7 Most Instagrammable Spots in Kampot, Cambodia's Riverside Pepper Town

Kampot sits on the Praek Tuek Chhu river in southern Cambodia, a former French colonial port whose faded shophouses and riverside promenade have made it one of the country's slower, more atmospheric stops. It's best known today for the pepper grown in the hills around it, protected by a geographical indication and rated among the finest in the world, but its photogenic mix of colonial architecture, river sunsets and a ruined mountain resort above town gives it plenty beyond the plantations.

1. The riverfront at sunset

Kampot's river turns a deep orange most evenings, and the promenade along its bank, with old French buildings and fishing boats as a backdrop, is the town's signature shot. Boat trips timed to be on the water at sunset are a popular way to get out from the bank itself.

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2. The Old Bridge

A weathered French-era bridge across the river near the town centre, still used by pedestrians and motorbikes, framing both the water and the low colonial skyline behind it.

3. A Kampot pepper plantation

Several working pepper farms in the hills east of town open for visits, with neat rows of pepper vines climbing wooden stakes making for a graphic, repeating backdrop that's become one of the region's more recognisable agricultural shots.

4. Bokor Hill Station

A former French colonial hill resort abandoned since the 1970s, Bokor sits on a misty plateau above Kampot and is now known for its ruined casino, church and old villas, weathered enough to feel genuinely atmospheric rather than staged.

5. Kampot's colonial shophouses

The streets just back from the river are lined with two-storey French colonial shophouses in various states of restoration and decay, their shuttered windows and pastel, peeling paint giving Kampot's old quarter a distinct, well-worn character.

6. The Durian Roundabout

A large durian-fruit statue marking a central roundabout has become an unlikely local landmark and a favourite quick photo stop, a nod to the fruit's importance to the surrounding region.

7. Kep's crab market

A short drive from Kampot, the seaside town of Kep has a well-known crab market built on stilts over the water, its baskets of live crabs and stilted seafood shacks making for one of the coast's more distinctive food-market scenes.

Traveller tips

• Kampot is roughly a three-to-four-hour drive or bus ride from Phnom Penh, with regular onward transport to Kep and Sihanoukville.
• Bokor Hill Station requires a half-day trip up the mountain; weather on the plateau can be cloudy even when Kampot below is clear.
• The dry season, from November to April, gives the clearest conditions for both riverfront sunsets and Bokor's views.
• Pepper plantations are best visited just before harvest, generally around March and April, to see the vines at their fullest.