community homestay scheme in the village.

## Festivals & annual events in Siem Reap (2026)

- **Angkor Photo Festival** (Feb): Southeast Asia's longest-running photography festival, with free outdoor projections across town. The dates move each year.
- **Meak Bochea** (Feb or Mar (full moon)): Candlelit processions circle the pagodas on the full moon of the third lunar month.
- **Khmer New Year (Chaul Chnam Thmey)** (14–16 Apr): The country's biggest holiday, and three days when much of the town shuts and the rest plays. Water throwing and temple games.
- **Visak Bochea** (May (full moon)): Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death marked on one day, with candlelit processions at the town’s pagodas.
- **Royal Ploughing Ceremony** (May): The royal oxen pick from seven trays to forecast the harvest. A national holiday, staged in the capital and watched everywhere.
- **Pchum Ben** (10–12 Oct 2026): Ancestors’ Day: a fifteen-day season of offerings that closes with three public holidays. Quiet streets, full pagodas.
- **Bon Om Touk (Water Festival)** (Nov (full moon)): Marks the reversal of the Tonlé Sap's flow, with boat races on the Siem Reap river and the Auk Ambok rice ceremony.
- **Angkor Wat International Half Marathon** (Early Dec): Runners set off in front of Angkor Wat at first light. The race has been held every year since 1996, each December.

## Must-try dishes in Siem Reap, Cambodia

- **Fish amok (amok trey)**: 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 and herbs.
- **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.
- **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.

## Siem Reap transport & airports

- **Siem Reap Angkor International Airport** (SAI): 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. [Website](https://english.sai-airport.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **Long-distance coaches** (Bus): 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. [Website](https://www.giantibis.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **Tuk-tuks and ride-hailing** (Tuk-tuk): 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. [Website](https://www.grab.com/kh/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **Bicycles and walking** (Bike): 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.

## Siem Reap at a glance

- **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 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.

## Watch

[Best of Siem Reap](https://wimup.com/watch/siem-reap.md), 11:00

## 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.

## Nearby guides

- [Phnom Penh](https://wimup.com/city/phnom-penh.md): Cambodia · 10 picks
- [Bangkok](https://wimup.com/city/bangkok.md): Thailand · 10 picks
- [Da Lat](https://wimup.com/city/da-lat.md): Vietnam · 10 picks
- [All of Asia →](https://wimup.com/asia): 71 cities

Part of the [Cambodia guide](https://wimup.com/country/cambodia.md) · [Asia](https://wimup.com/asia.md)

## Sources

- [Siem Reap tourism board](https://tourism.gov.kh/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Watch sunrise over Angkor Wat (official site)](https://www.angkorenterprise.gov.kh/en?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Book a night at Phare, The Cambodian Circus (official site)](https://pharecircus.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Start at the Angkor National Museum (official site)](https://angkornationalmuseum.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Malis Siem Reap (official site)](https://malis.thalias.com.kh/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [The Sugar Palm (official site)](https://www.thesugarpalm.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Chanrey Tree (official site)](https://www.chanreytree.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Pou Restaurant and Bar (official site)](https://www.pinakpou.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Artisans Angkor boutique (official site)](https://www.artisansdangkor.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Cambodia Landmine Museum (official site)](https://www.cambodialandminemuseum.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [APOPO Visitor Center (official site)](https://www.apopo.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Theam’s Gallery (official site)](https://theamsgallery.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Khmer Ceramics & Fine Arts Centre (official site)](https://www.khmerceramics.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (official site)](https://english.sai-airport.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Long-distance coaches (official site)](https://www.giantibis.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Tuk-tuks and ride-hailing (official site)](https://www.grab.com/kh/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.