The capital and Efate
Port Vila sits on a sheltered harbour on Efate, the island where nearly every international flight lands. It has the national museum, a lively produce market, waterfront restaurants and kava bars, and a ring road that leads to cascades, lagoons and small offshore islands.
The big island of the north
Espiritu Santo is Vanuatu's largest island, with the laid-back town of Luganville, the wreck of the SS President Coolidge, Million Dollar Point, freshwater blue holes and Champagne Beach on the east coast.
The volcano island
Tanna in the south is home to Mount Yasur, one of the world's most accessible active volcanoes, plus kastom villages where people still live by traditional ways, and the John Frum movement at Sulphur Bay.
The land divers
Pentecost is a rugged, roadless island famous for the Nagol, the land diving ritual that inspired bungee jumping, held on Saturdays from roughly April to June.
How to combine them
A first trip of a week usually means Port Vila plus one other island. With ten days to two weeks you can add Santo and Tanna, connected through Port Vila by domestic flights. Use the free trip planner to match islands to flight schedules, and browse places to visit for ideas on each island.