Visa and entry requirements Palau:
Passport required
No visa is required

Information from the Foreign Office about your trip to Palau:
https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/palausicherheit/220958

The Republic of Palau is an island nation in the Pacific with around 19,000 inhabitants. Palau consists of a total of 355 islands, of which only 11 are inhabited. The largest island in the island nation is Babeldaob.

The two official languages of Palau are English and Palauian, although Japanese and various other island languages are still spoken on some islands. The US dollar is used as a means of payment throughout the island nation.

The South Pacific state of Palau, which has been independent since 1994, consists of six archipelagos and is closely linked to the United States of America.

Palau has a tropical climate with warm temperatures all year round. Its rich underwater world with over 1,600 fish and countless coral species is one of the best diving areas on earth. There you often come across unique saltwater crocodiles, giant clams and special types of jellyfish. The territory of Palau also has various species of orchids and numerous species of birds.

The most important economic sectors of Palau are tourism, agriculture, fishing with the export of tuna and shellfish, copra production and remittances from Palau citizens living in the USA.

In agriculture, sweet potatoes, cassava, bananas and coconuts are mainly grown and some are exported.

The approximately 150,000 annual tourists to Palau are mostly diving tourists, mostly from the USA, Japan or South Korea.

The most important sights in Palau include the paradisiacal Rock Islands, Milky Way, Long Beach, the National Museum, Kayangel Island, the stone monoliths, the local history museum, the diving area in the German Channel, the Art Gallery, the Palau Aquarium, the congress center , the historic Airai Bai, the Koror-Babeldaob Bridge, the Catholic Church, the Kaigun Sho Communication Center, the Night Market, the Japan-Palau Friendship Bridge and the Dolphin Aquarium.

What is interesting is the fact that nowhere in the world is it easier or more straightforward to adopt or buy a child in Palau. This strange way of procuring children is primarily used by American citizens.

The capital of Palau is Ngerulmud and with only around 300 inhabitants it is the smallest capital in the world. In 2006, Palau's capital was quickly moved there from Koror, Palau's largest city. Ngerulmud is home to the government building modeled on the Washington Capitol, the executive building and the justice building.

The former capital and largest city of Palau is Koror with around 14,000 inhabitants. The city on the island of the same name is the economic and cultural center of the island state.

Koror is also the most important tourist center in Palau, with hotels, restaurants and shopping opportunities.

In January 2019 I visited Palau as the first stop on my long Pacific tour. During my three-day stay, I lived in Koror, on the island of the same name.

The island state's largest city is very pleasant, relaxing and quiet at all times and relatively easy to explore on foot. Somehow the clocks seem to tick differently here, all the residents probably feel like permanent vacationers, are simply enjoying life and are mostly drunk. The residents tend to leave the work to cheap workers flown in from neighboring countries, the majority of whom are represented in the country, for example from the Philippines or Bangladesh.

In addition to the daily city tour with a visit to both museums and the Palau Aquarium, the visit to the capital, around 25 kilometers away, was my absolute highlight of Palau.

After all the rental cars in Koror were fully booked over the weekend and the taxi drivers sometimes charged up to 120 US dollars for a trip to the capital, I was faced with a small problem on the first day. Fortunately, this problem solved itself by late afternoon.

On the first day, I stopped at a burger restaurant late in the afternoon to have a delicious burger as my first meal of the day. While I had my food in front of me, a very nice older gentleman stopped and asked how I was doing. After about two minutes I asked him what he was doing on his day off. He said he was bored and just driving around pointlessly in his car. When asked if he would like to go with me to Ngerulmud in the capital, he immediately answered yes.

After my burger was now history, we started our journey straight away. After about a kilometer I noticed that he hadn't really taken a turn and was having considerable difficulty staying in his own lane. Finally I offered him to drive himself and we quickly switched sides.

The drive almost to the north of Palau's largest island was very pleasant, with very little traffic on the roads. The almost uninhabited capital and at the same time the smallest capital in the world actually only consists of three government buildings. I parked the car right in front of the entrance to the Capitol, the most important building in the island state of Palau, and no one really cared because there was simply no one there. I think it's unique in this world to be able to come to the door so easily at such an important institution.

On the way back to Koror, my local car owner and new friend Gabriel, who was sometimes relegated to being a passenger, was sound asleep.

After arriving at our starting point, I woke him up, gave him the previously agreed $20 for gas, thanked him very much and said goodbye to him very politely. It was once again a unique experience that you can only really experience when traveling.

Palau is a very pleasant and relaxed holiday destination, but is more suitable for diving tourists for a longer stay. Nevertheless, Palau has some spectacular excursion destinations to offer, so you could make ends meet without diving if necessary.

For me, after two full days, my trip continued to Saipan, the Northern Mariana Islands.