Cambodia

Angkor Wat is the reason to come to Siem Reap, and it earns the hype — the world’s largest religious monument, rising out of the jungle in a way that feels like something explorers would have stumbled onto by accident. We toured it with Buffalo Tours, and even having wanted to see it since high school, it was more overwhelming in person than any photo prepared us for.

Siem Reap itself runs quieter than the temples suggest — dirt roads, tuk-tuks, a typical village feel just outside the tourist strip. Heritage Suites sits in that setting, a boutique stay a short trip from Angkor. Shinta Mani Club met us at the airport with cold water and cold towels after a long flight and an even longer visa line — a small thing, but it set the tone for the whole stay. And Le Méridien Angkor borrows its architecture directly from the Angkor temples, so even the hotel itself carries some of that history.