Things to do in Siem Reap between temple days

Things to do in Siem Reap when you are not at the temples

Siem Reap is the base for everything inside the park, and the park's hours leave real gaps in your day. Those gaps come straight off the official timings: first entry at 5:00 AM, Angkor Wat's gates closed by 5:30 PM, the park finished at 6:30 PM. A dawn start puts you back in town by early afternoon, 6 km and about 12 minutes by road from the temple.

Three nights is the number that works for most people. The three-day pass is valid within 7 days, so your temple days do not have to run back to back: spend the afternoon of a temple day in the museum and the market, keep one whole day for the town or Tonlé Sap, and you still use all three entries. The pass itself can be obtained through a tour guide, so that part is usually settled before you reach the gate.

Two nights is thin for a trip this far. One temple morning, one afternoon in town, and nothing spare if a storm lands on the wrong day.

• Two nights: one temple day and one town day. Workable if Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom are all you want to see.
• Three nights: three temple mornings spread across the stay, with the museum, the Old Market block and one evening show fitted around them.
• Four or more nights: add the half-day run out to Banteay Srei, about 25 km north-east of the main group, or a Tonlé Sap afternoon, and hold one day spare for weather.
• Active days: the 9-hour sunrise bike, e-bike or tuk tuk itinerary covers the circuits with hotel pick-up and drop-off, breakfast and lunch, and a support vehicle.

The museum that puts names to the carvings

The Angkor National Museum stands at No. 968 Vithei Preah Sihanouk Avenue, Sangkat Svay Dangkum, on the main road out towards the temples. Hours are 08:30 to 18:30 from 1 October to 31 March and 08:30 to 18:00 from 1 April to 30 September. Holidays and ceremonies shift that, so check on the day.

Go before your first full temple day if your flight lands early enough. The galleries attach names, reigns and dates to the carvings you are about to walk past, which changes how you read the relief walls at Angkor Wat instead of only photographing them. If arrival day is already gone, take the afternoon of your first temple morning instead, since you are on that road anyway and the carvings will still be fresh.

Markets, the riverside and the old French quarter

The Old Market area and the Old French Quarter sit on one side of the river, with Pub Street running through the middle. Market halls, shops, restaurants, bars and the night market trade are packed into that one block. Daytime is for the stalls and the riverside walk; the noise arrives after dark.

Buy your temple clothing here rather than at a gate. What you want from these stalls is cover for shoulders and knees: revealing clothing is banned in sacred places by the visitor code of conduct, and foreign-office advice spells out that religious sites, Angkor Wat among them, can refuse you admission over what you are wearing. A cotton scarf or a sarong from one of the market halls weighs nothing in a day bag, costs less than being turned back at a doorway, and settles the question for every temple on your list.

Candy and money handed to children are discouraged by that same code, which points donations towards a recognised charity. That applies on the market streets as much as on the temple approaches.

Craft workshops, the circus and the balloon

Artisans Angkor runs its central craft workshop in the middle of Siem Reap, where you can watch master artisans working stone and silk. Being in town, it fills a morning you are not spending in the park, without a drive at either end.

Phare, The Cambodian Circus performs nightly at 8:00 PM and runs about an hour, with a pre-show from 5:30 PM. Between November 2026 and March 2027 there are 5:00 PM matinees on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays as well, and that is the performance to take when the next morning starts at the 5:00 AM park opening, since you are in bed at a sensible hour. Adult tickets, from age 12, cost $38 for Section A, $28 for Section B and $18 for Section C; child prices are $18, $15 and $10.

The Angkor Balloon out near Angkor Wat is tethered and filled with helium rather than hot air. It climbs to about 120 m for 10 to 15 minutes with up to 30 passengers, and flies between sunrise and sunset depending on weather: afternoons from November to April, mornings from May to October.

Where to stay in Siem Reap, district by district

Five districts hold most of the visitor beds, and all five are a drive from the park. Choose on what you want within walking distance after dark.

• Old French Quarter and Old Market area: Pub Street, the markets and the riverside on your doorstep. Good for one or two nights if you want to be in the middle of it.
• Charles de Gaulle Boulevard: this is the road the temple traffic takes, with Pub Street about a five-minute tuk-tuk ride away. The upscale strip and the shortest morning run out of town.
• Wat Bo Road, east of the river: roughly a 15-minute walk from Pub Street, far enough back that you can sleep before a dawn start.
• Wat Damnak and Taphul Village: the other two districts travellers use, both off the Pub Street block.

Evening safety and cash in Siem Reap

Late-night rides with strangers are the one thing to be firm about. Women have been assaulted in Siem Reap by men posing as motorbike taxi drivers around the Pub Street area, so arrange the ride back through your hotel or through the venue rather than taking a bike from whoever happens to be waiting outside at closing time. If you are staying in the Old Market block and walking home, walk in company.

Check your change. Fake US banknotes have been passed as change in Cambodian shops and bars, and most of what you pay for around the park is dollar cash. Look at the notes properly when they are handed to you in a bar at midnight.

Keep long drives in daylight. Driving at night sharply raises the risk on Cambodian roads, so plan an outlying temple day to finish before dark and leave night driving out of it altogether. Around rural temple areas, stay on main routes and marked paths, because unexploded ordnance is still a hazard off them.

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