Best of Siem Reap

In northern Cambodia, the large city of Siem Reap is the gateway to the Unesco World Heritage Site of Angkor Wat. While most people have ancient temples in mind when visiting, there’s quite a lot to do in Siem Reap, from immersing yourself in Khmer culture at art and textile museums to seeing avant-garde artistry at Cirque de Soleil-style performances. As a major epicenter of tourism, Siem Reap has some of the best accommodation options in the country, including boutique hotels with art-filled rooms, expansive gardens and lake-sized swimming pools.    

In the north part of town, the interactive Angkor National Museum has a small but well-curated selection of Khmer artifacts and gives important cultural and historical insight into this once powerful empire. At Artisans Angkor, you can see young craftspeople painting, woodcarving, silver plating, creating lacquerware and practicing other traditional crafts. The same organization runs a silk farm west of Siem Reap, which you can tour and see the fascinating production cycle, from the raising of silkworms in Mulberry trees to the dyeing and weaving of silk. Siem Reap is also a good place to take a cooking class, with market visits and a spice tutorial typically part of the experience.