Parks and the outdoors in Siem Reap

14 parks, gardens, beaches and walks in and around Siem Reap.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

See
Angkor Botanical Garden
Beautifully kept gardens and mini zoo and playground with Rukha Cafe & Restaurant and a kids' library. A great place to visit just after visiting Apopo.
free entry
See
Banteay Srey Butterfly Centre
Banteay Srey Butterfly Centre is a community development project and tourist destination just down the road from the Landmine Museum and Banteay Srey temple. Revenue from admissions is used to pay families in remote villages who are farming butterflies for the exhibit. The project makes a real difference to the farmers' livelihoods and provides a wonderful experience for visitors as they can see spectacular local butterfly species flying close at hand in a beautiful tropical garden.
09:00-1700US$4 adults, US$2 children under 12
See
Butterfly Paradise
A park with butterflies amongst many species of plants and flowers, with waterfalls and ponds.
Sun-Fri 09:00-16:30US$10 adult, US$7 child, US$4 Khmer adult, US$2 Khmer child
Do
KKO - Off Track Mountain Bike Tours
KKO is a local charitable non-profit NGO. They offer unique Angkor park and countryside off track bike tours. The entire profit generated from the bike tours flows back to the local KKO School. US$35 for a guided hlaf day bike tour and US$45-60 for a full day bike tour. Booking is required.
US$35-65 for a full-day tour
See
Kampong Phluk Floating Village
This mangrove forest offers a much more authentic floating village experience than the one close to the Tonlé Sap ferry harbour. This fascinating fishing village on stilts can be reached by tuk-tuk, motorcycle, or taxi from Siem Reap. It takes about 1 hour to reach the village, depending weather conditions. Beware of scams. In addition to the tuk-tuk or taxi fare, the boat to take you around the village costs US$25 per person (which drivers will often conveniently forget to mention until you're almost there). In the dry season the village just has the appearance of a bunch of houses on stilts over the mud, but is still somewhat interesting as you can see the houses' structure. After touring the village you can eat in a floating restaurant with views of the lake.
US$25
Drink
Khmer Pub Street Beergarden KTVs
There is a strip of local Cambodian bars near the Platinum KTV. If you walk past it, there is a whole 2-3 block street full of local Cambodian bars. Menus are not in English and few employees speak English, but the prices are good. These are restaurant/bars, they have young women sitting at the entrance, and you can have one accompany you for US$1.50. Beers are US$1.
close 02:00US$0.50 for draught beer
Do
Lemongrass Garden
Lovely little spa with a relaxing atmosphere and experienced staff. 60 minute Khmer massages are US$16, while 90 minute Khmer massages are US$23. They also offer oil massages, "spiritual massages," and manicures/pedicures. Treatment rooms have air conditioning, and they provide a cool drink before treatment and warm tea afterwards. They also claim to pay higher wages than most places in Siem Reap, as well as provide other benefits to their workers.
Daily 11:00-23:00US$10-70
See
Phnom Bok
The highest hill in the area. Temple ruins similar to those found atop of Phnom Krom and Phnom Bakong can also be found on top of Phnom Bok. It lies 20 km to the north east of Siem Reap. Expect a tiring hike up the stairs. A guard may be able to show you around. Don't forget to check out the old howitzers from the civil war. Admission is free, no pass is needed for the Angkorian ruins.
Eat
The Dining Room (Park Hyatt Hotel)
The quality of the food is excellent. Acclaimed by some as the best Khmer restaurant in all Cambodia, it is set in a chic hotel with a minimalist modern feel. The chefs source the freshest ingredients for both Khmer tasting menus, as well as a la carte dishes. Sit in air conditioned comfort, or outside tables and lounge furniture and enjoy the nighly music and dance performances that commence at 20:00.
Buy
Theam's House Gallery
Exhibits paintings and art created by the artist-designer Theam Lim, who has studied at Ecole Boulle and Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Theam's House Gallery and atelier are in the house of the artist, built by himself, inspired by Khmer rural architecture, surrounded by a garden.
Daily 08:00-19:00
See
Wat Bo
As one of the oldest temples it makes a nice contrast between the oldest and the glittering new ones, though the rough artwork wouldn't match the craftsmen of Angkor. The architecture of the ramshackle open air hall next to the main building blends French-style arches and balustrades with Thai-influenced Buddhist details. A forest of chedi surround the main hall, in between frangipani trees and some fine topiary.
Do Not mapped
Angkor Photography Festival: Photography for Change
Annual festival that showcases outdoor projections and various exhibitions around Siem Reap of regional and international photographers. The festival is held during the last week of November every year, consisting of 7 evenings of outdoor projections and more than 10 gallery exhibitions across various venues in the city. The festival is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia and is also the biggest. It aims to highlight the work of Asian photographers and provides free workshops for 30 young photographers from the region every year, led by world renowned professionals, which are showcased during the event. There is a full time office/gallery for the festival located on the East river road near the Bopha Angkor Hotel. As well as the festival, the organisers support a local NGO working with street children, that promotes the arts and runs a photography course with students. Photography from these students is also showcased as part of the festival programme.
Do Not mapped
The Water Festival
This vast festival is probably the most extravagant festival in the calendar. Over three days starting with the last full moon day in October or the beginning of November up to a million people from all walks of life from all over the country flock to the banks of Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers in Phnom Penh to watch hundreds of brightly coloured boats with over 50 paddlers battle it out. The boat racing dates back to ancient times marking the strengths of the powerful Khmer marine forces during the Khmer empire. In the evening brightly decorated floats cruise along the river prior to and complementing the fireworks displays. there is often a parallel festival at Angkor Wat and although it is smaller in scale it is just as impressive due to the backdrop of Angkor Wat. The festival marks the changing of the flow of the Tonle Sap and is also seen as thanksgiving to the Mekong River for providing the country with fertile land and abundant fish. It is at this time when the river flow reverts to its normal down stream direction. The remarkable phenomenon that is the Tonle Sap sees the river flowing upstream during the rainy season and then change direction as the rains cease and the swollen Tonle Sap Lake empties back into the Mekong River leaving behind vast quantities of fish.
Do
Wake Park
Excellent wakeboarding park and only one in Cambodia.
$24 for 2 hr including instructor guidance

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Siem Reap (CC BY-SA 4.0).