Papua New Guinea & Solomon Islands Travel Guide

Home to more than 800 distinct languages, PNG and the Solomons provide incomparable opportunities to be immersed in a variety of fascinating traditional cultures. Its well worth planning your trip around one or two of the major annual festivals: see colourfully painted and feathered Highland warriors, fearless snake-wielding fire dancers and brilliantly attired island oarsmen chanting to the backdrop of pounding drums. Festivals aside, there are myriad ways to have a paradigm-altering experience: an impromptu singsing (festival) on the Trobriand Islands, learning about the legends of an eerie skull cave or sharing fruit with new-found friends on a bumpy PMV ride.

Island Idyll

Travel is rarely easy in Melanesia, but the rewards are bountiful. After a few weeks of hard travel you can find your way to a palm-fringed, sun-drenched coast and unwind for a few days. Opt for a luxury eco-friendly resort with activities or a rustic bush-material village guesthouse just a few lazy footsteps from the sea. Spend your days snorkelling coral reefs, combing sandy beaches, paddling placid rivers or lounging beneath a palm tree. By night, watch the sunset, feast on fresh seafood and watch the sky slowly fill with stars while daydreaming about the great adventures still ahead.

A Southern Highlands Huli wigman | MATT MUNRO/LONELY PLANET

By Lindsay Brown, Writer

Papua New Guinea is blessed with an astounding mix of traditional cultures and natural splendour, making it a personal favourite. From the Highlands to the islands there's a myriad of cultural riches. These are best witnessed during one of the spectacular festivals where body decoration simply defies imagination. To bunk down in a sleepy beach-side village is the perfect antidote to modern-city-living ailments, and something I highly recommend to independent travellers. Adventurers will find coral gardens the equal of anywhere else, while jungle trails provide the opportunity to see PNG's weird and wonderful wildlife: tree kangaroos, cuscuses and the scene-stealing birds of paradise.