Nestled in the north of Cambodia is the small city of Siem Reap. Its streets are filled with French colonial architecture and bustling markets but it’s not for those reasons that millions of tourists visit the city and its airport every year. Siem Reap is the gateway to one of the most magnificent wonders of the modern world – the temples of Angkor Wat.

Most families visiting Angkor Wat will stay in or around Siem Reap in one of the hundreds of hotels, ranging from cheap hostels to luxurious 5-star resorts. Whatever your family travel style, a visit to Siem Reap with kids will give you a glimpse into everyday Cambodian life and allow you time to refuel and relax after all your busy sightseeing.

What is there to do in Siem Reap with kids?

Despite the international airport being its main draw, Siem Reap is becoming a tourist destination in its own right. When I visited as a solo backpacker back in 2004, it was a rough and seedy kind of place. Now, Siem Reap is brimming with hip boutiques, souvenir stands and fantastic restaurants.

So many of the activities on offer in Siem Reap are great for children. Here are 17 fun things to do in Siem Reap with kids.

Explore the temples of Angkor Wat

Not many people visit Siem Reap and don’t visit Angkor Wat but if you’re unsure about visiting Angkor Wat with kids – don’t be! Adults might be happy to spend the entire day meandering around the vast and captivating temples, kids, on the other hand, will prefer shorter trips. So pairing up a temple visit with one of the activities mentioned below will provide a more varied and engaging family-friendly itinerary in Siem Reap.

Temple passes can be bought for 1, 3 or 7 days and children under 12 are free. Our in-depth itinerary and guide for 3 days in Angkor Wat with kids is coming join – follow World for a Girl on Facebook or Twitter to keep up-to-date with our latest posts.

As a family, we love visiting ancient ruins around the world from the Acropolis in Greece to Chichen Itza in Mexico. If you’d like some tips and find out how we do it check out Ancient Ruins with Toddlers; An Awesome Day Out! Really?

Angkor Wat National Museum

This fantastic and educational museum tells the history of the ancient Khmers and the stories surrounding the construction of Angkor Wat. It’s highly recommended to visit the museum at the start of your visit – before you explore the temples.

Whilst the museum is not aimed at children, little ones may enjoy the touch-screens, panoramic sunset and the Gallery of a thousand Buddhas. It’s a great world-schooling opportunity for older children and teenagers.

Landmine Museum

It may not sound particularly child-friendly but the amount of local children running around the museum on a Saturday afternoon shows locals obviously disagree.

A stark lesson about Cambodia’s recent past this informative museum reveals the legacy of war. Whilst a harrowing subject, landmines are an important issue across the world and one that will lead to interesting discussions with teenagers.

The museum tells the incredible story of Aki Ra, a former child soldier who spent over a decade single-handedly clearing tens of thousands of landmines using his own ‘unorthodox’ methods. It’s amazing to see how much one person can achieve and imagine the countless lives that he has saved.

Although all the landmines and artillery in the museum are supposedly safe, I’d still strap any toddlers into a stroller or a sling just to be extra safe! There are a few gory illustrations so best to check exhibits first before herding the kids in. It costs $5 to enter but kids are free.

Butterfly Centre Banteay Srei

Visiting Angkor Wat in June, we had the privilege to see almost every temple bathed in an entrancing swarm of yellow butterflies. If your children love these fluttering creatures or you miss them at the temples, the Butterfly Centre is a fun and very child-friendly place to visit. It is run as a local conservation project helping both protect the butterflies and provide local people with meaningful jobs.

The guides speak excellent English and will show you around and explain the life cycle of the butterfly. You can see the eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis as well as butterflies fresh out of their chrysalis. The Butterfly Centre costs $5 per adult and $2 per child.

Tuk-tuks and remorks

Find me a child who doesn’t like zipping through the countryside in a tuk-tuk! In Cambodia, like in Thailand and Myanmar, the journey is part of the experience. Even if you opt for an air-conditioned car to visit the temples make sure that you hire a tuk-tuk or remork to drive you through town.

What’s the difference? Well, a tuk-tuk is like a covered carriage pulled by a motorbike (like a caravan) whereas the remork (remorque) is a single structure. Both are equally fascinating for little kids! There’s nothing better than the wind in your hair and cuddle with your kids as you whizz past the most beautiful of temples.

If you love the sound of exploring ancient ruins with kids in a tuk-tuk. We had the most amazing experience in Bagan, Myanmar with our kids earlier this year getting around in a tuk-tuk.

Phare: The Cambodian Circus

The amazing Phare circus will wow you (and the kids) with incredible acrobatic displays. Nightly shows run at 8 pm year round. If you’re travelling with younger children there is a 5 pm showing from November to March.

It’s not cheap (tickets from $18) but the money all goes to this brilliant cause which helps lift youngsters out of poverty and give them extraordinary careers in the performing arts. 

Take a tour into the Cambodian countryside

If you have a day spare in Siem Reap, it’s a great opportunity to get out of the city and experience Cambodian life in the countryside. Book a tour or hire a tuk-tuk driver to take you to meet local artisans, traditional markets and visit some of the further out and lesser-known temples.

We took an amazing tour with Lavender Jeeps, an exciting new tour company who are using their tours to promote female empowerment and give young Cambodian women more opportunities in the tourist industry.

Massages for everyone!

A massage might be the perfect way for mum and day to unwind after a busy day sightseeing but how do you entertain the little ones? Get them their own massage, of course!

So many of the massage parlours and spas in Siem offer specially priced kids massages. If the kids are unsure about being touched but want to try it, start with a simple foot massage.

Markets

Siem Reap has markets for locals, markets for tourists and a lot more in between. If your children don’t like the smells and intensity of the fresh food markets (mine hate it even after a year of living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) try the souvenir markets. Here smells and crowds are replaced by a kaleidoscope of colours. Children will love the treasure trove of shiny objects from fake watches to clay bracelets. There’s plenty to spend their pocket money on!

Cooking Schools

If you trust your kids with a knife, don’t miss the opportunity for a cooking lesson at one of the many cooking schools around Siem Reap. Our children are a little young still but the cooking schools we’ve been to in China and Thailand have been excellent.

Often the lessons include a trip to a local market to buy ingredients and of course, you get to eat a delicious meal at the end. Getting kids to cook their own food is a great way to introduce them to new cuisines that they wouldn’t choose off a menu. Visit Viator.com to compare the best cookery classes in town.

Floating Villages

Siem Reap has become well-known for tours of floating villages in the local area. Did you know that there are actually 4 floating villages that you can visit from Siem Reap?

The most famous is the ultra-touristy Chong Kneas known for high prices and scams. Prek Toal and Kompong Pluk are a little bit further but offer more ethical and some say more beautiful experiences. Klook.com is a good place to look for tours if you want to book in advance.

If you’re fascinated by floating villages Inle Lake in Myanmar place to visit with kids.

Pub Street

This busy neon-clad street in the heart of Siem Reap is full of – you guessed it – pubs. Whilst it’s not to everyone’s taste, it can be an interesting place to have an al-fresco drink and people watch.

Pub Street is pedestrianised which means fewer motorbikes whizzing down it. There is a seedy side to the street with bar-girls in hotpants, beggars and touts but it’s enjoyable for a few beers. If you’re hungry there are some great restaurants less than 5 minutes walk away – the pub food is generally overpriced so it pays to walk a few minutes.

We enjoyed the nearby New Leaf Book Cafe which not only shares its profits with charities and makes sure that its Khmer staff get a fair cut but also stocks Diving Deep, Going Far. This wonderful collection of part-fiction/ part- real-life stories celebrates Cambodian women who became leaders in their communities.

Related post: .Sleaze, Sand and Sunsets: Should you holiday in Pattaya, Thailand with kids?

Kid-friendly cafes and restaurants with gardens

Restaurants housed in traditional Cambodian houses have the amazing advantage of having gardens. When eating with young children, gardens are an absolute bonus. You’ll be excited to know that many of the best eateries in Siem Reap are in these types of buildings.

Even better is that many of these amazing restaurants train local disadvantaged youth through onsite programmes and several donate some of their profits to local charities and NGOs.

We really enjoyed our meals with kids in Siem Reap at:

Marum: gorgeous tropical garden, great food, kids menu and some children’s books and board games. There’s also a fantastic shop selling products made with upcycling and repurposed materials.

Banlle Vegetarian Restaurant: set in an organic vegetable garden, wholesome food and great juices for the kids

Haven: a stunning Swiss-run training initiative set in a wonderful garden area. Book in advance to sit outside. No kids menu but plenty that little ones will like.

Genevieve’s and Sugar Palm also came highly recommended but unfortunately, we didn’t have a chance to visit.

Get blessed by a monk

Whilst our children aren’t practising Buddhists, being blessed by a local monk was a great way for them to learn a little about Buddhism and religion in everyday life.

The actual experience was a little bit surreal as the monk greeted the children by giving them cans of soft drinks, sweets and even coconuts. After the blessing, we had bracelets tied around our wrists. Z who at 3 years old refused to let the monk touch her decided that he did deserve a 10-minute twirling dance as a thank you gesture!

Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary

This superb bird sanctuary in on Tonle Sap Lake, the huge lake in the heart of Cambodia. Unless you do a guided tour from Siem Reap, this day trip can be quite a mission when travelling with kids. You need multiple forms of transport and it’s hot, hot, hot out on the lake.

The best time to visit is between December and February. This is the season when thousands of birds (many quite rare) gather near the lake to breed. Pelicans and storks are just some of the birds that you can spot. It is also easy to combine a trip to the bird sanctuary with a visit to Prek Toal floating village.

See how local artisans and craftspeople produce their goods

In Siem Reap, you can visit Artisans Angkor – Les Chantiers Ecoles to learn how local artisans produce wood carvings, silk and lacquerware using traditional techniques. More fascinating for children is a trip to Les Chantiers Ecoles Silk Farm where children can come face to face with real silkworms.

One of the best ways to see local artisans at work is a trip to the countryside. Often you can visit craftspeople in their homes or workshops. The photo above/below shows Z learning how to make incense sticks. Nowadays most incense sticks are mass-produced and imported from China. This lovely lady taught us the traditional method. We all had a go and believe me, it is much trickier than it looks.

Angkor Wat Putt

If the kids are really getting restless then this fun, crazy golf course is an excellent trick to have up your sleeve. After days of exploring cultural treasures sometimes you need to go low-brow and just have a laugh!

Yay! You got to the end. Thanks for reading.

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If you have any great suggestions for things to do in Siem Reap with kids, please drop them in the comments below to share your ideas with other readers. Thanks.

If you’re travelling around Southeast Asia with kids, you may be interested in our posts on:

Fun Things to do in KL with Kids: Insider Tips!

Things to do in Vietnam with Kids: An Awesome 21 Day Itinerary

Bangkok with Young Children; Make it memorable and NOT mayhem.

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