Set in northwest Cambodia, Siem Reap is best known for being the gateway to the Angkor ruins, a sprawling World Heritage-listed complex of more than 400 ancient temples with the magnificent Angkor Wat as its focal point.
Siem Reap is one of those places that caters to every taste. It's difficult to get bored in this ever-evolving city. The variety of cuisine, accommodation, shopping, modes of transport, and daily activities is quite astonishing for what is actually a relatively small–and new–city on the edge of the Tonle Sap lake.
The central highlight is of course the Temples of Angkor–most of which are just a short trip from the center of town. Angkor is rightly considered to be one of the world's most spectacular and important historic areas, and is featured on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Some 400 square kilometers of land is included in the region, from forested areas to the Angkor Archaeological Park, where the temple of Angkor Wat and the Bayon Temple can be found.However, it would be a mistake to see Siem Reap as merely a bed for the night to allow for days at Angkor Wat. Whether it's enjoy sipping a coffee and people-watching in the town, taking a quad bike out into the countryside, or bargaining for silks and silver in the burgeoning markets, there are plenty of reasons to extend a stay after becoming “templed out”.
Siem Reap has colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old French Quarter and around the Old Market. In the city, there are museums, traditional Apsara dance performances, a Cambodian cultural village, souvenir and handicraft shops, silk farms, rice-paddies in the countryside, fishing villages and a bird sanctuary near the Tonle Sap Lake and a vibrant, cosmopolitan drinking and dining scene.
Siem Reap today—being a popular tourist destination—has a large number of hotels, resorts, restaurants and businesses closely related to tourism. Siem Reap also boasts several vibrant night markets, where souvenirs like silk scarves and wood carvings can be purchased.This is much owed to its proximity to the Angkor temples, the most popular tourist attraction in Cambodia.