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Papeete
Capital city of French Polynesia

Papeete

Papeete is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the French Republic located in the Pacific Ocean.

Plan a trip to Papeete→From Avarua

The commune of Papeʻete is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Islands, of which Papeʻete is the administrative capital. Both the President of French Polynesia and French High Commissioner reside in Papeʻete.

Get in

Getting to Papeete

  1. 01
    Fa'a'ā International Airport

    This is the principal airport of French Polynesia.

See

Worth seeing

The waterfront. Papeete has redeveloped its waterfront into a long park, with foods and carnival-like attractions.

  1. 01
    Robert Wan Pearl Museum
  2. 02
    Papeete Tahiti Temple
  3. 03
    Notre Dame Cathedral
Eat

Where to eat

Eating out can be very expensive. There are some fine restaurants but expect to pay US$30 for a hamburger at a hotel restaurant or other proper sit-down establishment. There are a lot of midrange places where you can expect to pay US$20-30 for your whole meal. French and Chinese cuisines are well represented here. Look for the word "Snack" in the name of the restaurant.

How locals move

Getting around Papeete the local way

  • Go nextIf you have the time, take the ferry over to Moorea.

From Wikivoyage: Papeete, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.