Best Time to Visit Siem Reap and Angkor

Siem Reap has a tropical wet-and-dry climate governed by two monsoons, and each season transforms both the sandstone colours of Angkor and the water level of Tonle Sap Lake. While the temples are open every day of the year, matching your month to your priorities makes a big difference.

Cool and Dry Season (November to February) is the most comfortable and popular window to visit Siem Reap. The northeast monsoon brings dry blue skies, low humidity, daytime highs around 29°C to 31°C and pleasantly cool 19°C to 21°C dawns for riding out to Angkor Wat in an open-air tuk-tuk. November and December are arguably the single finest months of the year: the summer rains have just ended, so the moats around Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom are brim-full for mirror reflections, the jungle moss on Ta Prohm and Preah Khan is still bright green, and the water level at Kampong Phluk on Tonle Sap Lake is high enough for boats to glide right through the flooded forest canopy.

Hot Dry Season (March to early May) sees temperatures climb to 34°C to 37°C by afternoon and lake levels recede to their annual low. Even so, late March holds a special astronomical draw: on the Spring Equinox (around 21 March, and again on the Autumn Equinox around 22 September), the rising sun aligns directly above the central lotus spire of Angkor Wat at dawn, just as twelfth-century Khmer astronomers designed it. On 14 to 16 April, Cambodia celebrates Khmer New Year (Choul Chnam Thmey) with traditional games, sand stupas and festivities across Angkor Sankranti.

Green Monsoon Season (late May to October) is a photographer's secret. Rather than raining all day, moisture usually falls in a dramatic one- or two-hour afternoon tropical shower that washes the air clean, turns the rice paddies and forest moss a saturated emerald, fills the ancient barays and leaves you nearly alone inside galleries like Banteay Srei and Preah Khan. Check what to wear at Angkor before packing.