Siem Reap Travel Guide

Siem Reap Overview

Siem Reap is the capital of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia, on the banks of the Siem Reap River about 50 km north of Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake. The city sits at roughly 18 meters elevation and functions as the country’s tourism capital, built almost entirely around its role as the gateway to the Angkor temples.

Siem Reap city recorded 245,494 residents in the 2019 census, while Siem Reap Province reached 1,099,825 people in the 2024 census, up from 1,014,234 in 2019, across an area of 10,299 km². Cambodia’s population is about 95% ethnic Khmer, with ethnic Vietnamese and Cham communities making up most of the remainder; the Vietnamese presence is especially visible in the floating communities on Tonle Sap.

The name Siem Reap translates as “Siam Defeated

” a reference to conflict with the Kingdom of Siam, which controlled the area from 1795 until France negotiated its return to Cambodia on 23 December 1907, giving the province its modern borders. Angkor itself entered Western awareness after French naturalist Henri Mouhot visited in 1859-1860 and his journals were published posthumously; the Ecole francaise d’Extreme-Orient, founded in 1900, began systematic clearing and restoration from 1901, with Jean Commaille named the site’s first curator in 1908. The Grand Hotel d’Angkor opened in 1932, and Angkor was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in December 1992.

Siem Reap today governs itself as an ordinary Cambodian province, with no equivalent to Vietnam’s 2025 administrative reorganization affecting its boundaries. Three full days is the practical minimum for combining the main Angkor temples with Tonle Sap and the city itself, and travelers building a longer route often use our 4 days in Cambodia or 5 days in Cambodia itineraries to plan the rest of the trip.

Siem Reap Weather and Best Time to Visit

The cool dry season from November to February is the best time to visit Siem Reap, with comfortable daytime temperatures and minimal rain for temple sightseeing.

Cambodia’s Khmer New Year (Choul Chnam Thmey) falls in mid-April and closes many local businesses, while the Bon Om Touk Water Festival usually falls in November and is one of several major dates covered in our roundup of festivals in Cambodia. Travelers weighing the wet season against the dry season can compare the two in more depth through our guides to the dry season in Cambodia and the rainy season in Cambodia.

How to Get to Siem Reap

Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI) opened on 16 October 2023 in Soutr Nikom District, about 50 km east of town and 40 km from Angkor Wat, roughly a 45 to 60 minute drive along the purpose-built Angkor Highway. It replaced the old in-town Siem Reap International Airport, which closed to commercial flights the day before. SAI connects to regional hubs including Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. Book a hotel transfer in advance given the distance from the terminal to the city center.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital at the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers, lies about 314 km south of Siem Reap via National Road 6, the main overland route for travelers arriving from Vietnam. Most buses and private cars break the drive at Kampong Thom, a riverside town roughly midway along National Road 6 that sits about 150 km from Siem Reap and 165 km from Phnom Penh, and is also the closest base for the pre-Angkorian temples of Sambor Prei Kuk. An alternate route runs further south through Kampong Cham on the Mekong before rejoining National Road 6 toward Siem Reap. There is no direct passenger rail service to Siem Reap; Cambodia’s railway runs between Phnom Penh, Poipet and Sihanoukville instead.

Getting Around Siem Reap

• Tuk-tuk (remork): the default local transport; short in-town rides run about US$2 to 3, airport-to-city transfers around US$7 to 10, and a full-day Angkor temple hire costs roughly US$15 to 25 depending on the circuit, plus about US$5 for a sunrise departure.
• Grab and PassApp: ride-hailing apps with fixed, upfront pricing, the easiest way to avoid fare negotiation.
• Bicycle rental: about US$2 to 5 per day; Siem Reap’s flat terrain makes cycling the temple loop practical for fitter travelers.
• Private car or van with driver: roughly US$30 to 35 per day for a temple circuit, or arranged in advance through our Cambodia car rental with driver service for longer routes such as Phnom Penh or Battambang.

Angkor Archaeological Park: Tickets, Access and Timing

Angkor Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992, covers 401 km² and contains 91 temples built between the 9th and 13th centuries. Angkor Wat, the 12th-century state temple commissioned under King Suryavarman II and now the world’s largest religious monument, anchors most first-time visits, while Angkor Thom, Jayavarman VII’s fortified 12th-century capital centered on the many-faced Bayon, is the natural second stop; both are covered in full detail in their own guides. Inside the Angkor Thom enclosure, the nearby Baphuon, a temple-mountain built in the 1060s under King Udayadityavarman II and dedicated to Shiva, is often visited in the same stop.

Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia; it is the largest religious monument in the world and a national symbol of the country.

The Angkor Pass, sold only by the official Angkor Enterprise, costs US$37 for one day, US$62 for three days (usable on any three days within a set window) and US$72 for seven days (usable on any seven days within 30 days). Children under 12 enter free with a passport as proof of age, and US$2 from every ticket funds the Kantha Bopha children’s hospital network. Buy online at the official Angkor Enterprise ticketing site or in person at the main ticket office on Apsara Road, which opens at 5:00 AM. Buying a pass after about 5:00 PM lets visitors enter for that evening’s sunset for free, with the multi-day validity starting the following morning, the standard trick for an early sunrise without losing a paid day. Phnom Kulen and Koh Ker each require a separate US$20 ticket, and hot air balloon operators near the park offer a tethered aerial view of the temple canopy for travelers who want an overview before heading in on foot.

Old French Quarter, Pub Street and Markets

The Old French Quarter around the Old Market preserves French-colonial and Chinese-style shophouse architecture from Siem Reap’s colonial-era development, and the tree-lined Royal Independence Gardens nearby offer a quiet break between temple visits. Pub Street, officially Street 8, is the city’s pedestrianized nightlife strip; it traces back to 1998, when the Angkor What? Bar opened as the area’s lone pub on what was then a dirt road, with the street paved around 2005 and the “Pub Street” name settling in by around 2008. Today roughly 100 bars, restaurants and shops line the strip and its side alleys, The Lane and The Passage.

Old Market (Psar Chas), built in the 1920s and the city’s oldest Khmer market, sells fresh produce, meat and fish to locals each morning and switches to silk, silverware, carvings and cheap food stalls for visitors later in the day. The Angkor Night Market, which opened in 2007 as Cambodia’s first night market, is built from Khmer-style wooden huts housing more than 240 stalls, while the newer Made in Cambodia Market focuses on local artisans and live performances. Street art and small galleries such as Sa Sa Bassac add a contemporary layer to the city’s temple-going reputation, part of what our longer piece on why travelers visit Siem Reap covers in more depth.

Tonle Sap Lake and Floating Villages

Tonle Sap is Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake

Tonle Sap is Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, expanding from about 2,500 km² in the dry season to more than 16,000 km² at monsoon peak, when the Mekong reverses the Tonle Sap River’s flow. It was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1997. Three floating villages are reachable from Siem Reap:

• Chong Kneas: the closest, about 15 km from town, with a large ethnic Vietnamese descendant population but heavier commercialization than the other two villages.
• Kompong Phluk: about 25 to 32 km from town, known for stilt houses raised roughly 6 meters above the floodplain and boat trips through a flooded mangrove forest.
• Kompong Khleang: the largest and least touristy, about 50 to 55 km (roughly 1.25 hours) from town, with around 6,000 residents and boat tours largely run by locals.

Beyond Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom: Other Temples Worth the Detour

Banteay Srei, the “Citadel of the Women” is a compact 10th-century temple carved from pink and red sandstone finer than almost anywhere else in the Angkor region; its 9-meter central tower and 200 carved devatas on the outer walls make it one of the most detailed temples in the park. It was commissioned not by a king but by two nobles devoted to Hindu texts, and dedicated to Shiva. It sits about 30 km northeast of town, roughly a 45 to 60 minute drive, and is included in the standard Angkor Pass.

Architecture of Banteay Srei Temple

Ta Prohm, built in the late 12th century under King Jayavarman VII and dedicated to his mother, is deliberately left entwined with giant silk-cotton and strangler fig trees, the temple most travelers recognize from “Tomb Raider.” Preah Khan, another late-12th-century Jayavarman VII foundation, served as both temple and monastery. Beng Mealea, about 40 km east of town, is a sprawling, jungle-swallowed temple built in the Angkor Wat style under King Suryavarman II. Prasat Kravan, a group of brick towers built in 921 AD, is unusual for its carved brick interiors honoring Vishnu rather than the stone bas-reliefs found elsewhere in the park, and Koh Ker, the Khmer Empire’s capital for a brief period in the 10th century, holds a striking 7-tiered pyramid temple that visitors can climb for a panoramic view over the surrounding forest. These and other lesser-known sites are rounded up in our guide to must-visit temples in Cambodia.

Ta Prohm Temple

Kbal Spean, the “River of a Thousand Lingas” is a riverbed carved with Angkorian sculptures, reached by a jungle hike near Banteay Srei. Phnom Kulen National Park, about 48 to 50 km from town, is where King Jayavarman II declared independence from Java and founded the Khmer Empire in 802 CE; the plateau also holds a waterfall and a giant reclining Buddha at Preah Ang Thom. Phnom Kulen requires a separate US$20 ticket, and its access road runs one-way, up before 11:00 AM and down after.

Cultural Experiences and Museums in Siem Reap

Apsara dance, the classical Khmer dance form inspired by the celestial apsara carvings at Angkor, was revived in the late 1940s under Queen Sisowath Kossamak, whose granddaughter Princess Bopha Devi became its first star performer. Dinner-and-show packages run from about US$25 for buffet-style shows up to US$40 or more at premium venues such as the Apsara Theatre at Angkor Village and Raffles’ Apsara Terrace.

The Angkor National Museum, which opened in 2007 on Charles de Gaulle Road, spreads its collection across eight galleries and is open daily, with slightly longer hours from October to March than from April to September. The Angkor Panorama Museum, open daily from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM for an entrance fee of about US$20, uses large-scale artwork to place the Khmer Empire’s history in context. The Cambodia War Museum, the only museum of its kind in Siem Reap, displays tanks, aircraft and weapons from decades of conflict for about US$5 entrance. A fuller list of options, including the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, is covered in our roundup of museums in Cambodia.

The Angkor Silk Farm, run by the social enterprise Artisans Angkor, which revived Cambodian sericulture in the 1990s, offers free guided tours about 15 km from town with shuttle buses at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM. The Cambodia Landmine Museum, founded by former child soldier and de-miner Aki Ra, whose original 1997 collection grew into the current museum near Banteay Srei in 2007, documents Cambodia’s landmine legacy.

Where to Stay in Siem Reap

Luxury

• Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor: opened 1932, 119 rooms, Old French Quarter near the Royal Garden
• Park Hyatt Siem Reap: 104 rooms, Sivutha Boulevard, about 5 minutes’ walk from Pub Street
• Anantara Angkor Resort: all-suite, 39 suites, National Road 6
• Shinta Mani Angkor: Bensley-designed, French Quarter
• Jaya House River Park: 36-room riverside property, eco-focused
• Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra: 238 rooms, Charles de Gaulle Avenue, on-site golf course

Mid-range and Deluxe

• Golden Temple Hotel: 4-star, central near Wat Damnak
• Memoire Palace Resort and Spa: all-suite, northwest side of town
• Borei Angkor Resort and Spa: National Road 6
• Viroth’s Villa: boutique, Wat Bo area

Budget

• Onederz Siem Reap: near Angkor Night Market, dorms and private rooms, rooftop pool
• Mad Monkey: off Sivatha Road, dorms and private rooms
• Lub d Cambodia: design hostel, Wat Bo area

What to Eat in Siem Reap

Cambodian traditional Amok fish

Khmer cuisine leans on kroeung, a lemongrass, turmeric and galangal paste, and prahok fermented fish paste, giving it a herb-forward profile generally milder than Thai food; our guide to Cambodian cuisine covers the wider national picture beyond Siem Reap.

• Fish amok: a mousse-like coconut fish curry steamed in banana leaves, widely considered Cambodia’s national dish.
• Lok lak: stir-fried marinated beef served with rice, a fried egg and a Kampot-pepper-lime dipping sauce.
• Khmer red curry (kari): a mild coconut-milk curry often served with baguette, a legacy of French colonial rule.
• Nom banh chok: fresh rice noodles in a fish-based green curry gravy, a classic Khmer breakfast.
• Bai sach chrouk: grilled marinated pork over broken rice, sold at Old Market stalls for under US$1.

Siem Reap Travel Tips

• The US dollar is the de facto currency for most transactions; Cambodian riel is used mainly for change under US$1. Carry clean, undamaged bills; torn notes are often refused. Our guide to Cambodia travel costs breaks down a fuller daily budget across accommodation, food and transport.
• Most non-ASEAN nationalities need a visa: a US$30 e-visa via the official evisa.gov.kh site or a US$30 visa on arrival, both valid 30 days. Since January 2025, all visitors flying into Cambodia must also submit the Cambodia e-Arrival Card within seven days before arrival.
• Cover shoulders and knees when visiting temples, especially the upper level of Angkor Wat.
• Tipping is not obligatory but is customary for tuk-tuk drivers, guides and restaurant service without a built-in charge.
• Agree on a tuk-tuk fare before starting the ride, or use Grab or PassApp for fixed pricing, to avoid the most common traveler scams.
• Visit Ta Prohm and Bayon early morning or late afternoon rather than midday, both to avoid the heat and to dodge the largest tour groups.

Our wider guide to what to know before traveling to Cambodia and our essential first-timer travel tips cover country-wide etiquette and planning points that apply beyond Siem Reap as well.

Siem Reap Travel FAQ

How many days do I need in Siem Reap?

Three full days covers Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom plus at least one outlying temple and a Tonle Sap visit, matching the value offered by the 3-day Angkor Pass.

Do I need a visa for Cambodia?

Most non-ASEAN travelers do. A 30-day e-visa or visa on arrival costs US$30, and all air arrivals must also file the Cambodia e-Arrival Card in advance.

How much does the Angkor Pass cost?

US$37 for one day, US$62 for three days and US$72 for seven days, sold only through the official Angkor Enterprise.

Is Siem Reap safe for solo travelers?

Yes. Siem Reap is a well-established, tourist-friendly city; the main risks are petty scams and overcharging rather than violent crime.

Can I combine Siem Reap with the rest of a Cambodia or Vietnam trip?

Yes. Many travelers pair Siem Reap with 2 days in Phnom Penh, and those wanting beach time afterward often continue to Sihanoukville or the white-sand beaches of Koh Rong island. Travelers with extra time sometimes also head west to Battambang for its French colonial shophouses and bamboo train.