Kampot is a delightful city in Cambodia. You can immediately see the French influences in the streets of Kampot: baguettes, beautiful flowers and beautiful colonial French buildings. In addition to the quaint streets of Kampot, you’ll find a number of fun activities in the immediate area. Discover the 7 best things to do inin Kampot here.
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Stroll through the streets of Kampot
The center of Kampot has a number of pleasant streets. The French colonial buildings have different colors and balconies. There are also many trees filled with beautiful flowers. Stroll through the charming streets in downtown Kampot and enjoy the details you see along the way.
Bokor National Park
Bokor National Park covers a huge area and is located in the mountains. Scooter along the beautiful countryside all the way to the top from where you have a panoramic view of the area. Read all about your visit to Bokor National Park here.
Visit a pepper plantation around Kampot
Kampot is known worldwide for its pepper. Almost all pepper in Cambodia comes from Kampot. In the Kampot area, therefore, you will find many pepper plantations. The most famous and fun pepper plantation to visit is La Plantation. La Plantation offers a free 40-minute tour. Here you will learn more about the different types of peppers and how the pepper grows.
After the tour, you get to taste the different types of peppers. This takes about 20 minutes and here you will get further explanations about the smells and flavors. The tour and tasting is completely free. In exchange, you can buy a nice ice cream (optionally peppered) or cold drink afterwards to support La Plantation. Besides the good initiative with the pepper, La Plantation creates employment for over 150 people and offers financial support to the local school.
To get to La Plantation, take a cool scooter ride. From the center of Kampot you scooter for about 10 minutes on the asphalt, then get off the main road. On the dusty Cambodian roads, full of potholes, stones and gullies, you slowly tuff along. It is a great route through the local villages with children waving excited at you. From the center of Kampot to La Plantation it is a 30 – 40 minute drive. If you prefer not to scoot, you can also ask a tuktuk driver to take you. Expect about $25 for a ride from Kampot to La Plantation.
Tip: read all about the budget in Cambodia here
Scooting across the Kampot countryside
As you can see above, most of the activities are just outside Kampot. If you ride a scooter well, it is wonderful to see more of Cambodia’s surroundings and local life this way. Right after you drive out of Kampot, you already find yourself on dusty roads where locals smile kindly at you and children wave at you. It is a wonderful way to see more of real Cambodian life.
Arcadia water park
Outside the center of Kampot you will find the Arcadia hostel. This is a real social party hostel. Arcadia is on the river and they have made good use of this. In fact, on the river they made a water park. From the high slide you slide right into the river and with the rope you swing above it. You can also go kayaking from Arcadia. When you stay at Arcadia, you have free admission to the water park every day(tip: book your stay here). If you are not staying at Arcadia, you pay $7 per person for admission to the water park.
Visit the town of Kep
Kep is a town which is 25 kilometers from Kampot. Kep is best known for its ultra-fresh crab. The locals here fish the crab directly from the sea, then prepare it and you have a fresh plate of crab. Since we both eat vegan and do not like to see animal cruelty we have not been here ourselves. Furthermore, in Kep you can hike in the national park, visit a special temple and chill on the beach. From Kampot, you can easily drive up and down to Kep in one day.
Khmer cooking class in Kampot
Cambodian cuisine is known for its mild and tasty dishes. Want to learn to make the delicious Amok curry yourself? Or are you curious how the delicious spring rolls are prepared? Then book a Khmer Cooking Class in Kampot. Afterwards, of course, you get to eat and judge your creations yourself. In downtown Kampot, you will see many restaurants offering cooking classes. The offerings vary by restaurant so feel free to take a look for yourself here.
Best accommodations in Kampot
A nice, social hostel in Kampot is Onederz. It is right in the center, a 5-minute walk from cozy restaurants and quaint streets. In addition, Karma Traders is also a nice hostel in Kampot. Karma Traders is slightly outside the center but offers cheap scooters ($5). At the hostel you can have great food and there is a nice pool, table tennis table and rooftop bar. So actually you don’t need to leave the hostel! This is also a cozy hostel if you are traveling in pairs.
A good budget option in downtown Kampot is Samnop Samnang. The rooms are spacious and the air conditioning is wonderfully cooling after a hot day in Kampot. A room with fan is available from €11 and air conditioning €16.
In addition, Hotel Five S is a great hotel in Kampot center. The rooms are beautiful and the bathroom is completely decorated in Jungle Vibes. Will you soon be under the jungle shower of Five S?
How to get to Kampot?
From the islands Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem, you can easily take the ferry or speedboat to Sihanoukville. Then, in Sihanoukville, catch a train or bus to Kampot.
Are you coming from Phnom Penh? Then you can take the train or bus. These will take you to Kampot in 3 to 4 hours. For all itineraries and relevant prices, visit 12GO.Asia.
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