Angkor Wat Named Asia's Top Attraction and World's Fifth Best for 2025

A regional winner with a place among the world's best

Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia, has been named Asia's top attraction in Tripadvisor's Travelers' Choice Best of the Best 2025 awards and ranks fifth worldwide. The recognition puts the temple ahead of destinations including China's Mutianyu Great Wall, India's Taj Mahal and Japan's Fushimi Inari Shrine in the regional rankings.

The award comes as Cambodia's tourism industry continues to recover. The Ministry of Tourism counted 3.7 million international arrivals in the first seven months of 2025, while Angkor Enterprise recorded 672,593 foreign Angkor Passes sold between January 1 and September 3, 2025. For Siem Reap, the attention brings renewed focus to a monument that is both a major visitor attraction and a living place of worship.

Tripadvisor reserves Best of the Best recognition for fewer than 1 percent of its eight million listings. Its 2025 Things To Do awards draw on traveler feedback posted from April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025, with editorial input. Angkor Wat's position reflects reviews of the attraction itself, rather than ratings for individual tours through the surrounding archaeological park.

The temple's appeal reaches from its monumental scale and symmetry to quieter encounters with its spiritual life. Travelers single out sunrise, when its towers shaped like lotus buds appear in silhouette against a soft sky. Inside, carved stone panels tell stories of myth, war and courtly life. The combination rewards visitors who take time to explore beyond the familiar dawn view.

Spain's Basilica de la Sagrada Familia leads the global attractions ranking. Angkor Wat's place among the world's top five gives Cambodia a prominent position in an awards list spanning mountain views, urban museums and celebrated architectural landmarks.

How Tripadvisor selected the winners

Tripadvisor's Best of the Best is the travel guidance platform's highest honor. The award recognizes consistent excellence, service and visitor satisfaction across a sustained period, using the quantity and quality of traveler reviews rather than the attention generated by a single popular moment.

The process considers star ratings, detailed written reviews and how recently feedback was posted. Editorial checks help address anomalies in the data. For the 2025 awards, the review period covered one year, from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, across attractions and experiences worldwide.

Tripadvisor describes the criteria in its awards explanation and editorial notes for 2025:

The awards are based on the quality and quantity of traveler reviews and ratings posted on Tripadvisor over a 12 month period, along with editorial input.

The platform separates attractions from experiences. Attractions are places people can visit without booking a particular activity, such as temples, museums and viewpoints. Experiences are bookable activities, including guided walks, food tours and boat trips. Angkor Wat's award belongs to the Asia attractions list, so it reflects visitors' assessments of the site rather than a specific guide or tour operator.

The dates and figures behind the recognition

The awards and Cambodia's tourism figures cover different periods. The reviews used for the rankings ended in March 2025, while the arrival and ticket figures describe travel later in the year, up to September 3.

• April 1, 2024: The review period for Tripadvisor's 2025 awards began.
• March 31, 2025: The awards review period ended.
• January through July 2025: Cambodia recorded 3.7 million international arrivals, and Angkor Enterprise reported about $28.6 million in ticket sales.
• January 1 through September 3, 2025: Angkor Enterprise recorded 672,593 foreign Angkor Passes sold.

These measures describe different parts of the recovery: international arrivals across Cambodia, passes sold for Angkor and revenue from ticket purchases. Together, they show why the award matters beyond a place on a travel list, with visitors supporting tourism businesses and the management of historic sites.

Asia's top 10 span temples, museums and historic towns

Angkor Wat leads an Asia ranking that brings ancient monuments together with places presenting more recent history. The top 10 includes religious sanctuaries, a former trading port and a museum whose exhibits many travelers find sobering and instructive.

• 1. Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia: A UNESCO World Heritage site known for sunrise views, cavernous galleries and sweeping moats.
• 2. Mutianyu Great Wall, Beijing, China: A well preserved section of the Great Wall, with scenic ridgelines and accessible hiking routes.
• 3. Taj Mahal, Agra, India: A marble mausoleum celebrated for its symmetry, decorative inlay work and gardens framing the Yamuna River.
• 4. Fushimi Inari taisha Shrine, Kyoto, Japan: A shrine with thousands of vermilion torii gates climbing a wooded hillside, popular with pilgrims and photographers.
• 5. War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: A museum presenting recent history through exhibits that visitors often describe as sobering and instructive.
• 6. Hoi An Ancient Town, Quang Nam, Vietnam: A preserved riverside trading port with timber houses, yellow facades and glowing lanterns.
• 7. Wat Phra Chetuphon, Bangkok, Thailand: Also called Wat Pho, home to the Reclining Buddha and a center of traditional Thai massage.
• 8. Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, Ubud, Indonesia: A lush grove combining nature and spirituality, with temple ruins and groups of macaques.
• 9. Temple of Dawn, Wat Arun, Bangkok, Thailand: A riverside spire covered in porcelain, with striking views across the Chao Phraya.
• 10. Qutub Minar, New Delhi, India: A soaring minaret within a historic complex that records successive layers of Delhi's past.

Vietnam, Thailand and India each have two attractions in the top 10. The full Asia list extends to 20 places, with Cambodia appearing again through Bayon Temple at number 17. Its enigmatic faces and intricate reliefs offer a different experience from Angkor Wat's architectural precision, giving visitors another reason to explore the wider Angkor area.

What the award means for Cambodia's tourism recovery

Cambodia's 3.7 million international arrivals in the first seven months of 2025 point to a tourism industry regaining activity. At Angkor, the 672,593 foreign passes sold by September 3 show a steady return of travelers from distant markets to Siem Reap after a prolonged slowdown.

Angkor Enterprise reported about $28.6 million in ticket sales from January through July 2025, an increase from the same period a year earlier. Ticket income is important for preservation and site management. Authorities use proceeds for conservation work, including stabilizing masonry and maintaining paths, and for programs that guide visitor movement around sensitive areas.

Strong traveler recommendations on platforms such as Tripadvisor can turn online attention into visits. For Cambodia, Angkor Wat's recognition also draws attention to the combination of ancient heritage and modern hospitality that shapes a trip to the country.

Siem Reap and Phnom Penh appear elsewhere in Tripadvisor's 2025 rankings. Siem Reap ranks 14th among Best of the Best Destinations and 10th among Culture Destinations. Phnom Penh places 17th on the Trending Destinations list, as travelers discover the capital's palaces, riverfront and museums.

Those rankings extend the tourism story beyond one temple. They reflect interest in trips combining heritage with food, craft and city life. For travelers, the attraction is a journey with several kinds of cultural experiences; for Cambodia, the opportunity reaches from the temple landscapes around Siem Reap to the capital.

Why the temple continues to draw visitors

Angkor Wat's architecture gives its vast scale a clear order. Built in the 12th century, the temple stands on a raised terrace behind a broad moat. Five towers form a crown resembling lotus flowers above a series of stacked galleries.

Visitors approach along an outer causeway and move toward the central sanctuary through concentric enclosures. The plan is a cosmic diagram, representing a sacred mountain. That arrangement helps explain why the building can feel both immense and carefully balanced: its spaces follow a shared religious design.

The bas reliefs, images carved into stone surfaces, stretch for hundreds of meters. They depict episodes from the Ramayana, royal processions and scenes of everyday labor. Alongside their artistic detail, the carvings preserve stories about belief, power and daily life.

Sunrise remains one of the best known experiences at Angkor Wat. The towers' silhouettes, the soft morning sky and the broad surrounding water create the view many travelers remember. Its galleries and reliefs offer reasons to stay after that first spectacle, while its continuing religious role gives the monument a purpose beyond sightseeing.

A living sanctuary within a much larger landscape

Angkor Wat began as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu. Over the centuries it became a Buddhist sanctuary, and it remains an active place of worship. Visitors therefore encounter both a historic monument and spaces that still hold religious meaning.

The temple sits within Angkor Archaeological Park, a protected area covering about 401 square kilometers and containing more than 90 temples and associated sites. Angkor Wat is the best known landmark, but it forms part of a much wider landscape of buildings, forests and infrastructure.

Nearby Angkor Thom includes Bayon Temple, famous for its serene faces. Ta Prohm offers another striking setting, with fig roots woven through the ruins. Quieter shrines lie along forest paths, giving travelers alternatives to the busiest locations.

The ancient city also had a sophisticated water management system of barays, or reservoirs, and canals. This network supported a thriving metropolis during the height of the Khmer Empire. The surviving landscape brings together engineering, artistry and living faith, giving repeat visitors more to discover than a single view of Angkor Wat.

Where Angkor Wat stands in the global awards

Barcelona's Basilica de la Sagrada Familia ranks first among global attractions in 2025. The Eiffel Tower follows in second place, NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida ranks third, and the Louvre Museum is fourth. Angkor Wat completes the top five.

Angkor Wat and China's Mutianyu Great Wall are the two Asian entries identified in the global top tier. The prominence of architectural icons and places with powerful stories runs through the rankings, from religious monuments to museums and a center devoted to space exploration.

The Kennedy Space Center also leads Tripadvisor's United States attractions list, ahead of urban landmarks including the Empire State Building and Central Park. Its position connects the national and global lists, where it ranks third.

Tripadvisor's experience awards recognize a different kind of travel choice. A walking tour in Florence takes the global experience crown, while Oahu's Grand Tour leads the United States list. Keeping those activities separate from attractions helps travelers choose between planning around a particular place and booking a guided activity.

Protecting the stonework and the visitor experience

Angkor's popularity creates practical pressures for those caring for the temples. Heavy visitor traffic can strain stairs and gallery floors, while crowds at sunrise can reduce the quiet atmosphere that many people seek.

Site managers also monitor heat, seasonal rain and vegetation, all of which affect the sandstone and laterite blocks used in the monuments. Conservation involves both protecting individual structures and maintaining the surrounding landscape.

Local authorities work with international teams on projects inside Angkor Archaeological Park. The APSARA National Authority sets rules governing access to upper levels, clothing standards and behavior in sacred spaces.

Revenue from Angkor Passes supports repairs, tree management and signs, alongside work on paths and visitor movement. These tasks connect tourism income to the daily care of the park. Managers must provide access while giving fragile areas room to withstand the pressure of continued visitation and preserving the heritage beyond current travel trends.

Planning a respectful visit

A visit to Angkor Wat takes place within both a protected historic landscape and a working sanctuary. Common advice from guides and official visitor notices focuses on valid tickets, suitable clothing, careful movement and respect for worship.

Visitors can also plan their timing and routes to reduce pressure on narrow stairs and galleries. Sunrise attracts crowds, while late afternoon or the middle of the morning can offer softer light and fewer people. Water and protection from the sun are important because midday heat can be intense.

• Buy the correct Angkor Pass, avoid unofficial sellers and carry the pass throughout the visit.
• Wear modest clothing that covers shoulders and knees in sacred spaces.
• Keep voices low in active shrines and avoid touching altars.
• Stay on marked paths and do not climb railings or carvings.
• Consider visiting outside the busiest sunrise period.
• Bring water and sun protection.
• Hire a licensed guide for historical context and help planning routes around narrow stairs and galleries.
• Take photographs without removing anything, and leave no litter.

These choices support the same qualities that attract travelers to Angkor: access to its art and architecture, space for worship, and the chance to explore a historic landscape without placing unnecessary pressure on its most sensitive areas.

Key Points

• Angkor Wat ranks first in Asia and fifth worldwide in Tripadvisor's Travelers' Choice Best of the Best 2025 attractions awards.
• The awards used reviews posted from April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025, along with editorial input.
• Fewer than 1 percent of Tripadvisor's eight million listings receive Best of the Best recognition.
• Bayon Temple ranks 17th in Asia, giving Cambodia two places in the regional top 20.
• Cambodia recorded 3.7 million international arrivals from January through July 2025.
• Angkor Enterprise recorded 672,593 foreign Angkor Passes sold from January 1 through September 3, and about $28.6 million in ticket revenue from January through July.
• Siem Reap ranks 14th among Best of the Best Destinations and 10th among Culture Destinations; Phnom Penh ranks 17th among Trending Destinations.
• Ticket proceeds support conservation and visitor management across Angkor Archaeological Park.
• Barcelona's Basilica de la Sagrada Familia leads the global attractions ranking.