Written from Kep, so take the bias as read.
The short version
- Nights 1–3: Kampot — the river, Bokor Mountain, the caves and pepper circuit
- Nights 4–6: Kep — the crab market, the national park, Rabbit Island
- Night 7: back to Phnom Penh, or on to the islands
Three nights each is the ratio we'd defend. Kampot has more to do in the evening; Kep has more to do in the daytime.
Day by day
Day 1 — Phnom Penh to Kampot
Three to four hours by minivan. Arrive in the afternoon, walk the old shophouse grid, and watch the sunset from the riverside. Don't plan anything else.
Day 2 — Bokor Mountain
Up the hairpins to the old hill station, the 1928 church, the waterfall. Back down by mid-afternoon. It is a half-day that fills a day.
Day 3 — Pepper, caves and salt
The standard circuit: a pepper farm, the Phnom Chhngok cave temple, the salt fields, the Secret Lake. Sold as a tuk-tuk tour from any guesthouse, around $25 per person as a combined day.
Day 4 — Kampot to Kep
Thirty to forty minutes. Go in the morning, drop your bags, and spend the afternoon at the crab market — pepper crab, grilled squid, and the sea in front of you.
Day 5 — The national park, then nothing
The eight-kilometre loop through the jungle behind the town takes a morning. Afternoon on a hammock. This is the day people remember.
Day 6 — Rabbit Island
Boat out mid-morning, swim, eat on the sand, back by late afternoon. See our guide for boats and honest expectations.
Day 7 — Out
Back to Phnom Penh, or west to Sihanoukville for the islands, or east over the border to Vietnam — Ha Tien is close.
If you only have four nights
Two in Kampot, two in Kep. Cut the caves-and-salt circuit and Rabbit Island. Keep Bokor, the crab market and the park loop.
If you have ten
Add three nights on Koh Rong Samloem on the way west — the beaches Kep genuinely doesn't have. See Cambodia's beaches for which island suits whom.
Which direction?
Kampot first, then Kep is the better order. Kampot is the louder, busier town, and Kep is where you wind down — doing it the other way round feels like going backwards. It also means you finish next to the crab market.
When to do it
Any month works; the experience differs. The month-by-month breakdown covers what the seasons change — in short, November to February is easiest, June to October is cheaper and wetter.
Getting between it all
Minivans and tuk-tuks, all of it short. Current fares and journey times are in getting to Kep and Kampot.
Where to sleep in Kep
Ours are handmade on site by the young Cambodians training with us, a few minutes from both the crab market and the park gate. Have a look, or ask us to help you shape the week.