Travelling PNG

Hi,

We are planning on travelling to PNG for a couple of weeks but have been really put off by stories of extreme violence and danger.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a safe trip or advice on where to go/what to see?

Thanks

The basic advice is to seek local advice wherever you go and heed it.
That simple.

And in general, don't poke around in cities and towns at night.

If still feeling worried, you can further minimize risks by choosing the safest bits to go to: the island provinces like New Ireland, New Britain and Milne Bay.

Don't walk around after dark. I know there are problems there with violence etc but i think a lot of people who tell these stories and have this opinion haven't been there. My partner and I spent a wonderful 3 week trip there with no problems. We met a lot of friendly people who were pleased to welcome us to their country. It is a shame to miss out on an experience like visiting PNG because of some bad stories. Use your common sense and ask around to see what the situation is at the time. For example the advice about public transport on the highland road seems to vary. When we were there it was fine to travel between Madang and Goroka by pmv but I know at other times people have had to fly because of troubles.

If you don't have much time it can be quite an expensive trip because you will need to take some internal flights to get to places. The milne bay area is nice with a lot of small surrounding villages/islands which are interesting to visit. Madang is also a very nice place with nearby islands where you can stay or go snorkelling. Both places felt a lot safer than bigger places such as Lae. Port Moresby is not nice and not worth hanging around in (in my opinion!).