Port-Vila
Port Vila, or simply Vila, is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city.
Port Vila, or simply Vila, is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province.
The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 Vanuatu census. This represented 16.3% of Vanuatu's total population in 2020.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Port-Vila
7 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Vila
The Diocese of Port-Vila in Vanuatu is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Nouméa. The diocese covers the whole island of Vanuatu.
600 m · diocese of the Catholic Church in Vanuatu · Wikipedia - 02National Library of Vanuatu
The Vanuatu National Library was established in April 2004 and is located within the Vanuatu Cultural Centre in Port Vila, it contains more than 30,000 books and serves both as a national repository for "rare and special" materials. The National Library also has responsibility for the Port Vila public library.
1.3 km · national library · Wikipedia - 03Freshwater Stadium
The Freshwater Stadium is an association football stadium in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. The stadium has a seating capacity of 6,500.
1.3 km · stadium in Vanuatu · Wikipedia - 04Port Vila Municipal Stadium
Port Vila Municipal Stadium is a sports stadium located in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
300 m · stadium in Vanuatu · Wikipedia - 05Independence Park, Port Vila
Independence Park is one of the main cricket grounds in Port Vila, in the Island nation of Vanuatu. It hosted the matches in the 2019 ICC Women's Qualifier EAP tournament in May 2019.
700 m · cricket ground · Wikipedia - 06Teouma
Teouma is a major archaeological site 800 m from Teouma Bay on the island of Éfaté in Vanuatu.
9.4 km · major archaeological site · Wikipedia - 07Vanuatu Cricket Ground
Vanuatu Cricket Ground is one of the main cricket grounds in Port Vila, in the Island nation of Vanuatu, in the South Pacific Ocean. It hosted the 2022–23 ICC Men's T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifier tournament in September 2022.
1.5 km · cricket ground · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01National Museum of Vanuatu
Dusty exhibits relating to the culture and history of Vanuatu.
- 02Evergreen Cascades Waterfall
- 03Hideaway Island
A small resort islet known as Hideaway Island.
- 04National Library
From Wikivoyage: Port-Vila, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Beaches in Vanuatu are always private. Resorts limit access to guests only, although some island resorts like Erakor and Hideaway offer day passes in the 2000 VT range.
- 01Honeymoon Beach
Pretty beach at the far end of the Pango peninsula.
- 02Big Blue Vanuatu
One of Vanuatu's largest and best-regarded dive shops.
- 03Independence Park
A cricket ground which hosted the matches in the 2019 ICC Women's Qualifier EAP tournament in May 2019.
- 04Korman Stadium
Korman Stadium is the national stadium and the home of the Vanuatu national football team and has a capacity is 6,500.
From Wikivoyage: Port-Vila, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Budget options for eating out are thin on the ground. Look for local Vanuatu dishes like laplap or tuluk at the markets, or self-cater at a supermarket.
- 01Family Restaurant
Hunanese home cooking by Chinese for Chinese that doesn't pull its punches on the chillies.
- 02Kai Vanua
- 03Three Pigs
Casual garden restaurant that serves up the best tacos in Vanuatu, although this is admittedly not a terribly lofty bar.
- 04L'Houstalet
Likely the most famous restaurant in Vanuatu, l'Houstalet has been serving up an eclectic menu of "French Pacific" cuisine since 1973.
- 05Stonegrill
Often ranked as Port Vila's top restaurant, the concept here is simple: steaks of premium Vanuatu beef that you grill to your liking on a sizzling hot stone.
From Wikivoyage: Port-Vila, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Port-Vila
- Airports
- Bauerfield (VLI), 4 km
- Stations
- Bauerfield International Airport, 3.8 km · Korman Stadium, 2.2 km · National Museum of Vanuatu, 1.3 km · Erakor Island, 4.8 km
- Nouméa (La Tontouta) → Port-Vila524 km · quickest by air, 4h 56m · €130–200
- Nadi → Port-Vila964 km · quickest by air, 5h 30m · $260–400
- Nausori → Port-Vila1081 km · quickest by air, 7h 30m · $270–420
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Port-Vila
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Port-Vila. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inTour operators like Yumi Tours offer shuttle buses from the airport to any Port Vila area hotel and back for a fixed price of around 1000 VT/person.
- Get inDue to landslides caused by the December 2024 earthquake, the main cruise terminal remains unreachable, so cruise ships ferry passengers back and forth with tender boats instead.
- Get aroundBuses in Port Vila are really shared taxis: Toyota Hiace-type minivans with red "B" license plates, they shuttle up and down the main roads of Port Vila.
- Get aroundTaxis can also be chartered for a full or half day.
- Go nextRent a car, charter a taxi or join a tour to see the sights around Efate.
From Wikivoyage: Port Vila, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 011,776 km
- 022,996 km
- 033,366 km
- 043,463 km
- 053,653 km
If you know how people move in Port-Vila – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Port-Vila
- Pangovillage in Shefa Province, Vanuatu6.6 km