The Ultimate Kampot Travel Guide

Kampot (pronounced Cam-Pot) is a city in southern Cambodia that is hugely popular for foreign ex-pats. Known for its high-quality pepper and durian, this beautiful city is overshadowed by the neighbouring Preah Monivong Bokor National Park. We found this city had a really nice relaxing atmosphere, similar to that of Battambang. This made our visit here very enjoyable and we wish we stayed longer! This Ultimate Kampot Travel Guide 2022 will provide you with everything you need to know and how to get the most out of your visit to Kampot. 

Disclaimer: Some of the links included on our website may contain affiliate links. We may receive some commission from purchases made via these but it will NOT affect the price you pay. This is to allow this site to stay online and ensure that readers use, what we believe, is the best products possible whilst travelling.

Is Cambodia Open For Travel? 

Short answer = Yes. 

At the time of writing (April 2022), Cambodia is open for tourism and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. 

If you’re fully vaccinated, you only need to present your proof of vaccination to enter Cambodia. If you’re not fully vaccinated, however, you must quarantine at a hotel arranged by the Cambodian government OR at a pre-booked hotel. 

We’d recommend checking out Cambodia’s Official Covid-19 Entry Requirements for more information.

Getting a Cambodian visa 

There are two ways of getting a Cambodia visa; before entry or on arrival.

You can apply for a Cambodian visa via the Cambodian government’s website. A visa costs $30 plus a $6 processing fee per visa; it takes between three and seven days for your application to be processed.

The Cambodian government has also reinstalled the Visa On Arrival service for all international travellers. However, foreign nationals are not guaranteed a visa on arrival as the government reserves the right to deny entry to individuals that do not meet all the Cambodian visa requirements.

Check out our 13 Top Tips for Travelling Cambodia in 2022 for more information on getting a Cambodian visa in both instances.

How to get to Kampot 

Kampot is both really hard yet also really easy to get to. 

If you’re travelling from Phnom Penh, going by bus is BY FAR the easiest and cheapest way to travel. These buses run daily and prices range from $6-$8 per person and the journey takes roughly three and a half hours. Departure times are normally every half an hour.

On the other hand, if you’re attempting to travel from Sihanoukville, the journey will be a lot harder. As we’ve explained in The Perfect Month Itinerary for Cambodia in 2022, the road between the two cities is of such poor quality (even bad for Cambodia and that’s saying something) that bus companies are not currently operating this route. Unfortunately, this means that the only direct route is via a private taxi. You can choose to get a bus from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh and then another to Kampot but the journey time will be roughly 10 hours. On top of this, the price will almost certainly be at least $20pp so it’s probably not feasible.

Therefore, factoring in time and cost, our personal opinion on the best method of transport is to hire a private taxi. The fare is around $50 so the more people you have, the cheaper the journey will be per person. A simple google search will give you the contact information of taxi drivers or companies that are willing to take you. If this option doesn’t bear fruit, we know people who’ve asked at the ferry companies on Sihanoukville Port who were able to assist. They ended up getting a taxi at $10pp. 

Having coordinated travel plans with our friends, we ended up getting a taxi number from another friend and paid $50 for the trip. The journey took us roughly three hours and we can vouch that the roads were very bad in places! 

12Go Asia was our go-to company for booking buses, coaches and transfers around Cambodia, so do check out their website for booking your journey.

If you’ve read our Perfect Two Week Itinerary for Cambodia and are looking to visit the islands of Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem either before or after Kampot, we’d recommend checking out our guide on How to Visit Koh Rong & Koh Rong Sanloem in 2022! 

Best time to visit:

January/February

When we visited in February, we found it to be the ideal time as the temperature was bearable (around 30C) and no way near as hot as it could get up to 40C (or more in April and May). 

We didn’t visit in the rainy season so it (obviously) rarely rained and if it did, it was only for 5 minutes. It is worth noting that mosquitos are notoriously bad during the rainy season so visiting at this time will mean you escape the worst; however, they’re still incredibly annoying. But we know that anytime between November and April will absolutely suffice and you’ll have an amazing time! 

Recommended stay:

3-4 days

We visited Kampot on our way back from the Koh Rong islands to Phnom Penh. Unfortunately, we didn’t give ourselves enough time to see as much as we wanted to. This meant we ended up staying for just one day and only visiting the Preah Monivong Bokor National Park; whilst we really enjoyed this, we wished we stayed longer as (again) we loved the city’s atmosphere. Therefore, we’d definitely recommend staying in Kampot for at least three days and then any additional days depending on how much spare time you have; how much you like the city; and how much relaxing you’d like to do. 

Where to stay in Kampot:

Karma Traders Kampot Hostel

_{Red Rd, Krong Kampot, Cambodia}

Having bumped into many people who had already stayed in Kampot, the overwhelming majority recommended staying at Karma Traders. Admittedly, whilst the hostel is outside of the city centre, the walk is only 15 minutes so it’s easily walkable; alternatively, you can always grab a tuk-tuk which is only $1-$2. However, we didn’t find this a problem at all and quite enjoyed the walk. 

The hostel itself was great and we had no problems with anything during our stay; even the showers had hot water and good pressure. The main building houses the dorm rooms, which all had working aircon, whilst the outside houses were for all the private rooms. If you can afford to stay in the private rooms then we’d definitely recommend doing so as they looked amazing. 

The hostel has a restaurant/bar on the top floor and serves very affordable drinks late into the night; we were particularly impressed with the quality of the western breakfasts they serve so definitely give this a try. On top of that, the hostel also gives you free towels for your stay (absolute luxury) and you have access to a really nice pool out back should you get hot from the Cambodian sun. The middle floor even has a ping pong table so Alex spent a good few hours here playing against anyone who was up for a game. 

The hostel also has a plethora of motorbikes available for you to rent at $5 per day which is very handy. Moreover, the hotel has a board of suggestions of places to eat in Kampot and they didn’t disappoint (see below for more info).

Ultimately, we’re biassed as we really enjoyed our stay here but Karma Traders was faultless; we’d highly recommend staying here!

Arcadia Backpackers Hostel

_{Tuek Chhu Road, Krong Kampot, Cambodia}

Arcadia Backpackers was the other hostel recommended to us and we strongly considered staying here. One of the main reasons for this was the Waterpark which the hostel also encompasses. 

Regarding the experience itself, our friends said that Jeff and his staff were very friendly and helpful. Moreover, they said that the highlight was definitely the waterpark as it was so much fun. The only piece of advice they gave for staying here is to make sure you have enough money to pay for your accommodation as the hostel is a 15-minute tuk-tuk outside of town; as you can imagine the location is quite a downside for this hostel. 

It is worth noting that you can still visit the waterpark even if you do not stay at Arcadia; everyone we spoke to said to stay at Karma Traders and then visit Arcadia for half a day if you wanted to use the waterpark.

Ultimately, we’d recommend staying at Karma Traders and having Arcadia as a backup if there isn’t any available space at Karma. 

If you’re looking for a hostel that’s more centrally located in Kampot, we’ve also heard really good reviews about The Billabong Guesthouse and Onederz Kampot! 

Alternatively, if hostels aren’t your thing, we’d recommend staying in hotels, especially if you’re travelling as/in a couple. Sometimes staying in a hotel can be just as cheap as staying in a hostel; plus, you can have your own space which is always a bonus! 

Rikitikitavi

_{Riverside Road, Kampot, Cambodia}

Rikitikitavi is a highly-rated hotel and restaurant right in the centre of Kampot. It’s reasonably priced and extremely well located; if we were after a hotel for our stay in Kampot, we’d have 100% stayed here.

What to do in Kampot:

Preah Monivong Bokor National Park

If there is one thing you do whilst, in Kampot, you HAVE to visit the National Park. 

We’d recommend writing off most of your day for this trip; we ended up leaving our hostel at 10am and getting back at roughly 4pm. This was perfect timing as it allowed us to rest a little before going back into the city centre for food and cocktails.

We hired a tuk-tuk driver (Kep), who worked at Karma Traders, for $30 ($15pp) to take us around for the day. Whilst the price can seem steep for Cambodia, it really is worth it. 

On the climb up to your first stop, you’ll go past loads of monkeys just relaxing in the middle and on the side of the road; we also saw many baby monkeys which were very cute! 

On our trip, we ended up seeing a huge Buddha on the cliffside; an old church and a viewpoint; the casino; the Popokvil waterfall and multiple temples!

We ended up visiting on a very foggy day which was very cool to experience, even if it shrouded many viewpoints. 

For the Popokvil waterfall, make sure you have the exact change for the 50-cent entry fee per person. Whilst the fee is obligatory, you do get given a paper token that you can redeem inside for a bottle of water. 

Even if the price can be considered steep, I can guarantee a visit to the National Park is 100% worth it; there is literally another whole community that lives within the national park! 

If you are a bit braver than us, this route is totally doable on a motorbike! Be careful though as the roads can be quite steep and windy.

Arcadia Backpackers Waterpark

As we alluded to above, we didn’t stay long enough to experience this fun activity; a massive regret of ours!

Whilst we didn’t do it, we’d strongly recommend going as we’ve heard nothing but good things.

It’s an ideal location to chill, sip a cocktail and cool down from the hot Cambodian heat.

Let us know what you think of the place and we’ll be sure to add your review to our post.

Kampot Pepper Tour @ La Plantation Farm

Kampot Pepper is renowned for having some of the best quality pepper available in the world.

Whilst there are a variety of tours available at numerous plantations, the La Plantation Tour was recommended to us the most by other travellers.

The tour costs $30 and lasts for around six hours.

You’ll learn all about the La Plantation project from the experienced guides and enjoy a pepper and spice tasting session.

One of the highlights people found was the Water Buffalo tour which takes you on an eco-friendly tour of the countryside and the opportunity to learn more about the community.

Sunset River Cruise

Recommended by our friends, they had nothing but good things to say about their experience.

The cruise costs roughly $5pp and can (depending on your chosen company) include a free drink or two. However, we’d recommend sneaking some of your own alcohol into your bag just in case.

Most leave at around 5pm every evening from an in-town location and you’ll be transported to the boat, just in time to see the sun setting in the distance; we’ve seen our friend’s pictures and it was so pretty!

You can essentially treat this trip one of two ways; a fun booze cruise along the river with your friends or an opportunity to relax and take in the beautiful scenery; all of this whilst getting to see some cool fireflies and Cambodian bridges.

Bokor Night Market

• As you’ve probably been in Cambodia a while, you’ll know what to expect from markets and night markets in general.
  If you haven’t, just imagine stalls and stalls of clothes, shoes and more clothes. They’re a great place to pick up a bargain or two (make sure to haggle a little) or cop some fake designer gear.
• The food section of the market is particularly interesting and definitely worth visiting if you haven’t visited one before.
• The smell and sight of some food can be particularly interesting but if you want to try some proper Khmer food, this is the place to be. We especially liked the vegetable spring rolls!
  

Relaxation

Hopefully, you’ll visit and experience the same kind of atmosphere Kampot gave us; one that is perfect for just relaxing in.

If we had the time, we could honestly spend a week in Kampot visiting the numerous cafes and doing a whole lot of nothing.

Whilst we appreciate no one will have this amount of time available to do this, even taking a day or two to just chill and catch up on some Netflix will be perfect here!

Where to eat & drink in Kampot:

Cafe Espresso Roastery

_{33, Krong Kampot, Cambodia}

Despite visiting only a few hours before leaving Kampot, this was arguably our favourite place to eat in the whole city; we would’ve enjoyed it even more at the time if there wasn’t a ceremony blasting music right outside the gates!

It is absolutely the best place to visit for breakfast, brunch or lunch; there is so much on offer and great if you’re craving some well-cooked western food.

As the name would suggest, this place also brews its own coffee and the quality of the coffee definitely reflected this.

We ended up having bacon and egg on toast and an omelette; the chilli jam was to die for so have whatever includes this.

We do wish we came for lunch rather than specifically breakfast; the food sounded/looked very very appealing!

Chilli House

Situated opposite the Bokor Night Market, this same cafe is a great place if you want a place to sit, relax and get out of the heat.

The drinks are also really well priced and the family that runs the cafe are super friendly; we were allowed to sit here for a couple of hours to use some wifi.

Ecran Noodles & Dumplings

_{Street 735, Krong Kampot, Cambodia}

Our biggest regret about not staying longer in Kampot was the fact we couldn’t try other places to eat; Ecran was definitely one of them. 

Whilst it was also on Karma’s board, it had also been visited by some of our friends and they gave raving reviews about the food here. Their favourite was the Peking-style duck noodles and the shrimp dumplings; really really upset we couldn’t go here! 

Epic Arts Cafe

_{67 Oosaupia Muoy Sovann Sakor, Kompong Kanda, Kampot}

Firstly, it’s a really cute cafe (with air-con) that serves very tasty food.

It even has coffee and cake deals which are really affordable; we had the cookie and it was really worth it!

Secondly, the cafe’s focus is on increasing work opportunities for people with disabilities in Kampot and generating funds for their Inclusive Arts projects.

As such, the majority of staff are deaf so you’re provided with a tick sheet to inform them what you’d like off the menu; complete with English, Khmer and icons. There is even a selection of Cambodian Deaf Language signals to help you interact with staff.

Definitely, a place to relax, do some work or kill a few hours if you’re in town and want to escape the heat.

Rusty Keyhole 2 

_{2000 Monument, Krong Kampot, Cambodia}

We came here in order to fill our desire for a traditional English jacket potato (which didn’t disappoint) but stumbled on absolute gold.

Turns out it was a sports bar filled with a lot of Australian ex-pats which was right up our street. 

Great place to play pool, drink cheap alcohol and relax in a fun environment. 

Out of all the places we’d eaten in Cambodia, this was by far the best in terms of price and quality. 

It offers both Western and Khmer cuisine and everything we tried was super tasty. If we were staying longer we definitely would’ve come back again.

Simons Tandoor Indian Restaurant 

_{Old Market, St.724, A8 & A9 The, Krong Kampot 07000, Cambodia}

This was on Karma’s board and had come up in our research of the best places to eat in Kampot. 

We love our Indian food and this was an amazing place to eat with really quality food and it left us feeling very VERY full. 

If you’re able to eat it, we’d definitely recommend the garlic naan and butter chicken. The curry comes with rice so your meal will be very affordable. 

The other great thing about this place is the location. It’s on a very lively street and littered with numerous bars; a great place to be if you want to have a few more drinks. We ended up opposite Uptown Bar playing pool for hours which was great fun. 

Green House

_{St. Toek Chhu, Krong Kampot, Cambodia}

Whilst it is some way out of the city, it has been recommended to us by numerous people so we couldn’t not pass it on.

One of the best ways of getting here is to rent a motorbike and explore the Cambodian countryside; the views are spectacular!

The food at the GreenHouse looks really appetising AND you can go swimming here so bring your budgies!!

To conclude, Kampot is an absolutely beautiful city with a relaxing atmosphere. There are lots of activities and great eateries to check out as well so you won’t be short of things to do or eat. It is also not the most typical backpacker destination which means you’ll be able to see more of Cambodia’s amazing culture. 

There you have it; our Kampot Travel Guide, giving you all the best places to stay, eat and see BEFORE you visit so you won’t be left disappointed. Feel free to add any of your own recommendations in the comments!

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Disclaimer: Some of the links included on our website may contain affiliate links. We may receive some commission from purchases made via these but it will NOT affect the price you pay. This is to allow this site to stay online and ensure that readers use, what we believe, is the best products possible whilst travelling.