Siem Reap is home to many beautiful cultural sites and is full of fun things to do. You can dive into pottery making lessons, visit war museums, enjoy a cooking class, and then join the locals at local pubs to try some excellent Western food and cheap beer.

That honour belongs to Siem Reap, simply because Cambodia prefers to highlight its Khmer Empire origins rather than its time under the Khmer Rouge. This means that while Phnom Penh offers better shopping and hotel experiences, Siem Reap is far more rewarding for foreign tourists.

As Cambodia’s unofficial tourism capital, Siem Reap boasts hundreds of natural and manmade attractions such as breathtaking temples, well-preserved colonial buildings, unique museums, cultural theme parks, expansive lakes and verdant mountains.

The phenomenal ruins of Angkor Wat may be reason enough to visit Cambodia, but there’s much more to this friendly, energetic country. Siem Reap can’t be covered in one day—you’ll need at least three days to cover the huge expanse of the Angkor temples and other attractions in the area. So unless you have a friend in the area with an extra bed, you’ll need to stay at a Siem Reap hotel or hostel while you’re in town.

14 things to do in Siem Reap, Cambodia (besides temples)