Port-au-Prince

Updated October 2026

Overview and Things to Consider

Port-au-Prince is not a place to visit in 2026. The US State Department renewed its Level 4 Do Not Travel advisory on July 10, 2026, the UK advises against all travel to Haiti, Canada says avoid all travel, and France formally advises against travel anywhere in the country. Armed gangs control most of the capital, with 2026 estimates of 70 to 75 percent of its territory, down from about 90 percent. If you're reading this to plan a holiday, the plan is to go somewhere else and come back to this page when it changes.

Who is still going? Aid workers, diplomats, journalists, people on business, and Haitians from the diaspora visiting family. For them the useful information is practical and narrow. It covers how you get in when no US airline can land, which parts of the metro area have more police, why being a missionary won't protect you, and what the 2026 calendar of elections and security mandates means for the next six months. That is what this guide covers.

It's worth knowing what the city was, because it explains what Haitians are trying to get back. This is the capital of the first Black republic, a city of about 1.2 million in the commune itself and 2.6 to 3.7 million across a metro area that climbs from the Gulf of Gonâve up to Pétion-Ville, with Kenscoff in the hills beyond. It produced the Haitian art movement out of the Centre d'Art in the 1940s, gingerbread mansions with fretwork balconies, Barbancourt rum, and the mizik rasin band RAM playing the Oloffson's courtyard every Thursday night. Most of that is shut, scattered or burned.

People who know Haiti will tell you the country is bigger than its capital, and they're right. The north around Cap-Haïtien has had far less gang presence, and it is now where international flights go. But every major government's advisory still covers all of Haiti, and the road between the two cities runs through gang territory. Love of the place isn't a security plan.

How Port-au-Prince Got Here

The French founded Port-au-Prince in 1749 as the capital of Saint-Domingue, then one of the wealthiest colonies in the Caribbean, after rejecting Léogâne and Petit-Goâve. After independence in 1804 it became the capital of Haiti, and for a time of Alexandre Pétion's southern republic while Henri Christophe ruled the north from Cap-Haïtien and built the Citadelle. The city grew like an amphitheater, commerce by the water and the wealthy moving up the hills, a split you still feel between downtown and Pétion-Ville. The red iron halls of the Marché en Fer were made in Paris for a Cairo railway station and bought by President Florvil Hyppolite in 1891.

The January 12, 2010 earthquake killed an estimated 230,000 people by the government's count and destroyed most of the historic center, including the cathedral and the National Palace. Rebuilding was slow and partial. Then the political floor fell out. President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021, no elected officials were left by January 2023, and in March 2024 allied gangs under the Viv Ansanm banner attacked prisons, police stations and the airport, freeing prisoners and forcing Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation. The city a visitor would meet today is the product of those five years more than of the earthquake.

Getting There and Around

The city's airport is Toussaint Louverture International (PAP) in Tabarre, northeast of the old center. In practice it's barely an international airport now. US airlines stopped flying there after gang gunfire hit a Spirit Airlines jet on November 11, 2024, and the FAA notice that bans US carriers and most US-registered aircraft below 10,000 feet over the Port-au-Prince area was extended again on August 31, 2026, this time to March 2, 2027. The US Embassy states plainly that no US commercial flights operate to or from the city.

Haitian carriers fill some of the gap, unreliably. Sunrise Airways, the main local airline, suspended all Port-au-Prince flights after one of its planes was hit by bullets on the tarmac on November 23, 2025, was flying there again by March 2026, and in October 2026 its notices page carries an undated banner suspending all Port-au-Prince flights until further notice. Smaller operators such as Zed Airlines fly domestic hops from Cap-Haïtien to the capital, but gunfire hit a terminal window on April 20, 2026 and a Belgian military A400M later that month. Expect cancellations on the day.

So the working international gateway is Cap-Haïtien (CAP), on the north coast. Sunrise flies there from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Boston, with its New York service moving from Newark to JFK after October 25, 2026. Zed started Miami flights in May 2026 and planned Montreal and New York in June, and American Airlines starts a daily Miami-Cap-Haïtien 737 MAX 8 on November 1, 2026. From Cap-Haïtien to the capital you either fly a small domestic plane or take a road that Canada strongly advises against.

Entry is the easy part. US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian passport holders don't need a visa for up to 90 days, though a residency permit is needed to stay longer. Every non-Haitian pays a $10 tourist fee in cash on arrival, and the $55 departure tax is usually in your ticket. Customs may ask for an onward ticket and proof of funds. Have your host meet you inside the airport, keep your passport on your body, and don't go looking for a taxi.

Inside the city, the usual tools don't apply. Tap-taps, the painted pickup buses that once cost a few gourdes a ride, are exactly what Canada tells foreigners to avoid, and the US says kidnappers attack commercial buses. Walking is out too. France tells anyone already there to avoid all movement on foot, and Canada says never walk alone. Movement means a vehicle and driver arranged by your employer or hotel, windows up and doors locked, no travel after dark, and a route someone has checked that morning. Neighborhood watch groups put up barricades and may stop anyone they don't recognize.

What's Changed Since 2016

March 2024 is the line. Gangs coordinated attacks across the capital, the airport shut to commercial flights until May 20, 2024, and a national state of emergency began that is still in force in 2026. The airport closed again after the November 2024 shootings, briefly reopened in December 2024, and saw commercial flights resume with a domestic Sunrise hop on June 12, 2025. Since then every reopening has been followed by another incident.

The places guidebooks used to send you to are gone. The Hotel Oloffson, the 1887 gingerbread mansion that inspired Graham Greene's The Comedians and hosted the band RAM on Thursday nights, stopped taking guests around July 2024, was breached by gangs in March 2025 and burned down on July 6, 2025. Kenscoff, the hill commune about 10 km southeast of the capital that AP calls a once-peaceful community, has been hit repeatedly since January 2025, and on August 23, 2026 armed men killed at least 47 people and kidnapped more than 50 there.

The international force changed shape. The Kenya-led police mission that arrived in June 2024 was replaced by the UN-authorized Gang Suppression Force, created on September 30, 2025 with a ceiling of 5,550 personnel. The first Chadian troops landed on April 1, 2026, and by July the military component had 1,083 people. On September 29, 2026 the Security Council extended the mandate only to March 31, 2027, not the two years Haiti asked for. In early September the force began deploying in downtown Port-au-Prince.

The politics reset too. The Transitional Presidential Council's mandate ended on February 7, 2026, leaving Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as sole executive. The first round of general elections, the first since 2016, is set for December 13, 2026, with runoffs on February 21, 2027. Voter registration in Ouest, Port-au-Prince's department, started late, on July 30, because of the violence.

Kidnapping has become a business with seasons. UN figures reported by AP show 2,490 kidnappings in 2023, 2,058 in 2024 and 1,268 in 2025, then a 42% jump between the first and second quarters of 2026. Targets now include a police inspector general taken in Bourdon in June and a Radio Télé Métropole journalist taken in Delmas 31 on September 6, 2026.

What the Usual Advice Gets Wrong

"Stay up in Pétion-Ville and you're fine." Canada says the security forces are more visible in Delmas and Pétion-Ville but that this guarantees nothing, and that home invasions happen in middle-class and wealthy neighborhoods. Bourdon, a neighborhood considered relatively safe, is where the police inspector general was kidnapped in daylight in June 2026.

"Fly into Port-au-Prince from Miami and sort the rest out there." No US airline can land there until at least March 2, 2027, and Sunrise lists its Port-au-Prince flights as suspended. You fly into Cap-Haïtien and then need a domestic seat or a security plan for the road, which most advisories say not to drive.

"Ride the tap-taps, it's the real way to see the city." That advice dates from before 2020. Canada tells travelers to avoid all public transport and singles out tap-taps, and the US advisory says kidnappers target commercial buses and attack convoys.

"Aid workers and missionaries are left alone because they're there to help." The UK's advice says missionary and humanitarian workers are viewed as legitimate targets and that your reason for being there is unlikely to protect you or secure your release. Canada adds that dual citizens and children are taken too.

"Prices are in dollars, so you'll know what you're paying." Often the dollars are Haitian dollars, a holdover unit worth 5 gourdes, not US dollars. With the central bank's reference rate at about 130.56 gourdes to US$1 in October 2026, a price of 100 Haitian dollars is 500 gourdes, roughly $3.80, not $100. Ask which dollar before you agree.

"Book the Hotel Oloffson for the Graham Greene atmosphere." It burned down on July 6, 2025 after a year standing empty. Anything you read about its rooms or its Thursday nights predates that.

Ideas to Consider for Your Visit

Have you thought about meeting Port-au-Prince through its art, from wherever you are? The Centre d'Art, founded in 1944, trained and showed Hector Hyppolite, Philomé Obin and Rigaud Benoit, and André Breton, after meeting Hyppolite, wrote in its guestbook that Haitian painting would drink the blood of the phoenix. Its building fell in 2010, and it has worked from temporary premises since 2014 after buying a gingerbread mansion in Pacot in 2019. Its website has the collection, the artists and its workshops and residencies, which is the closest most of us can get to the city's art for now.

Have you thought about cooking the city's food instead of chasing it? Griot is pork shoulder soaked in citrus, marinated in epis, braised and fried, served with pikliz, the fiery cabbage and Scotch bonnet slaw, and bannann peze, flattened fried plantain. Diri djon djon is rice cooked black with dried mushrooms. Soup joumou, the squash and beef soup Haitians eat every January 1 to mark independence in 1804, went on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2021. Drink Barbancourt rum, made from cane juice since 1862 and distilled in the Cul-de-Sac plain since 1949, or a Prestige lager.

When the city opens again, the first stop is the Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien (MUPANAH), the national history museum near the National Palace. It holds an anchor said to come from Columbus's Santa María and the pistol Henri Christophe used to kill himself, and tells Haitian history through the heroes of independence. It isn't a visit for now. When three World Cup players were honored there in July 2026 they arrived in a tinted car under heavy guard, in an area AP described as until recently gang-controlled.

If you have a work reason to be in Haiti and some say in where, look north. The Citadelle Laferrière sits 17 miles south of Cap-Haïtien, above the town of Milot, on the 3,000-foot Bonnet à l'Evêque peak. Christophe ordered it in 1805 and up to 20,000 workers built it by 1820; with the Sans-Souci Palace below it, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982. AP reported in July 2026 that gang presence there is limited compared with the capital, though all four advisories still cover the whole country.

The Part Most Guides Miss

The gingerbread houses. Late 19th-century mansions with wooden latticework, turrets and wide porches built for cross breezes, they're Haiti's own architecture, adapted from a French resort style in the 1880s and halted when Port-au-Prince banned wooden houses in 1925 after fires. About 200 were left in 2015, including the Pacot mansion the Centre d'Art bought in 2019, and they keep disappearing to neglect and fire, the Oloffson being the best-known loss. If and when the city reopens, a walk through Pacot with a local guide will tell you more than any museum.

Where to Base Yourself

Pétion-Ville. The hillside commune southeast of the center where the better hotels such as the Karibe Hotel are. Canada notes a heavier security presence here and in Delmas, and the 2026 World Cup players were taken to a Pétion-Ville hotel after their downtown visit. The catch is that heavier presence is not safety. Home invasions and kidnappings happen in affluent areas too, and the roads down to the rest of the city are where the risk sits.

Tabarre, near the airport. Close to the Guy Malary domestic terminal, the main terminal and the US Embassy, It suits people with an early domestic flight to Cap-Haïtien or Les Cayes. The catch is that the US Embassy issued a security alert for gunfire in Tabarre on September 19, 2026, and calls gunfire there common.

Cap-Haïtien, instead. Not part of Port-au-Prince, but the most realistic base for anyone who needs to be in Haiti and doesn't need to be in the capital. It's where Sunrise and Zed fly and where American starts on November 1, 2026, and Canada calls its airport the best option for leaving the country. The catch is that Haiti-wide advisories still apply, and getting from here to the capital by road means crossing gang-held stretches of highway.

Realities to Be Aware Of

Safety decides everything here, so it gets the space. The US advisory lists robbery, carjacking, sexual assault and kidnapping for ransom, with ransom demands in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and warns of stray bullets from gang fighting. Armed vigilante groups have killed US citizens on rumor that they were gang members. Police have very limited ability to respond. The US asks visitors to pick a family point of contact, set up a proof-of-life protocol, make a will, and have an exit plan that doesn't depend on the US government, whose staff can't leave the embassy for non-essential reasons.

There's no budget version of this city in 2026. There used to be cheap guesthouses and tap-tap rides; now the realistic floor is a guarded hotel, a vetted driver and possibly a security firm, which the US suggests hiring. We couldn't find published daily rates for any of these, and they're negotiated through employers. Use ATMs only inside hotels or supermarkets, since robbers watch bank customers, often from motorbikes, and carry small amounts of US dollars and gourdes.

Health care is thin and cash-first. Hospitals have few trained staff and basic shortages, and providers almost always want payment before treatment. The CDC recommends malaria pills for all of Haiti, reports widespread cholera, and flagged a diphtheria outbreak on June 25, 2026. Bring medevac insurance, but read the policy, because the UK warns cover may be void if you travel against its advice.

Haitian Creole is the language of the street and French of officialdom; a few words of Kreyòl go a long way. Same-sex activity is legal, but the UK says attitudes are often hostile and public affection of any kind is uncommon. Handing out candy or dollar bills is taken as an insult to dignity. Power cuts and fuel and water shortages are frequent, so whoever hosts you should keep a generator and supplies.

If Port-au-Prince Is Part of a Longer Trip

For a multi-stop Caribbean trip in 2026, leave Port-au-Prince off and route around it. Santo Domingo shares the island but not the access. The Dominican Republic reopened its air border with Haiti on May 30, 2026, while land and sea borders stayed closed to travelers, and Canada warns that gangs operate around the Malpasse and Ouanaminthe crossings anyway. The old Santo Domingo-Port-au-Prince coach routes aren't an option. If Haiti is part of a longer routing, AirTreks can build it through Cap-Haïtien, which has nonstops to Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boston and New York, with Zed adding Montreal.

Inside Haiti, Canada advises against road travel between the three international airports at Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien and Les Cayes, and reports gangs at roadblocks on Route Nationale 2 from Martissant to Miragoâne, the main road south to Les Cayes. Small planes are the alternative, with their own record. A Zed Cessna from Cap-Haïtien ditched in the sea near Cabaret on July 8, 2026, and a mission plane crashed near Jérémie in February. For the rest of the region, Kingston, Havana and San Juan are open, and the Caribbean guide covers how they connect.

Yearly Things to Consider

Port-au-Prince is hot all year, with highs from 87°F (31°C) in January to 94°F (34°C) in July and August, and two rainy peaks, May and September to October, around a drier June and July. December to March is the driest stretch. The hurricane season runs June to November. In normal years the calendar's high points were January 1 independence and soup joumou, and Carnival before Lent. In 2026 the calendar that matters is the security one. Canada says crime peaks around the December holidays, Carnival and the start of the school year in late August, and election season adds risk, with the first round on December 13, 2026.

Ideas for Itineraries

3 Days in Port-au-Prince

Don't plan three days of sightseeing in Port-au-Prince in 2026. If work brings you, a short stay means a domestic flight in from Cap-Haïtien with your host waiting inside the terminal, two days of meetings in Pétion-Ville or wherever your organization is based, no movement after dark, and a confirmed seat out with a backup booked, since flights get cancelled the day gunfire comes near the runway.

5 Days in Port-au-Prince

Five days is still a work trip, not a holiday. Every day, vary your times and routes, check with your hosts each morning which roads are open, and stay off the streets on foot. If you get a free half day, spend it on Haitian art bought through a trusted gallery or your hosts' contacts, not on a downtown visit to the Champ de Mars or the Marché en Fer.

1 Week in Port-au-Prince

A week in the capital only makes sense on someone else's security plan. Register with your embassy, keep food, water and fuel for several days, and keep your passport current and on you. If your work allows, split the week and spend the second half in Cap-Haïtien, where the Citadelle is a day out from Milot with a driver, and fly home from there rather than doubling back.

2 Weeks or More in Port-au-Prince

Longer stays are for postings with aid, diplomatic, media or business employers, and their security teams, not a guidebook, set the rules. Ask about generator and water backup, the driver arrangement, shelter-in-place supplies and medevac before you accept. Use the time to learn Kreyòl, the one thing that makes everything else easier. Weekend trips by road to Jacmel or Kenscoff aren't an option now.

Sources

What this guide is built on. Every page below was read for this guide; prices and rules were checked in October 2026.

• Travel Advisory: Haiti July 2026, U.S. Embassy in Haiti (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Security Alert: U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince, Haiti, September 19, 2026, U.S. Embassy in Haiti (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Haiti travel advice, GOV.UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Haiti: Entry requirements, GOV.UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Haiti: Safety and security, GOV.UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Travel advice and advisories for Haiti, Government of Canada (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Conseils aux voyageurs: Haïti, Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Haiti - Traveler view, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Citing gang violence, FAA extends ban on U.S. flights into Haiti's capital, Miami Herald (via AOL) (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Important Notices, Sunrise Airways (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• American Airlines Is Returning to Haiti, With New Daily Flights to Cap-Haïtien, Caribbean Journal (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Gunfire hits Port-au-Prince Toussaint Louverture Airport, forcing flight suspension, The Haitian Times (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Travelers hope for better customer service to Haiti as Zed Airlines arrives on market, The Haitian Times (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• ZED Airlines launches investigation into emergency landing with 3 people on board, The Haitian Times (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Three Haiti World Cup players welcomed in Port-au-Prince after historic tournament, The Haitian Times (AP) (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• More than 50 kidnapped, 47 killed in violent gang attack in Kenscoff, The Haitian Times (AP) (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Haitian journalist, lawyer and government official kidnapped within 24 hours, The Haitian Times (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• UN extends Haiti's Gang Suppression Force mandate to March 2027 amid rising violence, The Haitian Times (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Haiti struggles with rise in kidnappings as general election looms, Jamaica Gleaner (AP) (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Taux du jour, Banque de la République d'Haïti (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Haiti gasoline prices, GlobalPetrolPrices.com (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Karibe Hotel, Karibe Hotel (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Le Centre d'Art, Le Centre d'Art d'Haïti (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Port-au-Prince, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Toussaint Louverture International Airport, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Haitian crisis (2018-present)), Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Gang Suppression Force, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• 2026 Haitian general election, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Hotel Oloffson, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Marché en Fer, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Citadelle Laferrière, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Haiti, Wikivoyage (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Le Centre d'Art, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Visa policy of Haiti, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• National Pantheon Museum of Haiti, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)