Port Moresby is the capital of Papua New Guinea and the main gateway to the country — almost every traveller arrives here whether they plan to or not. It is a sprawling, disorderly city of around 400,000 people on a fine natural harbour in the south-east of the island, with the older colonial downtown near the port, newer districts spreading out over the hills, and the government quarter at Waigani.
It is also one of the more difficult capitals in the Pacific. Crime is a serious problem, especially in the "raskol"-dominated settlements on the edges of the city, and independent wandering after dark is strongly discouraged. Nearly all visitors stay in hotels with compound walls and move around by taxi or hotel shuttle. Most will not linger more than a day or two before flying onward to the Highlands, Madang, the Sepik, or the dive sites of New Britain — which is where the real draw of the country lies.
That said, there are things worth seeing. The Papua New Guinea National Museum on Independence Hill holds one of the best collections of Melanesian art and masks in the Pacific; the National Parliament House, built in a stylised version of a Sepik spirit house, is genuinely striking; and the Bomana War Cemetery and the start of the Kokoda Track are half an hour out of town. For a break from the city, head up to the cool, green Sogeri Plateau for the waterfalls and river rafting on the Laloki.
The Port Moresby Nature Park in Waigani is PNG's only zoo and is the best place in the country to see birds of paradise and tree kangaroos up close. In the old town, Ela Beach is the main waterfront strip, while Hanuabada Village — a traditional Motu stilt settlement just northwest of the centre — is one of the few places in the capital where something of old coastal Papuan life survives.