Things to do in Siem Reap
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Siem Reap
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Cool dry season, the best time, with low humidity, golden light and the lake high enough for boating.
Hot dry season peaking in April at 35 to 40 degrees, when temple strategy becomes dawn or nothing.
Green wet season with afternoon downpours, empty temples and lower prices; June and July are the value sweet spot.
What's on
- Bon Om Touk November, lunar dates, usually mid/late November
Water Festival with boat races on the Siem Reap River, floats and lanterns marking the Tonle Sap reversal.
- Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops December
Photo festival season in December, alongside the year most comfortable dawns.
- Equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat around 20-23 March, and again 21-23 September
Sun rises directly over Angkor Wat central tower, spectacular and crowded, arrive very early.
- Choul Chnam Thmey, Khmer New Year mid-April, usually 14-16 April
Three plus days of temple merit making, traditional games and water throwing in town.
- Pchum Ben September/October, 15-day festival culminating over three public holidays
Ancestors festival with pagodas full at dawn; visitors may observe respectfully at Wat Bo and Wat Damnak.
- Giant Puppet Parade usually February
Huge illuminated puppets made by local schoolchildren paraded through town at night.
- Angkor Ultra Trail January
Trail run through the Angkor park in January for runners.
- Angkor Wat International Half Marathon December
Half marathon on closed park roads at dawn in December.
Best things to do in Siem Reap
Angkor Wat
Largest religious monument on earth, quietest in the hour after sunrise when the crowds leave for breakfast.
Bayon Temple
Stone faces on 54 towers plus galleries of everyday 12th century life, inside the walled city of Angkor Thom.
Ta Prohm Temple
Jungle temple where silk cotton roots pour over collapsed galleries, best at opening or in the last hour.
Banteay Srei
Small pink sandstone temple with the finest preserved detailed carving at Angkor, rewarding close looking.
Cambodia Landmine Museum
Museum founded by Aki Ra explaining Cambodia landmine clearance, an easy stop on the way back from Banteay Srei.
Phare, The Cambodian Circus
Acrobatics, theatre and live music by young Cambodian artists in a big top, the best night out in town.
APOPO Visitor Center
Meet the trained rats that sniff out landmines and watch a guided demonstration in one affecting hour.
Angkor National Museum
Eight galleries of Khmer art and history that turn the temples into a story when visited before them.
Where to stay in Siem Reap
Wat Bo / Wat Damnak
first trip, all-round base
Leafy lanes, working pagodas and the best cafes and boutiques, a short walk to the Old Market.
Old Market / Old French Quarter
first-timers who want everything walkable
Markets, Pub Street and the riverfront on the doorstep, with the widest hotel spread at every price.
Charles de Gaulle Boulevard / National Road 6 east
luxury resorts and temple-first trips
Grand resort corridor toward Angkor with big pools and gardens and the shortest dawn ride to the park.
Sala Kamreuk
quiet, longer stays and value boutiques
Village feel district of small design hotels, spas and local restaurants south of the centre.
Sok San Road
backpackers and the social hostel scene
West side backpacker strip of hostels, bars and cheap eats, walkable to Pub Street.
Outside town
deliberate resort escape
Destination resorts in rice field countryside that are experiences in themselves, with town a planned trip.
Think twice about
- Pub Street (Street 8) and the first block of 2 Thnou / The Passage
Bar street noise until 2 to 4am, drunk crowds and touts. Two blocks in any direction the problem mostly disappears.
- The immediate Sok San late-bar stretch
A cluster of late bars, a problem for light sleepers or families with small children. The rest of Sok San is fine.
- Far out on National Road 6
Dusty, fast, pavement free highway lined with truck traffic, making every journey start on a dangerous road.
Best restaurants in Siem Reap
Cuisine Wat Damnak
Tasting menus built entirely on Cambodian ingredients in a traditional wooden house in Wat Damnak.
Embassy Khmer Gastronomy
Monthly changing Khmer tasting menu created and served by an all women team, the most romantic dinner.
Chanrey Tree
Refined Khmer canon in a beautiful riverside house, a safe pair of hands for a first or last night.
The Sugar Palm
Home style Khmer cooking in a raised teak house in Wat Bo, with the benchmark fish amok in town.
JOMNO - Modern Khmer Cuisine
Contemporary Khmer cooking with a light hand in a garden setting, a local favourite in Wat Bo.
Mahob Khmer Cuisine
Generous rustic farmhouse Khmer cooking in a wooden house with a garden, up toward Angkor.
Haven
Training restaurant in a garden in Wat Damnak, recommended first for its Khmer classics and cakes.
Marum
Social enterprise restaurant near Wat Polanka with a creative tapas style Khmer menu.
Best bars in Siem Reap
Asana Old Wooden House
Cocktail bar in a traditional stilt house off 2 Thnou, shaking Khmer inspired drinks with local herbs.
Miss Wong
Moody red lantern cocktail den near The Passage, the other grown up nightcap name to know.
Outdoor things to do in Siem Reap
Phnom Kulen National Park
Sacred mountain with the River of a Thousand Lingas, a reclining Buddha and a swimmable waterfall.
Kampong Khleang
Largest lakeside stilt village, a working fishing community with far fewer visitors and locally run boats.
Kulen Elephant Forest
Walk beside retired elephants at their pace to a mud bath and river, with no riding or performance.
Beng Mealea
Vast jungle temple left largely as found, explored on wooden walkways over rubble with few visitors.
Koh Ker
Remote former capital centred on a seven tiered pyramid you can climb for views over forest.
Grasshopper Adventures
Guided countryside cycling on flat dirt roads through rice paddies, lotus ponds and sugar palm villages.
Cambodia Quad Bike
Automatic quad bikes on dirt tracks through paddies and villages, timed to finish at sunset.
Angkor Zipline
Canopy zipline course with sky bridges and an abseil through primary forest inside Angkor Park.
Best hotels in Siem Reap
Viroth's Hotel
Boutique hotel of 35 rooms around a pool in a leafy Wat Bo lane, with 1950s inspired Khmer design.
Park Hyatt Siem Reap
Grand central luxury hotel in the former Hotel de la Paix building, a block from the Old Market.
Onederz Hostel Siem Reap
Spotless dorms and private rooms with a pool near the Old Market, social rather than party focused.
Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor
The 1932 grande dame opposite the Royal Gardens, recently restored and the classic colonial luxury stay.
Shinta Mani Angkor and Bensley Collection Pool Villas
Bill Bensley design drama on the French Quarter edge, the design lover luxury splurge in Siem Reap.
Phum Baitang
Village of stilted villas among rice paddies south of town, with a spa and sunset bar over the fields.
Mad Monkey Hostel Siem Reap
The party hostel on Sok San Road with a rooftop bar, booked for the social scene it offers.
Is Siem Reap expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $30 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $75 a person |
| Splurge | $250 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Phare, The Cambodian Circus: a few days ahead
- Beyond Unique Escapes: a few days ahead
- Lily's Secret Garden: a few days ahead
- Phnom Kulen National Park: a few days ahead
- Kampong Khleang: a few days ahead
- Kulen Elephant Forest: a few days ahead
- Beng Mealea: a few days ahead
- Koh Ker: a few days ahead
- Buy the Angkor Pass only from Angkor Enterprise online or the Road 60 ticket office and carry it at all times.
- Book Cuisine Wat Damnak about two weeks ahead in season, plus Embassy, Phare seats and Kulen Elephant Forest.
- Cover shoulders and knees at all temples; the Bakan tower at Angkor Wat is stricter and closes on holy days.
Is Siem Reap safe?
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
- Siem Reap is generally safe after dark; main risks are traffic, heat and bag snatching by passing motorbike.
- Start temple days at dawn, stop at midday, and drink over two litres of water with electrolytes.
- Stay on established paths at Koh Ker, Beng Mealea and Kulen, where remote countryside may not be cleared.
Siem Reap travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Skip Chong Kneas floating village for its inflated boat fees and pressure stops; choose Kampong Khleang instead.
- Never buy baby milk for the Pub Street scam and do not visit orphanages; support Phare, Haven and Marum instead.
- Decline fake guides, fake monks and commission restaurants pushed by drivers steering for a cut.
Getting around Siem Reap: public transport and more
- Use Grab for app priced tuk tuk rides around town at about 1 to 3 dollars, ending price negotiation.
- Hire a remorque and driver for temple circuits, and a separate licensed guide for Angkor Wat and the Bayon.
- The new airport is 45 to 50 km east; allow a full hour, use the shuttle bus or a private taxi, not a tuk tuk.
Who Siem Reap suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Siem Reap your trip
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