Recently updated on July 1st, 2024 at 03:49 pm
Our main reason for visiting Siem Reap, Cambodia, was to visit Angkor Wat and the other temples. It’s what the city is best known for. I’m the type of person who over-researches every destination we’ve ever traveled. Our adventure is changing my ability to do that because I’m too busy taking in the current location to worry too much about the next.
We checked into our hotel in Siem Reap and instantly realized that this wonderful city had so much more to offer than just the temples. One of our absolute favorite experiences during our three months in Southeast Asia is the first on this list. We hope this helps you plan your evenings and afternoons while taking a break from the majestic temples.
Itinerary Suggestions for Siem Reap, Cambodia
Go See Phare: The Cambodian Circus
This is one of the best experiences we’ve had on this entire trip. This circus is made up of local artists who produce these shows themselves and also runs a school in Battambang that teaches more children how to get into this creative field. They rotate the different shows so every few weeks, it changes. It is so much flipping and balancing and incredible talent. We wish we could have gone multiple nights.
Click here to see their website and get showtime information.
Visit Pub Street
Located right in the center of town, these few blocks are lined with restaurants, pubs, and great people-watching. This area gets pretty busy later in the evening, but you can find a few good happy hours. We liked The Angkor What? Bar. Definitely check it out at least one evening while you’re in town.
Shop at the Night Market
If you are like me, you might need a good pair of temple pants to make sure you meet the dress code at Angkor Wat. I wandered through the night market until I found some pants that were a solid color. I bought some fun, patterned ones, too. I realized the hard way that most of the vendors have all the same things (that you can also buy at H&M – boo), but I did find one amazing small boutique shop.
It’s worth spending an hour or so wandering. They’re so colorful, through the shops and there are tons of different kinds of gifts and pieces of art.
Taste the Local Fare
No, we did not try these. We are almost 100% vegetarian and have even managed to avoid fish for most of this trip. We definitely weren’t going to eat snakes on a stick. That doesn’t mean I didn’t sit and watch others eat them.
Try an Amazing Restaurant
We weren’t sure what to expect from the restaurants in Siem Reap, but we found some amazing places. A few do incredible work in the community and serve great food. Haven is the one I would recommend trying while there. We got a chance to meet the owner, and their food was delicious. I suggest making a reservation so you can lock in a table.
If you’re missing familiar flavors, we also loved Maybe Later for Mexican and Pizza Roma for pizza & pasta (which sounds weird in SE Asia, but it was really good.)
Check Out One of the Museums
There are two museums in town that can give you a better glimpse into the history of Cambodia. The Cambodian Landmine Museum covers a specific topic and the National Museum is a little more general. The country has been through a lot of devastating events in the last century and it’s important to know as much as possible.
We learned about landmines when we were in Luang Prabang, Laos, and it’s definitely something that Americans especially should understand. The more you know, the more you can raise awareness and give back to the communities in need.
Explore Angkor Wat Obviously
You really can’t miss the main attraction of this cool city. Hire a guide, read our advice for visiting Angkor Wat, and plan your other activities around this. We did a two-day tour and saw everything we were hoping to see. We did one day with a guide and another with just a driver.
More Details About Siem Reap
We stayed at a pretty centralized hotel and LOVED it. It was walkable to tons of great restaurants and the river. They had a great pool, comfortable rooms, WiFi, and a good shower (important if you have read about our mishaps in Da Nang, Vietnam.) It’s often running super affordable specials, so I recommend booking it through your favorite hotel website, like one of these three.
Book your room through Booking.com
Book a room through Hotels.com
You can get a better glimpse of our time in Cambodia if you check out our video below.
Let us know if there are any sites in Siem Reap that we have missed. We are hoping to get back to Cambodia to explore more in the future, but I’m so happy we had a week to explore the capital city.
