This is the one country in this guide where the safety advice shapes the whole trip. Australian and British missions advise against walking in Port Moresby and Lae after dark, and city journeys should be made in a locked vehicle with a driver you know.
- Urban Papua New Guinea has a serious violent-crime problem, concentrated in Port Moresby, Lae and Mount Hagen. It should change how you plan, not just how alert you are.
- Australian and British missions advise against walking the streets of Port Moresby and Lae after dark, and recommend moving around the cities in locked vehicles with a known driver.
- Accepting a lift from someone soliciting outside the terminal has led to vehicles picking up extra passengers en route and the traveller being robbed.
- What reduces risk most: not being out on foot after dark, no visible phone or bag on the street, doors locked in traffic, and guarded accommodation.
- Outside the cities the picture is very different and the country is rewarding. The risk is concentrated in the urban centres you pass through to get anywhere else.
Safety and the most common risks
Urban Papua New Guinea has a serious violent-crime problem, driven by organised street gangs known locally as raskols, concentrated in Port Moresby, Lae and Mount Hagen. This is not the pickpocket-and-overcharging risk profile of most destinations - it should change how you plan, not just how alert you are.
- Official advice: Both the Australian Smartraveller service and the UK FCDO advise against walking the streets of Port Moresby and Lae after dark, and recommend that movement around the cities happens in locked vehicles with a known driver.
- Unofficial transport: Accepting a lift from someone soliciting outside the terminal has led to vehicles picking up additional passengers en route and the traveller being robbed. Only use a driver arranged through your accommodation.
- Markets: Bag-snatching and phone theft by organised groups at busy markets, Gordons Market in Port Moresby especially.
- Unofficial guides: People offering to escort you around a site or a town, then demanding payment afterwards. Arrange guiding through your accommodation or a tour operator.
- What reduces risk most: Not being out on foot after dark, not carrying a visible phone or bag on the street, keeping vehicle doors locked and windows up in traffic, and staying in guarded accommodation. Travellers on r/travel who have spent time in the country converge on the same advice.
Outside the cities the picture is very different and the country is rewarding - the highlands on an organised trek, the islands, the dive resorts. The risk is concentrated in the urban centres you have to pass through to get anywhere else.
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