What is it?

Port Moresby — 'Mosbi' to locals — is the gateway to the most culturally diverse nation on Earth, a sprawling capital wrapped around a deep blue harbour and backed by dry savannah hills. It's a city of striking contrasts: gleaming waterfront apartments and the stilt village of Hanuabada rising out of the sea on timber poles; air-conditioned malls a short drive from betel-nut markets where the pavements are stained scarlet. At the National Museum and Art Gallery you'll find towering Sepik spirit masks, ancestral shields and kundu drums that tell the story of 800-plus languages, while the Parliament Haus mimics a Maprik-style spirit house in concrete and mosaic. The air smells of frangipani, diesel and salt; the sound is a mix of Tok Pisin banter, rugby league commentary and PMV buses honking for passengers. This is not a polished tourist city — it's an honest, energetic, sometimes edgy place that rewards travellers who arrive curious and well-briefed.

Where is it?

Port Moresby sits on the southeastern coast of Papua New Guinea's mainland, on the Gulf of Papua, roughly a three-hour flight north of Cairns, Australia. Highlights cluster around Ela Beach, the Waigani government precinct, the Port Moresby Nature Park with its tree kangaroos and birds-of-paradise, the Bomana War Cemetery and the trailhead of the Kokoda Track at Owers' Corner. The dry season from May to October brings cooler, less humid weather and is the best window for day trips to Varirata National Park, Loloata Island and the reefs of Bootless Bay.

What makes it worth it?

Few capitals divide opinion like Port Moresby — and few reward the open-minded traveller so richly. Standing before a case of Sepik masks, or watching sing-sing dancers in feathers and ochre at a Hiri Moale festival, you feel the sheer depth of human cultural invention in a way no museum in Europe can match. Visitors consistently say the same thing: the reputation precedes the reality, and what they remember is the warmth — the taxi driver who insists on showing you his village, the market woman who presses a fresh coconut into your hands. A sunset from the Paga Hill lookout, with the harbour turning gold and the mountains of the Owen Stanley Range silhouetted behind, is the image that stays with people for years. For those continuing to the Highlands, the Sepik or the Kokoda Track, Moresby is the threshold — the moment you realise you've arrived somewhere genuinely unlike anywhere else.

How accessible is it?

Getting there is easy enough — Air Niugini and Qantas fly from Brisbane, Cairns, Singapore, Manila and Hong Kong into Jacksons International Airport, and most nationalities can obtain a visa on arrival or an eVisa for around USD 25–50. The city is expensive by regional standards: mid-range hotels run USD 150–300 a night, and quality budget options are scarce. Security is the real consideration — independent walking around the city is not advised, and virtually all visitors use hotel transfers, pre-arranged drivers or a local guide, budgeting around USD 60–150 a day for transport and tours. Physically it's undemanding, though day hikes at Varirata or the first steps of the Kokoda Track require decent fitness and plenty of water. Book accommodation and transfers well ahead, carry Kina in cash for markets, take malaria precautions, and consider a reputable tour operator for your first visit — with good planning, Port Moresby is far more welcoming than its reputation suggests.