Papua New Guinea travel guide
A sourced city-focused starter set. Confirm entry eligibility, local permission, current access and conditions before planning.
National Museum and Art Gallery: the national collection, next to Parliament
Port Moresby
The National Capital District's listing describes the museum as PNG's primary cultural repository, established in 1975, the year of independence, with a collection of more than 30,000 objects spanning traditional artifacts, archaeology, contemporary art and photographs, plus a public research library and archives of over 25,000 books and documents. Permanent displays cover themes such as traditional warfare, body art and the Sepik River region. It stands on Independence Drive in Waigani beside Parliament Haus, so the two pair naturally on one arranged visit. Hours and entry fees are the weak point in published information: a widely copied listing (Monday to Saturday 9:00-15:00, Sunday 13:00-15:00, free on weekdays, K10 at weekends) dates from 2019 and may no longer hold. Confirm current opening, admission and photography rules directly before going, and arrange secure transport - the surrounding Waigani district is flagged in official advice, especially outside working hours.
Port Moresby Nature Park: the country's only combined zoo and botanic garden
Port Moresby
NCDC describes Port Moresby Nature Park as the country's only combined botanical and zoological park, set inside the University of Papua New Guinea campus in Waigani. About two kilometres of boardwalk thread beneath a jungle canopy past wildlife enclosures, lawns and a large orchid collection, and the park keeps native bird species including the national bird, the bird of paradise. It is the easiest place in the capital to see PNG flora and fauna in a maintained, fenced setting, which matters in a city where independent walking is discouraged. The park has its own official site (portmoresbynaturepark.com.pg) for current tickets, hours and any animal-encounter programmes; check it or call ahead rather than relying on third-party listings, and no specific animal sighting is ever guaranteed. Arrange transport through your hotel and treat the visit as a guided daytime outing, not a walk from elsewhere in the city.
Bomana War Cemetery: the Pacific war, 19 km north
Bomana near Port Moresby
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery about 19 kilometres north of the city on the road to Nine Mile, approached by a short side road. It holds 3,824 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 699 of them unidentified - men brought in from burial grounds across the Papua and Bougainville fighting - and behind it the Port Moresby Memorial commemorates almost 750 Australians, including local forces, with no known grave. The cemetery was unveiled on 19 October 1953. The history on the CWGC page explains why the dead are gathered here: after the Coral Sea defeat, Japan's overland advance on Port Moresby from Buna and Gona in 1942 made this the war's decisive front in Papua. Visit with a reputable local driver or guide and check current access and road security before setting out; this is a cemetery visit, not a remote battlefield trek.
National Library and Archives: documentary heritage by arrangement
Port Moresby
The Office of Libraries and Archives, under the Ministry of Education, maintains the national collection of library material relating to PNG, its people and its resources, and preserves what publishers deposit under the National Library and Archives Act 1993. Its own site frames the mission as preserving rare manuscripts, photographs and documents and supporting education and research. A practical caveat for planning: the office lists its digital services - e-library, archives online platform, ISBN service, digital collection - as 'available soon', so online access is not yet a working substitute for a visit. Researchers should treat this as an appointment-based institution: write or call ahead to confirm the current reading-room location, access conditions and whether the material you need can be retrieved, and do not promise walk-in retrieval. Pair it with the National Museum's own 25,000-volume research library if your topic is cultural heritage.
Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies: reopened after full renovation
Boroko, Port Moresby
The National Cultural Commission announced that the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies officially opened its fully renovated facility at Boroko on 23 April 2026, after a project begun in 2023 that renewed all buildings on the site. The Institute was established in 1974 with the mandate to research, record and document the music, dance, cultures and artifacts of Papua New Guinea - a serious brief in a country with more than 850 languages. The reopened complex includes a conference centre named for the Institute's former director Dr Jacob L. Simet. This is a research institution, not a public museum or performance venue: arrange any visit in advance through the National Cultural Commission, confirm what a visitor can actually see, and plan secure transport to Boroko. For travellers it is best approached as a way to make contact with PNG's cultural-documentation world rather than as a drop-in attraction.
Saint Marys Catholic Cathedral: a Sepik spirit house in church form
Port Moresby
The cathedral's most remarked feature is its entrance portal, designed in the style of a Sepik haus tambaran - the ceremonial spirit house of the Sepik River region - making it one of the clearest examples in the capital of PNG's built culture carried into a modern religious building. It is a working Catholic cathedral, not a staffed attraction: visitor access, photography and interior viewing depend on services and parish permission, and there is no published visitor programme to rely on. If the architecture matters to you, arrange the stop through a trusted local guide or your hotel, visit by day, ask permission before photographing, and do not count on interior access. Keep it in the same planned, vehicle-based circuit as other Waigani and downtown stops rather than walking between them.
Ela Beach craft market: check which market is actually on
Port Moresby
Two current descriptions disagree, so verify before promising anyone a market day. A long-standing listing describes the Ela Beach Craft Market as run by the Ela Murray International School on the last Saturday of each month, drawing carvings, handwoven baskets and artifacts from across PNG - but that listing dates from 2017. PNG's tourism authority instead describes monthly craft markets rotating across venues including the Moresby Arts Theatre, the National Museum and Art Gallery, Harbourside, Vision City, the Royal Papua Yacht Club and the Holiday Inn, with Ela Beach itself hosting weekend markets at times. The safe planning approach: ask your hotel or a local contact which craft market is running on your dates and where, and go with a driver rather than on foot. Treat any purchase as a personal choice at the stall, and skip beach swimming - the appeal here is the crafts, not the water.
Parliament Haus: the haus tambaran of Waigani, with a security caveat
Waigani, Port Moresby
Opened in 1984, Parliament Haus is the capital's most distinctive building: the main chamber is built in the style of a Maprik, or Sepik, haus tambaran spirit house, the attached circular cafeteria follows Highland design, and details such as kundu-drum door handles and a towering carving representing PNG's four regions carry the theme inside. PNG's tourism authority lists guided tours as available, and visitors have historically been able to see the chamber when parliament is sitting. The caveat is official and current: UK advice names the area around Parliament House in Waigani as a high-risk crime area, particularly outside working hours, so this is a working-hours, pre-arranged visit with secure transport - not a perimeter stroll, and not an evening stop. Confirm tour arrangements and any security requirements before going, keep to the arranged route, and pair it with the National Museum next door within the same planned circuit.
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