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 many hotels, resorts, restaurants, and businesses closely related to tourism. This is much owed to its proximity to the Angkor temples, the most popular tourist attraction.