"Papua New Guinea National Museum showcases the nation’s rich cultural and natural history. Highlights include traditional costumes, tribal artifacts, and historical exhibits. Friendly staff, easy to navigate, and ideal for a short educational visit.
Perfect for anyone curious about the country’s heritage. Small museum, so plan about 1–2 hours."

Natalia Ciobanu

"This is my personal favorite address in Port Moresby. When people say Papua New Guinea has over 800 tribes, each with its own distinct language, this museum is the living proof.

Unfortunately, it’s poorly managed. For starters, visitors are often left guessing whether it’s even open. The sign outside says it opens on Sundays from 1–3 PM, but on many Sundays I’ve visited, it’s been closed during those hours. I understand PNG is a Christian country, which may explain the closures, but Sunday is often the only day families are free to visit! A Monday closure, like many museums around the world do would make more sense.

I’ve heard that overseas visitors can sometimes arrange a private visit through their hotel when the museum is closed, though I haven’t confirmed this myself.

Another issue is the lack of recent publications. The last known collaboration was over a decade ago. For a museum that only displays a small portion of its full collection, publishing research or catalogues would be a great way to preserve and share PNG’s cultural knowledge, especially considering the country’s most prestigious university (UPNG) has a dedicated anthropology and archaeology department.

On my most recent visit, only half the museum was open. Entry was through the back door, tickets were inconsistently charged with no receipts, even parking was charged “per person”, not per car, again with no receipt. It all felt very opaque.

The displays themselves need attention too. Some labels are inaccurate, for example, a bilum described as having seeds is clearly decorated with cowrie shells and other seashells. It is also unmistakably from the sepik region, but the origin isn’t mentioned on the label card. With PNG’s vast cultural richness, these details should be better provided.

Other practical issues include broken air conditioning, understaffing, and a lack of supervision, parents often let young kids run around the artifacts unchecked.

Despite all this, I love this museum. It’s a treasure trove of PNG’s cultural heritage and identity, and a rare space where so many of its diverse traditions are brought together under one roof. Not to be missed by any POM residents or visitors!!!"

Mimi K

"They've renovated the place and it's more spacious and has more lighting now. Quite alot of artifacts from WWII, a whole room or corner dedicated to the history of the fuzzy wuzzy angels and the WWII relics. It had potteries, head dresses to other traditional weapons, tools, bilums etc on display.

However, it would be nice to see a whole variety of artifacts or have a corner each decimated to the different regions that is the NGI, Momase, Southern and Highlands so locals and tourists alike can appreciate the vast variety of cultural artifacts and history from the different regions.

All in all the experience was top tier, had a great time there. Would highly recommend visiting the Museum while in Pom and I'd rate the experience a 9/10 because PNG cultural heritage is rich and it only captures a fraction of that."

Teme