Kampot: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Kampot is a sleepy riverside town of faded French shophouses in southern Cambodia, under the green wall of Bokor mountain. It is known for two things: its pepper, said by many chefs to be the finest in the world, and its slow pace. Ninety minutes, ending at sunset on the river.

A short history of Kampot

In the 19th century Kampot was Cambodia's main port, until the port of Sihanoukville was built. Under French rule the colourful shophouses along the river were built, and in the 1920s the French established a resort town with a hotel and casino on nearby Bokor Mountain, which was later abandoned. In the 1970s, under the Khmer Rouge, the town was almost completely deserted. Kampot pepper, grown in the area for centuries, received protected geographical indication status in 2010.

The ten best sights in Kampot

1
Old Bridge
The patched bridge at the heart of town
2
Riverside
Sunset and firefly boat trips leave here
3
Provincial Museum
A small museum in a colonial building
4
Salt fields
Salt pans harvested in the dry season
5
Phnom Chhnork
A cave with a temple of the seventh century
6
Secret Lake
A reservoir dug by Khmer Rouge forced labour
7
Kep National Park
A forest loop over the sea
8
Kep Beach
The old French seaside resort
9
Rabbit Island
Bungalows and beaches, twenty minutes by boat
10
Bokor Mountain
The abandoned French hill station; often in cloud

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in Kampot →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Kampot:

Free walking tours in Kampot

The river town

Old Market · A market hall of the colonial period, left empty for years after the war and restored, now full of cafés and small shops. Around it the streets of French shophouses survive, many still with their shutters and tiled floors.
Provincial Museum · A small museum in an old colonial residence on the river, telling of the province, its pepper and salt, and the years of war. Kampot was a Khmer Rouge stronghold, and the countryside around it suffered terribly between 1975 and 1979.
Old Bridge · The bridge built by the French over the river was badly damaged in the wars and patched with mismatched spans, so its sections do not match. It is now for walkers and motorbikes, and the town’s favourite view of Bokor at sunset.
Riverside · The riverside road of cafés and guesthouses, where boats leave at dusk for a sunset cruise. After dark the trees along the banks light up with fireflies.
Salt fields · East of town, flat pans where sea water is let in and dried by the sun. From January to May families rake and carry the salt by hand; Kampot and Kep produce most of Cambodia’s salt.
Phnom Chhnork · A limestone hill among the rice fields with a cave that shelters a small brick temple to Shiva of the seventh century, older than Angkor, still standing in the half dark. Village children guide you up the steps.

Pepper, the lake and Kep

Between Kampot and the sea lie the pepper farms, a lake dug under the Khmer Rouge and the faded French resort of Kep with its crab market. A full day by tuk-tuk or scooter.

La Plantation · Kampot pepper has been grown here since at least the thirteenth century, and under the French it was exported across the world. The Khmer Rouge destroyed the plantations; they were replanted from the 1990s, and in 2010 Kampot pepper became the first Cambodian product with protected origin status. The farms grow it in black, red, white and fresh green.
Secret Lake · A reservoir dug by hand by prisoners in forced labour under the Khmer Rouge, as part of their plan to turn the country into one great rice farm; many died building it. Today it is a quiet lake among the pepper farms, a place to remember what happened here.
Kep National Park · A forested hill above Kep with a trail of about eight kilometres around it, through jungle with monkeys and butterflies, and viewpoints over the islands and the coast of Vietnam.
Kep Crab Market · Fisherwomen pull baskets of live blue crabs from the sea beside the market and cook them on the spot, stir-fried with fresh green Kampot pepper — the dish Kep is famous for.
Kep Beach · The French founded Kep-sur-Mer as a seaside resort in 1908, and in the 1960s the Cambodian elite built modernist villas here. The Khmer Rouge emptied the town, and the ruins of many villas still stand among the trees.
Rabbit Island · Koh Tonsay, twenty minutes by boat from Kep, an island of simple wooden bungalows and hammocks on the beach, with no roads and electricity only in the evening.

Bokor mountain

Above Kampot rises Bokor, where the French built a cool hill station in the 1920s with a grand hotel and casino. Abandoned in the wars, its ruins in the drifting cloud became famous as a ghost town. Half a day by car or scooter up a good road; bring a jacket.

Bokor Mountain · The French built the road up the mountain in the early 1920s with forced labour, and hundreds of workers are said to have died. The hill station was abandoned in the 1940s and again in the 1970s, when the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces fought among its ruins.
Bokor Palace · The grand hotel and casino of the hill station, opened in 1925. For decades it stood as an empty shell in the cloud and appeared in films; it was restored and reopened as a hotel, though many miss the ghost.
Bokor Church · A small Catholic church of stone on the edge of the plateau, its walls stained orange by lichen, which survived the wars and is one of the most photographed ruins on the mountain.
Wat Sampov Pram · The temple of the five boats, named for five large rocks beside it that legend says are boats turned to stone. From its terrace on a clear day the view reaches the sea and the islands of Vietnam.
Popokvil Waterfall · A two-tiered waterfall on the plateau, full in the rainy season and a trickle in the dry months, reached by a short path through the moorland.
Old Bridge · Back down in Kampot for the sunset over the mountain you just climbed, seen from the old bridge.

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Cheap eats in Kampot

Kampot cooks with its pepper: Kep crab stir-fried with fresh green peppercorns on the vine; lok lak, beef cubes served with a dip of lime juice, salt and crushed Kampot pepper; and fish amok, steamed in banana leaf with coconut and spices. A plate of fried rice or noodles at a riverside stall costs a dollar or two.

Kep Crab Market · Crab with green pepper
Riverside · Cafés and stalls by the river
La Plantation · Pepper tasting
Old Market · Coffee and pastries

Museums in Kampot

Kampot’s history is French, ancient Khmer and tragic, told in a small museum and in its ruins.

Provincial Museum · The province and its wars
Bokor Palace · The hill station
Secret Lake · A Khmer Rouge memory

Nature and day trips near Kampot

A river, a cloud-covered mountain, pepper farms, salt pans and quiet islands.

Bokor Mountain · The plateau in the clouds
Kep National Park · The forest loop
Rabbit Island · A simple island
Salt fields · The salt harvest

Things to do in Kampot with kids

With children: a firefly boat, a cave temple, a crab market and an island beach.

Riverside · The firefly boat
Phnom Chhnork · The cave temple
Rabbit Island · A day on the beach

Holy places in Kampot

A Hindu cave shrine older than Angkor, Buddhist temples and a lonely French church on the mountain.

Phnom Chhnork · The seventh-century shrine
Wat Sampov Pram · The five boat rocks
Bokor Church · The church in the clouds

Nightlife in Kampot

Kampot’s nights are riverside bars, sunset boats and live music in the guesthouses.

Riverside · Riverside bars
Old Bridge · Sunset over Bokor
Old Market · Bars around the market

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Frequently asked questions about Kampot

What is there to see in Kampot?

The top sights in Kampot are Old Bridge, Riverside and Provincial Museum. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Kampot?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Kampot without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Kampot?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Kampot, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The river town.

Where to stay in Kampot, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Kampot that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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