How many days does Papua New Guinea need?

Two weeks for two regions, at about five days each, flights included. With less time, the second region goes before any spare day does: ten days give one region a longer stay — more dawns for the birds, more days on the river — and a week holds one region with its margins. Two regions squeezed into ten days leave no room for a single delayed flight.

Which regions suit a first trip to Papua New Guinea?

The ones that match the reason for coming, since each region is a different trip: the Highlands for the shows and the birds-of-paradise, the Sepik for river villages and carving, a dive base for the reefs, East New Britain for a harbour inside a volcano, the Trobriands for village life on coral islands. The month narrows the choice: the regions' shows and festivals usually fall between July and September — the Sepik's Crocodile Festival at Ambunti in August — and the wet season, from November to May, brings flooding and landslides and disrupts roads and flights.

Can a trip to Papua New Guinea be arranged without a tour operator?

In part. Domestic flights and rooms can be booked one by one, and on the coast and the islands the resort, lodge or guesthouse at the far end takes care of the boat, the driver and the guide. Two parts of a trip go through a specialist in any case: a Highlands visit runs through a local operator who knows the current situation in the valleys, and the Kokoda Track is walked only with an established trekking company. What does not work is arriving unannounced and looking for transport and guides on the spot.

Itinerary

One Hub, Two Regions: Papua New Guinea in Two Weeks by Air

Port Moresby has no road to the Highlands, the north coast or the islands, so a trip through Papua New Guinea is a hub with spokes: the capital at the centre, and each region a domestic flight out and back. Two regions fit comfortably into two weeks; a third needs a third week. In every region a lodge, a resort or a local operator meets the plane and provides the driver, the guide or the boat. Ground arranged ahead, roads by daylight and spare days around the flights are the practice of safe travel in the country.

Updated 2026-10-05

Day 1: a first night in Port Moresby

Almost every visitor lands at Jacksons International Airport, and the first night is spent in Port Moresby even when a domestic connection would fit the same day: a late arrival then delays nothing. The hotel's transfer is booked with the room, and the flight to the first region leaves the next day from the domestic terminal of the same airport.

Days 2 to 6: the first region, in the mountains or on the river

The Highlands are a flight to Mount Hagen or Goroka, and for anyone who wants a show, the show sets the dates of the whole trip: Mount Hagen's is usually held in August, Goroka's usually in September. Five days hold a spare day before the show, the show weekend and two dawns with a bird guide from a lodge in the forest around Mount Hagen. After the Goroka Show, the operator's driver can take the road to Mount Hagen by day, and the flight back leaves from there. Rooms and flights for the show days are booked together, many months ahead.

The Sepik River is a flight to Wewak, the road south to Pagwi and three or four days by motor canoe between the villages. Counted from Wewak and back, that comes to five or six days; on the six-day version, the free day in the capital after it shrinks to a night between two flights.

Day 7: a free day back in the capital

The first leg ends with the flight back to Port Moresby on day 6, and day 7 stays free. If the flight from the region runs late, or a day late, the second leg still begins on time; if it runs as booked, the day goes to the capital, with a driver arranged through the hotel. The two legs work in either order, and where a show or a festival is wanted, its date decides which comes first.

Days 8 to 12: the second region, on the coast or the islands

The second leg goes to the sea. Divers pick one base among Kimbe Bay, Milne Bay, Tufi and Kavieng and stay there, since a second dive area means a second flight; the last dive comes a full day before the flight back, because the interval a diver's training sets before flying holds for the domestic plane too. East New Britain is a flight to Tokua, with Kokopo as the base for Rabaul and its volcanoes, and Kokopo's Mask Festival is usually held in July. The Trobriand Islands are a flight to the airstrip on Kiriwina, where the hosts of a guesthouse or a village stay meet the plane; the harvest dancing keeps no calendar date and is timed with them.

Days 13 and 14: the last free day and the flight home

The second leg ends with the flight back on day 12, and day 13 stays free in Port Moresby: it is the margin that protects the flight home from a late or cancelled domestic plane. If every flight has run to time, it becomes a second day in the capital. Day 14 is the transfer to Jacksons and the flight out.

A third week: a third region or the Kokoda Track

A third week adds a third region on the same pattern, five days out and a free day back in the capital. The Kokoda Track does not fit into five days: the trek alone takes seven to ten days, between Owers' Corner, a drive from Port Moresby, and Kokoda, reached by a flight to Popondetta and then by road. With the trek and one region, a trip comes to about three weeks.

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