There is no flight to Kampot. Air Cambodia’s booking list has Siem Reap (SAI), Phnom Penh’s Techo airport (KTI), and Sihanoukville (KOS). Kampot is not on it. From Siem Reap you take Giant Ibis’s night bus, which the company times at 11 hours, or you hire a private car for a full day on the road, or you stop in Phnom Penh and continue by a shorter bus or by Royal Railway’s train. Kep is the next town along that coast, with its own bus from the capital and its own stop on the same train. The pepper, the caves, and the crab market are day trips once you are there, not part of the ride down.
The direct night bus
Giant Ibis’s Siem Reap to Kampot page lists the duration as 11 hours. It also says the distance is 60 km. That distance is wrong for an 11-hour night bus, and this guide does not repeat it as a fact. Treat 11 hours as the company’s own timing, and ignore the kilometre line.
It is a night bus. Complimentary pickup is not available. You go to the terminal behind the Old Stadium, Khmer Pub Street. The night buses have an onboard toilet, and the page says there are no bathroom stops. Crew hand out a pillow and a blanket. We are not printing a 22:30 departure or a ticket price. The route page does not show them. Book the date on Giant Ibis and read the clock they offer.
Arrival is the Giant Ibis office on Street 724, Krong Kampot, opposite Kampot Park and near ABA Bank. Tuk-tuks wait. That is the town centre side of the trip, not a pepper-farm gate.
Private car
A private car is the daytime version of the same road, with a stop you choose. Two listings matched this route on Viator on 22 October 2026.
Cambodia Taxi Driver’s “Private Taxi Siem Reap - Kampot Overland Transfer” was 5.0 from 8 reviews, from $116.27. It runs in both directions. The operator describes the drive as 8 hours plus about an hour for a food and toilet stop. The price includes that stop, passenger insurance, gasoline, tolls, and parking. Vehicles on the listing run from an air-conditioned Lexus or Highlander for 1 to 3 people, to an Alphard, to vans for larger groups. It is a transfer, not a tour of Bokor.
Kosal Cambodia Tour’s “Siem Reap to Kampot Private Transfer” was 5.0 from 4 reviews, from $107. Four reviews is a thin record. The listing is still a real private transfer: minivan or SUV, a food and toilet stop, passenger insurance, gasoline, tolls, and parking, and it sells both directions, including Kep. Pickup can be a Siem Reap hotel, the SAI airport, or the Kampot or Kep end. Read the review count before you prefer it to the bus.
Via Phnom Penh, then the bus or the train
The split is the better trip if you want the capital anyway. The Siem Reap to Phnom Penh guide is that first leg. From the capital, two published ways continue south.
Giant Ibis to Kampot lists 150 km and 4 hours. The bus leaves from Street 106 at the Night Market. Partner hotels get a pickup. The page says the road passes through Kandal, Kampong Speu, Takeo, and Kampot. Arrival is the same Street 724 office. No clock time is printed here, because the route page does not give one.
Royal Railway says it runs the only passenger trains in Cambodia, with two lines leaving Phnom Penh. The Southern Line’s route on the railway’s site is Phnom Penh to Takeo, Kep, Kampot, and Sihanoukville. The station list includes both Kep and Kampot. Booking phones published on the site are +855 78 888 582 and +855 78 888 583. We are not printing the departure and arrival clocks or the dollar fares that other websites quote. They are not on the pages we read. If you need a seat, call the railway or use its booking link and read the time they give you that week.
The train does not start in Siem Reap. A “train to Kampot” search still begins with a bus, a car, or a flight to Phnom Penh, and then the Southern Line. Ask the railway for that week’s departure. If you miss it, you are on the bus.
Kampot and Kep
Kep is not a suburb you should time with a number we could not verify. We do not have an official drive time between the two, so there is no “30 minutes” on this page. What is published: the Southern Line stops at both, and Giant Ibis from Phnom Penh to Kep is its own route, 167 km and 4 hours, dropping at Ponleu Chne Trachak Chet Kep Ville in Phum Thmey, Prey Thum, Kep town. That 4 hours is from Phnom Penh, not from Kampot. Stay in the town you will actually use in the daytime. Kampot is the river and the pepper country. Kep is the crab market. A day out covers the other. No hotel on this page, and no booking link.
What the day tours include
Kampot pepper is the ingredient you already meet in Siem Reap, in the lok lak and in the shops. The food guide is where that shows up on a plate. The farms themselves are outside Kampot, and the tours below are how the listings describe a day once you are in town. Viator files these under Sihanoukville, which is why the web address says Sihanoukville even though the day is Kampot and Kep. Ratings and from-prices are Viator’s on 22 October 2026.
The shared tuk-tuk day “KAMPOT: Pepper farm. Cave. Secret Lake. Kep Crab market & Salt” was 4.9 from 101 reviews, from $24. The description includes an English-speaking guide, the cave temple at Phnom Chhngok, Secret Lake, a pepper farm, and Kep: crab cooked with Kampot pepper, the beach, and the monkeys. The operator says a Bo tree farm visit is in the price, and a La Plantation visit with a tasting is listed at $5. Inclusions on the listing are transport, water, a self-guided pepper stop, and entry.
“Kampot Pepper Tour, Salt Field, Cave Temple, Secret Lake” was 4.8 from 135 reviews, from $20. It is a shared tuk-tuk for the pepper plantations, the salt fields, the Phnom Chhngok cave temple, and Secret Lake. The driver is the English-speaking guide. Entrance fees and pickup from hotels in Kampot city centre are included. Meals are not. The listing says pickup is for city-centre hotels, not stays outside town. The web address still reads like a Sihanoukville–Phnom Penh day tour. The title is the Kampot pepper day, and the code is 249601P5. Check the title before you pay.
The private tuk-tuk “Kampot/Cambodia pepper farm . Cave. lake. Kep Crab market & more.” was 5.0 from 35 reviews, from $38. It is Pheary’s tuk-tuk. The listing says he grew up in Kampot. The title’s stops are a pepper farm, a cave, a lake, and the Kep crab market. Inclusions are cold water, coconut juice, entry fees, and the tuk-tuk. An extra $5 is listed if you are staying outside Kampot, which the operator measures as 5 km from the Durian roundabout.
None of these is the way down from Siem Reap. Book them after you have a bed in Kampot. Money on the road is the same US-dollar habit as in Siem Reap. The budget guide is the note on small bills and what a day in town actually costs before you add an 11-hour bus.
Leaving Siem Reap on a travel day
If your Kampot night bus follows a flight into SAI, the airport is still 40 km east of town. The airport guide is that drive. There is no version of this trip that lands you in Kampot by air. KOS and KTI are the codes Air Cambodia sells if you are trying to fly closer. You would still be on a road or a train after either of them, and this page does not invent that connection.
FAQ
How long is the bus from Siem Reap to Kampot?
Giant Ibis lists the Siem Reap to Kampot night bus as 11 hours. It leaves from behind the Old Stadium on Khmer Pub Street, and the night bus does not include a free hotel pickup. The page’s distance of 60 km is a typo and is not the trip. Arrival is the Giant Ibis office on Street 724, opposite Kampot Park.
Is there a flight to Kampot?
Kampot is not an airport in Air Cambodia’s booking list. The carrier does sell Sihanoukville (KOS) and Phnom Penh’s Techo airport (KTI). Either one still leaves you a road or a train south. There is no Kampot flight to plan around.
Is it better to stop in Phnom Penh?
Stop if you want a day in the capital and a morning train or a shorter bus. Giant Ibis’s Phnom Penh to Kampot bus is 150 km and 4 hours. Royal Railway’s Southern Line runs from Phnom Penh, and its route includes Kep and Kampot. The direct night bus is the one-seat version, and it is the 11 hours above.
Should I stay in Kampot or Kep?
Kampot is the river town, with the pepper farms in the countryside around it. Kep is the crab-market coast, and Giant Ibis sells it as its own ride from Phnom Penh, 167 km and 4 hours. The Southern Line calls at both. Pick the town whose daytime you want, and do the other as a day out. This page does not name hotels.
Can I take the train from Siem Reap to Kampot?
Not directly. Royal Railway’s passenger trains leave from Phnom Penh. The Southern Line’s route includes Takeo, Kep, Kampot, and Sihanoukville. You get to Phnom Penh first, then the train. We are not printing a departure time, an arrival time, or a fare, because the official pages we read do not show them.
How far is Kep from Kampot?
We could not confirm a driving time on an official page, so there is no minute figure here. They are neighbouring stops: the Southern Line calls at both, and Giant Ibis’s Phnom Penh–Kep bus is a separate 4-hour service from the capital, not a measure of the hop between the two towns.
Bus figures are from giantibis.com on 22 October 2026, including the 60 km line we are not using. The train route is Royal Railway’s published Southern Line, without departure or arrival times. Tour prices are Viator’s the same day.