Siem Reap
Travel Guide
In a nutshell
Amble through Angkor Wat and other ruins. Soothe tired muscles at a top-notch spa. Dine out at a fine French restaurant or get to know Cambodian cuisine. Tourist traps may attract or repel, but discerning travellers will find plenty of cultural interests here too.
Set in northwest Cambodia, Siem Reap is best known for being home to the incredible Angkor ruins, a sprawling World Heritage-listed complex of ancient temples with the magnificent Angkor Wat as the focal point.
While the complex is surely one of the globe's most amazing historical sites, Siem Reap province is also home to an array of other ruins, such as Beng Mealea and Bantaey Srei. So if ancient temple ruins are your thing, this province -- an expansive piece of flat land, covered in rice fields and brush -- must be explored fully. It runs along the north coast of the Tonle Sap, Cambodia's "Great Lake", and north to Oddar Meanchey province. Few visitors get around to the fringes.
The provincial capital of Siem Reap is also a transportation hub, with many people coming through here en route to Phnom Penh, Poipet (the northwest border crossing to Thailand) or by boat to Battambang.
Siem Reap's international airport now takes in more tourists daily than the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. Mass tourism has well and truly arrived to this part of Cambodia.
The town itself is situated three kilometres south of the temple park. Siem Reap has exploded from a relatively small backwater town to the fastest growing settlement in the nation. Annually, more than one million visitors travel through the small city to see the adjacent Angkor ruins. This tourism hub now has three PGA-rated golf courses, the presence of hotels like Sofitel and Raffles, and an airport with 38 international flights arriving daily. Developers scramble to build facilities that complement the impressiveness of Angkor Wat, described by Henri Mahout, the Frenchman who re-alerted the West to it in 1860, as "a rival to that of Solomon and erected by some ancient Michelangelo ... grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome."
The chaotic growth has not always had the best results and some would argue it has all happened far too quickly and unsustainably. No matter what your opinion, Siem Reap is booming and is set to remain a key stop for travellers to Southeast Asia for years to come.
Set astride the Siem Reap River, the town itself is home to a couple of minor sites of interest, some reasonable shopping and hundreds of guesthouses and restaurants. If you're planning on seeing Angkor from anything other than your aircraft seat, you'll be staying here. Take your pick from a full range of accommodation options, from $4 flophouses to $3,000-plus a night luxury hotels.
Most tourists tend to visit the ruins in the morning and late afternoon, taking a break back in town during the middle of the day when the heat and poor light detract from the temples. The easiest way to visit is to hire a tuk tuk or motodop in the morning for a $10 flat rate, although you can also go by bicycle ($2 per day), bus, car, helicopter and even hot-air balloon.
Back in Siem Reap, visitors tend to spend their time lying around their guesthouse and splashing in a pool if they're lucky, sipping or supping in one of the town's many stylish (and some not-so-stylish) bars and restaurants, seeing the minor sites, visiting nearby villages and shopping. Because of the sheer volume of hotels and guesthouses in town, coupled with the global financial crisis, when we visited in mid-2009 we found that prices had generally either remained the same or in some cases dropped since our previous visit in 2007.
Spas are springing up to tend to ruin-weary legs and dust-encrusted faces, some sumptuous, but even streetside massage places do fine jobs to rejuvenate travellers. Almost every hotel has a contract with a local spa to provide in-room massage, while most high-end hotels have separate spa facilities.
Even those with a minimal interest in ruins will easily be occupied for a couple of days, while if exploring tree-shrouded hidden crevices and piles of rocks are your thing, you could end up spending a month here.
Related reading
Spas, shopping & seers in Siem Reap
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Bangkok to Siem Reap
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Siem Reap to Ko Chang
Cheap flights with Discovery Airpass
Check Siem Reap hotel rates on Agoda. Best price guarantee!
Text and/or map last updated on 5th September, 2010.
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Onward travel
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Angkor
Battambang
Anlong Veng
Banteay Chhmar
Kompong Thom
Pailin
Kompong Chhnang
Muang Tam (Thailand)
Phanom Rung (Thailand)
Surin (Thailand)
The above are all within 200km of Siem Reap.
Sites & blogs we like
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18 Shopping the Gorgeous Stores of Siem Reap
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Got a favourite site? Let us know.
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Siem Reap reviews
Backchat from the Travelfish community
Siem Reap: More than just Angkor Wat
There is so much information out there about Siem Reap so I will try to not repeat too much that you most likely already know. Obviously, Angkor Wat is amazing. Going for sunrise at Angkor Wat temple is a must-do. It’s hard, but get your butt out of bed at 5:00 – it’s a spectacular view to watch the sky lighten behind the temple as the sun comes up!! Get there early to get a front row spot!
Our tuktuk driver suggested saving Angkor Wat for the last temple to visit (aside from sunrise) and we agreed, but after the fact, I would not advise this. I wouldn’t go there first either, or else some of the other temples will pale in comparison. After our visit, we decided that at the beginning of day 2 would have been the best time to visit. For us, our faves were Ta Prom, Bayon (particularly in the late afternoon) and Preah Khan.
Siem Reap is a tourist town. You will not see many Cambodians in their daily life unless you venture outside the tourist area (in comparison to Phnom Penh, where they are not segregated from the tourists). The Old Market has some great deals on souvenirs and clothes, but for real gems hit up the Midnight Market, just a few blocks away (beside the noon-night market). That’s where the real beautiful souvenirs are found!
Also make sure to spend an evening at Temple Club. They have cheap drinks and a free Apsara dance show every night. The costumes are beautiful and the dancers are so talented! It’s a great way to relax after a long day of templing and to catch a glimpse of some traditional Khmer culture.
We stayed at a hotel called Wat’s Up, which was pretty decent. We paid 6 USD per night for a double room with cable tv, AC, fan, private bath and hot water. Apparently there are a few brand new hotels in the same area that are the same price but nicer (according to our tuktuk driver) but they were all full when we arrived. I think the brand new one was called Lodge 10 or something like that.
It seems like they have spent much time and money to keep Siem Reap beautiful and clean. While this may not be traditional Cambodia, it’s lovely. Many people come for Angkor Wat and forget about the rest of it. Spend some time walking along the river and going outside the typical tourist streets. Siem Reap is one of those cities that we would have spent an extra day or two at if our schedule hadn’t been so full.
By dano_b (dabbler)
Written on 11th March, 2010 after a visit to Siem Reap in January, 2010
Also reviewed by dano_b: Battambang, Don Dhet, Luang Prabang, Phnom Penh,
Siem Reap - what theme do you want?
Siem Reap has evolved radically during the last few years. From an awakening rural centre at the gateway of Angkor, it became - especially during 2007-08 - a boom town; a tourism klondike with the number of accommodaiton beds growing, seemingly, exponentially. In 2009 the world economy shrunk and so did tourism numbers.
Siem Reap is a relatively wealthy town, thanks to the tourist dollars, but it resides in one of Cambodia's most acutely poor regions. This fact, combined with the presence of the awe-inspiring collection of Angkor temples gives the destination several facets to its personality. Old: new. Rich: poor. Westernised: traditional. Digital: manual. As a destination it can offer any theme you're looking for.
Looking for a five star, zen massage, fine dining sojourn? Here it is. Some of the hotels are gob-smackingly opulent, and for a local who earns at the poverty mark (at least 30% are below this mark) of $30 per month, then a room-rate equivalent of a year's farming income is beyond comprehension.
Looking for a backpacker destination full of clubs, bars, temples and adventure? You can't beat Siem Reap for all these things. Like all of Cambodia (median population age - 21 compared to 36 in the UK)this is an essentially young place - with clubs, bars, cafes, guest houses, hostels and restuarants that are all very affordable, though they split between the totally westernised Bar Street where security guards stop locals from entering) to the more laid-back more truly local places which are worth checking out.
The poverty of the region presents, or confronts, tourists with the third main theme here - and many visitors end up deciding to visit local schools, orphanages or similar enterprises mostly notable for their heart, their hope and their sheer lack of resource.
This is a personal note, but I've been back a few times, and it seems to me that the things one remembers best about Siem Reap are, first - the temples of course: their story is just astounding. But secondly the people. No, maybe I have that the wrong way round.
If you plan the zen-spa theme, or the Bar Street backpacker experience, well good on you. But if you step outside of your comfort zone in this town, and put yourself in a position of working alongside locals - you'll help them in their goals, and be amply rewarded at a visceral, emotional level that can be quite profound.
By DuncanStuart (dabbler)
Written on 9th February, 2010 after a visit to Siem Reap in April, 2009