Which area is Siem Reap?

Visit Cambodia and the charms of Southeast Asia: this is the area in Siem Reap!

Fourth city of Cambodia with 147,866 inhabitants, Siem Reap is world-famous to be located near the archaeological site of Angkor , former capital of the Khmer Empire. Located 314 kilometres northwest of Phnom Penh Siem Reap is on the edge of the Tonlé Sap, and attracts more than a million visitors a year, coming to see the temples of Angkor. But this city, the epicentre of tourism in Cambodia, has of course other faces: we go there to celebrate and/or to discover a major historical and cultural heritage, an open-air museum. Siem Reap has a colonial and Chinese architecture, located in the Old Market district and in the French Quarter.

Accommodation in Siem Reap – pronounce « Sim Rip » – gives you to explore various atmospheres depending on the neighbourhoods, between the festive streets, the floating villages and the ornithological reserves, the Apsara dance festivals, the seric farms or the fishing villages on the shores of Tonlé Sap. Here is our presentation of the neighborhoods where to stay in Siem Reap.

Around the Old Market

This neighbourhood is the centre of social life in Siem Reap, located on the north shores of the Siem Reap River. This is where you will find all the bars in backpackers where to swallow pints of beer at €0.50, in a cacophony of Western music all stronger than the others and many accommodations where to sleep in Siem Reap: hotels and guesthouses, bars and restaurants, street stands and non-stop ants, it’s a bit the one Khao San Road Bangkok. So much to say that this is not where we find Khmer culture and true Cambodia. The McDermott Gallery, Smateria and Angkor What? Bar's the neighborhood den. A good area where to stay in Siem Reap for cheap and to party until the end of the night, but don’t come here with family and/or couple hoping to find serenity, calm and quiet.

The night market

Around the night market – or Night market – , is the "souk" of Siem Reap. Replica of the night market in Taiwanese, there are a thousand and one things, at unbeatable prices: food, clothing, babioles of all kinds (statues of Buddha, incense, paintings of Angkor, etc.). Everything is done to make the tourist buy, unfortunately sometimes considered as a walking wallet dedicated to dropping his tickets. Merchanting is a money in this great bazaar where everything is chine, buys and sells, in a curious mix between tradition and modernity. There is a high concentration of hotels, as often in South-East Asia, where sleeping can be as expensive as a beer ordered at the bar. But to stay in Siem Reap – if you want more comfort – you can also find high-quality hotels and larger prices, especially between the international airport and the national road 6.

The old French quarter

The former French area is located at the level of Boulevard Sivatha, and there are colonial buildings whose architecture has been preserved. The area covers luxury accommodations to sleep in Siem Reap, high-end restaurants and fashion shops, not far from the city centre, as it is the main street.

Wat Bo Road

In the east of the river, the road to Wat Bo is a former gentrified popular neighborhood, with today high-end restaurants and high-quality hotels where to stay in Siem Reap. These include trendy bars. To sleep quietly 10 minutes from Old Market, this is where you have to go.