Discovering the beauty of the exquisite temple complex of Angkor Wat is on every tourist’s list of top things to do in Siem Reap, Cambodia. You must see the temples in person to understand why the extensive Angkor Archaeological Park is so famous.
The incredible Khmer architecture and intricate design of these Hindu and Buddhist temples draw people from around the world. Large and small temples, including Bayon, Preah Khan, Ta Prohm, and Banteay Srei, located in the archaeological park, are famous Siem Reap tourist attractions.
While the temples are the highlight of any trip to this area, there are other exciting places to see in Siem Reap. Fascinating museums that reveal different facets of history in Cambodia include the Landmine Museum, Angkor National Museum, and War Museum.
There are two wonderful Siem Reap attractions for birds or wildlife conservation: the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary and the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity. After all the tours and explorations, you can relax on Pub Street with a drink or go shopping for Nice knick-knacks at the Angkor Night Market.
Here’s a list of what to see in Siem Reap, a must-visit destination in Cambodia.
Where to stay in Siem Reap? Find great deals and book your hotel here!
Book this unique experience: Angkor Wat Highlights and Sunrise Guided Tour
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Why should you visit Siem Reap
Siem Reap is the capital city of Cambodia and has become one of the most popular and famous tourist destinations in Southeast Asia Angkor Wat. Angkor Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the top attraction of Siem Reap and the entire country. Angkor Wat is the main temple of this heritage site, and other must-visit temples are Angkor Thom and Bayon Temple.
The unique architectural beauty of Angkor Wat temple draws many tourists to visit it worldwide every year. Several cultural sites and museums are also worth exploring in Siem Reap. You might like the nightlife of Siem Reap on Pub Street. And don’t miss going for a street food tour in the evening during your trip to Siem Reap.
Experiences and top things to do in Siem Reap
Angkor Archaeological Park/Angkor Wat
You will find the Angkor Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on every list of what to do in Siem Reap. It is so extensive that depending on your interest, you can take a one-day, three-day, or seven-day pass to see the temples on the site.
Built during the time of the Khmer Empire, Angkor Wat is the most famous and also the most well-preserved of the temples. Initially dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu in the 12th century, it became a Buddhist religious site.
There are several guided tours to give you in-depth details. You can even opt for a tuk-tuk tour of the temples to cover all the main areas. A sunrise tour of Angkor Wat is also very popular among visitors.
Where to stay in Siem Reap? Find great deals and book your hotel here!
Book this unique experience: Angkor Wat Highlights and Sunrise Guided Tour
Read also: Top 10 Places to Visit in Cambodia
Angkor Thom – Bayon Temple and other highlights
A former capital of the Khmer empire, Angkor Thom, to has some magnificent sights. Situated close to Angkor Wat, Angor Thom’s most significant attraction is the Bayon Temple.
It is one of the best things to see in Siem Reap. More than 200 massive, calm, and smiling faces made of stone on the temple towers are among its most striking features. Bas-reliefs showcasing various themes and stories are other highlights of the temple.
Also of interest in Angkor Thom are the Baphuon Temple, the Terrace of the Elephants, and the Terrace of the Leper King.
Where to stay in Siem Reap? Find great deals and book your hotel here!
Book this unique experience: Kompong Phluk Floating Village Tour from Siem Reap
Ta Prohm
While many temples in the Angkor Archaeological Park are restored, some are overgrown with jungle vegetation. These, too, have a beauty of their own. One such temple is Ta Prohm, among the most interesting Siem Reap tourist attractions.
Trees intertwine with the stone structure, and you can see massive roots in individual sections. It looks quite mysterious! Fans of action-adventure movies will recognize this temple from the Angelina Jolie star Tomb Raider.
In this atmospheric place, you almost feel like a jungle explorer searching for an ancient site. Take a compound tour to see stone reliefs and other temple features.
Where to stay in Siem Reap? Find great deals and book your hotel here!
Book this unique experience: Siem Reap Phare, the Cambodian Circus Show Tickets
Are you planning your travels? Here’re my top travel resources!
I’m a serial planner both in life and in travel – I have bucket lists, things to do, see, and everything. So, I always love when my life is sorted easily using tools and resources that would make my general planning a little smoother and easier. Therefore, in my many years of traveling the world, I’ve seen myself returning to these travel resources repeatedly. And here I am, sharing my tips to make your life easy and breezy so you can stress less, travel heaps, and focus on the fun part of travel!
- Booking.com – I book all my hotels through this website and don’t honestly use anything else. They always have the best prices, in my opinion.
- Airbnb – If I’m traveling long-term to one destination, I book my flats through Airbnb.
- Skyscanner – The best place to find cheap flights on flexible dates. I use this a lot to score cheap flights within Europe!
- SafetyWing – Always travel insured! Never leave your home country without one. It is worth the extra money, I promise you!
- GetYourGuide – Hands-down, the best place to find cool and unique tours if you don’t feel like winging it, and go straight to a local expert. I use this a lot in new destinations to get acquainted with the area!
- My Pretty Wild World Travel Diary (coming soon) – A book you can write down your travel plans, create itineraries, track down your budget, and dot down memories along the way! A handy book you can keep and read later to revisit memory lane.
- Pretty Wild World Travel Planning Printables (coming soon) – Are you a nut like me when it comes to planning? Yes? Good. My travel planning resource in one zip file is an easy-to-use printable planner that comes with tips that helps you plan your travels during the planning stage, a pre-flight checklist, an itinerary planner, and so on.
Banteay Srei
A small but pretty temple made of red sandstone, the Banteay Srei is more than 30 km from the leading group of Angkor temples. Dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, the Banteay Srei has beautiful intricate carvings that distinguish it from other temples.
This 10th-century well-preserved temple should make it to your list of what to see in Siem Reap. You can see stunning carvings depicting various stories of gods and goddesses on the temple walls and almost everywhere in the temple.
Looking at the temple, you can only marvel at the skill of the artisans who worked on its design. Spare half a day to travel and see this temple on a guided tour or a tuk-tuk ride to the site.
Where to stay in Siem Reap? Find great deals and book your hotel here!
Book this unique experience: Sunset Dinner Tour Tonle Sap Lake Floating Village
Read also: Best Cities to Visit in Asia: Top 20 Beautiful and Best Cities to Travel in Asia
Beng Mealea
Sometimes to see good things, you need to make an extra effort. While the ruins of Beng Mealea temple are located around 60 km from Siem Reap, it is a must for those who like temples like Ta Prohm, where trees and vegetation have blended with the temple structure.
In fact, at Beng Mealea, the wilderness of the jungle is even more prominent, making it one of the fascinating things to do in Siem Reap. The broken ruins with huge tree roots covering them make for beautiful photographs.
Tourists are fewer here than at the main temples, so you can explore this site unhurriedly.
Where to stay in Siem Reap? Find great deals and book your hotel here!
Book this unique experience: Full-Day Kulen Waterfall and 1000 Lingas Tour
Preah Khan
Once a thriving temple site of the 12th century that combined a university, city, and temple, Preah Khan had thousands of people who lived and worked in the area, including teachers, attendants, dancers, and others.
Today, it is deserted, but the beautiful ruins of the Hindu-Buddhist site give a glimpse of the bygone glorious era. Although the temple has trees and vegetation surrounding the structures, it is still quite well-preserved. You can see the gopuras and towers, library ruins, and beautiful carvings with images of garudas, nagas, and devas.
Located just a couple of kilometers from the Bayon temple, Preah Khan is one of the fabulous Siem Reap attractions.
Where to stay in Siem Reap? Find great deals and book your hotel here!
Book this unique experience: Angkor Wat Private 2-Day Temples Tour with Sunset & Sunrise
Hold up! Have you thought about the importance of travel insurance?
Remember this: anything can happen. Travel is fun, but your health is more important; thus, I always, always, always recommend getting insured during the duration of your trip. I have benefitted from having one multiple times, and it has been covered for thousands of euros!
The latest one is not necessarily “health” related – it was during the peak of the unspeakable terrible C that consumed the world. I was living in Vietnam when I received an email from SafetyWing (my travel insurance) that if I want they’ll fly be back home to Finland as the world goes through a global emergency alert. I flew back fully covered, and dealing with SafetyWing was a breeze despite the roar of people in contact with them trying to get back home.
I can’t highly recommend them enough. Otherwise, I rarely get sick; hence I don’t always need to head to a hospital, but knowing that I have travel insurance makes me feel safe at the very least.
Read my post about why you should get travel insurance for more information. Otherwise, you can get a free quote from SafetyWing – they’re the best, in my opinion.
Museums of Siem Reap
Do you know what to do in Siem Reap to understand its history better, especially war-related? The Landmine Museum is one place that deserves to be on every list of what to see in Siem Reap.
It is among those places that are worth seeing and very moving. It was established by a Khmer man Aki Ra who would clear landmines leftover from times of war, defuse them and store them in a house. This eventually resulted in the setting up of the Landmine Museum, which also cares for orphaned children.
One more interesting place is the War Museum which has a collection of war vehicles, including battle tanks and a helicopter, and weapons used in Cambodia’s civil war.
You can also pick up and see some of the weapons. The Angkor National Museum is another good museum that has galleries with Angkor artifacts.
Where to stay in Siem Reap? Find great deals and book your hotel here!
Book this unique experience: 2-Day Small Group Temples Sunrise Tour from Siem Reap
Angkor Night Market/Pub Street
As night descends on some of the top attractions in Siem Reap, the streets come alive with locals and tourists heading to the Angkor Night Market. You can find various products here, from regular stuff to interesting knick-knacks.
Shop for handicrafts, clothes, or bags, and put your bargaining skills to good use. Grab a bite when you are hungry. At the neighboring Pub Street, life’s a party with cheap beer at various bars popular with the young crowd.
Also, enjoy good food at restaurants that serve Khmer and international cuisine. So, relax with food and drinks at one of the most fun places to visit in Siem Reap.
Where to stay in Siem Reap? Find great deals and book your hotel here!
Book this unique experience: Siem Reap Kampong Phluk Floating Village Tour with Sunset
Phnom Kulen National Park
Enjoy the outdoors at the Phnom Kulen National Park, an integral part of Siem Reap sightseeing, located around 50 km from the central city. The park makes for a good day trip in a mountain area with Buddhist statues, carvings, rivers, and waterfalls.
Chup Preah is a lovely valley here, while Kbal Spean, which can be reached with a jungle trek, has several carvings on its shallow riverbed rocks. Another attraction is the Preah Ang Thom temple site. The waterfalls at Phnom Kulen are in full flow during the monsoons.
Where to stay in Siem Reap? Find great deals and book your hotel here!
Book this unique experience: Siem Reap Angkor Wat: Small-Group Sunrise Tour
What are my favorite travel must-haves?
As a frequent traveler, I’ve learned a lot throughout my years of travel, and there are five items that I always carry with me regardless of where I go and how long the trip is. Here are my five travel must-haves!
- Warm packable jacket – I always carry a light jacket, even when heading to warm countries. There hasn’t been a time I never used it, especially in airports and planes.
- Transparent toiletry bag – I often bring a carry-on if I’m only traveling within Europe for a few days. Life is so much easier to go through security checks with a transparent toiletry bag.
- Kindle Paperwhite – I love a good read and always take my Kindle everywhere. It keeps me entertained during long flights and waiting times.
- Powerbank – I don’t know how I could travel without one! Having a power bank saved me a ton since I carry a lot of electronic devices with me.
- Travel Adapter – I never leave my luggage without a travel adapter! I carry one with me all the time. It is just one of that travel-must haves that doesn’t hurt to have in your bag at all times.
Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary
Take a boat trip from the Chong Kneas dock to visit the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary, located in a section of the Tonle Sap lake. It is among the most interesting Siem Reap activities, especially for bird lovers.
The best time to visit is from December to February, as many birds flock to the sanctuary. These include greater adjutant storks, pelicans, and other rare species.
Take a boat tour on a day trip to see the creatures. If you are passionate about these winged creatures, you can also stay at a basic accommodation here overnight to look at the birds at dawn the next day.
Where to stay in Siem Reap? Find great deals and book your hotel here!
Book this unique experience: Angkor Wat Highlights and Sunrise Guided Tour
Planning to visit Cambodia? Check out these posts!
Other awesome places to travel to in Asia
- Top 50+ AMAZING Places to Visit in Thailand
- Top 15 Places to Visit in Vietnam
- Top 15 Places to Visit in the Philippines
- Top 15 BEST Places to Visit in Malaysia
- Top 20 BEST Places to Visit in Indonesia
- Top 20 Places to visit in Japan
- 15 BEST Places to Visit in South Korea
- 15 BEST Places to Visit in Taiwan
Where to stay in Siem Reap
Booking.comTours to do in Siem Reap
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