Wellington

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Te Papa

New Zealand's national museum contains interesting exhibitions on the country's history and culture and includes several shops. It has the only complete colossal squid on display.

Daily 10AM-6PM, closed 25 Dec · Free for NZ citizens (except for the occasional special presentation), $35 for 48hr international visitor ticket · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible

City Gallery

Runs a consistently avant-garde set of exhibits, with no permanent collection. In it's usual location has an excellent café, Nikau, attached to it.

Tue-Fri 10AM-5PM, Sat 9AM-1PM · Wheelchair accessible

Wellington Museum

formerly Museum of Wellington City & Sea

A well-presented museum of the history of Wellington, including its maritime history.

Daily 10AM-5PM, closed 25 Dec · Free for NZ residents, $16 for international visitors · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible

Bucket Fountain

a real splash, for many years. The Bucket Fountain is an iconic kinetic sculpturet. It consists of a series of "buckets" that fill with water until they tip, spilling their load into the buckets and pool below. The fountain was designed by Burren and Keen and erected in 1969.

Wheelchair accessible

Wrights Hill

More views, and World War II underground tunnels which are open to the public on public holidays for a small fee.

Open 4 days per year · $10

Turnbull House

This imposing brick mansion now seems small and out of place amongst the surrounding high-rises. It is closed for renovation.

Massey Memorial

An interesting place to go if you want to see a large memorial in the middle of nowhere, with a good view of the surrounding harbour. The memorial's namesake is William Massey, Prime Minister of New Zealand between 1912 and 1925.

Pukeahu National War Memorial Park

A tall Art Deco carillon was dedicated in 1932, the Hall of Memories opened in 1964, and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior was built in 2004. There are Australian, Belgian, French, Turkish, UK and US memorials and some sculptures in the wider park, which was opened in 2015.

Park always open; National War Memorial interior daily 10AM-5PM · Free

Nairn Street Cottage

Preserved cottage built in 1858 and kept in the same family until it became a museum, with an exhibition on its history. The small garden is open every day..

daily tours at noon, 2PM, and 3PM · $8

Logan Brown

In the former banking chamber of an historic banking building.

Mains around $40, early bird dinner special $45 per person

Brooklyn Wind Turbine

Another great place to go to get an excellent view of the city, the harbour, and Cook Strait, plus experience the wind! The current turbine was installed in 2016 and is the second on the site; the first was erected in 1993 to test the potential of turning Wellington's infamous wind into electricity.

Parliament Buildings

Home of New Zealand's lawmakers and leaders, the complex consists of four building: the Beehive (or Executive Wing), Parliament House, the Parliamentary Library and Bowen House. The grounds of Parliament are open to the public, and free tours of the buildings are available from the visitor centre located between the Beehive and Parliament House. Depending on parliamentary business, tours may include a visit to the House of Representatives debating chamber and the Select Committee rooms. For security reasons, you need to leave all your belongings at the visitor centre and clear a checkpoint.

Old Government Buildings

This is the largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere and the second-largest in the world. It is now the home of Victoria University Law School.

Plimmer's Ark

In 1883, a bank was built on top of a wrecked ship that had been built in Nova Scotia in 1848, and had been used as a market. When they renovated the building, they discovered the ship's timbers and preserved the remains in the building. Take the escalator down through the bank vault doors.

Mon-Fri 9:30AM-5PM, Sat 10AM-4PM, Sun 11AM-3PM

Bolton Street Memorial Park

Watch out for the friendly black cat who haunts this hillside cemetery. If you're returning from the Botanic Gardens by foot, this is a great place to meander through and check out the epitaphs of early pioneers and historical figures. Between 1968 and 1971, over 3700 bodies were controversially exhumed to make way for motorway construction; their remains are now in an underground vault below the Early Settlers Memorial Lawn. At the Bolton Street entrance, the former mortuary chapel, reconstructed after the motorway, has information on the cemetery history and guide leaflets if you want to explore further.

Battle Hill Farm Forest Park

Historic battle site and regional park. See the farm animals and feed the eels. Yep, feed eels. You can view the site of one of the "Hutt Valley Campaign" battles of 1846. Picnicking, camping, and trails. No dogs, no cell coverage.

Apr-Sep 6AM-6PM; Oct-Mar 6AM-8PM

Cathedral of St Paul

Large Anglican church built between 1954 and 1998. The cathedral is a relatively plain design, made of reinforced concrete, and has some fine stained glass. A farmer's market is held in the car park on Saturday mornings.

Mon-Fri 10AM-5PM, Sat 10AM-4PM, Sun 8AM-4PM; services Sun 8AM, 10AM, 4PM

National Tattoo Museum of New Zealand

History of tattooing in New Zealand and the Pacific, especially traditional Maori tattooing. Shown in just two rooms attached to a tattoo studio. One of Wellington's least museums.

Fri Sat noon-8PM, Sun-Thu noon-5:30PM · Free (the sign at the entrance about payment relates to getting a tattoo)

Old St Paul's

This was the Anglican centre for decades. Superseded by the new cathedral north of Parliament, this one is popular for weddings and funerals.

Daily 9:30AM-5PM · Donation, tours $5

Holocaust Centre of New Zealand

A small museum.

Sun-Fri 10AM-1PM · Free · Free entry

Matiu/Somes Island

Out in the middle of the harbour, this island has its share of history. It was once a quarantine station for immigrants, and later (and more extensively) for animals. It was also an internment camp for "dangerous" individuals during both world wars. The island is a nature reserve managed by the DOC, bio-security bag inspections on arrival and a small exhibition. The animal quarantine station and some wartime defences can be explored, there are good harbour views, but the wildlife is the main attraction. Bring food in sealed containers and something to drink as there are no shops. There is a campsite and two bachs which need to be booked in advance.

Ferry $25

Matiu/Somes Island

Out in the middle of the harbour, this island has its share of history. It was once a quarantine station for immigrants, and later (and more extensively) for animals. It was also an internment camp for "dangerous" individuals during both world wars. The ferry leaves from Day's Bay / Eastbourne and from Queen's Wharf in Wellington City. Only at certain times will the ferry stop at the island and only upon request.

$22

Takapuwahia Marae

The headquarters of the Ngati Toa tribe, who immigrated from the Waikato in the 1820s under Te Rauparaha; across the harbour, see the small historic reserve in Plimmerton where the Government captured him in 1846, and which seems to be in better condition than the ruins of the stone fort that was built in the same year at "Parramatta" (now the Ngatitoa Domain) but dismembered by an earthquake very soon after.

Satay Palace

Don't let the run-down décor fool you, ultra-cheap, excellent food and service.

Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and of Saint Mary His Mother, better known as Sacred Heart Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral church on Hill Street, Wellington, New Zealand. It is the parish church of the Thorndon Catholic parish (founded 1850) and the seat of the Archbishop of Wellington. The New Zealand Parliament is a close neighbour of the cathedral.

Built 1851

Gear Homestead

Gear Eatery and Bar

Historic home built for a meat magnate.

SS Hikitia

Hikitia is a self-propelled floating steam crane in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. She is thought to be the only working steam crane of her type in the world. She is also the sister ship to the Rapaki, formerly of the Port of Lyttelton, which was put on display at the New Zealand Maritime Museum after being taken out of service, and then scrapped in January 2019.

Elmscourt

An historic art deco apartment block.

Fort Ballance

Fort Ballance is a former coastal artillery battery on Point Gordon on Wellington's Miramar Peninsula. Built in 1885 following fears of an impending war with Russia, Fort Ballance is one of the best preserved of a string of nineteenth century coastal fortifications constructed to protect New Zealand from naval attack. In 1885, the Government, reluctantly acknowledging that they could not rely solely on Britain for protection, commissioned engineer Major Henry Cautley to design a series of fortifications to protect the country's main ports.

Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior (Māori: Te Toma o te Toa Matangaro) is part of the New Zealand National War Memorial on Buckle Street, Wellington. On 6 November 2004, the remains of an unknown New Zealand soldier were exhumed from the (CWGC) Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, and laid to rest in the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Wellington, New Zealand. He represents over 18,000 members of New Zealand forces who lost their lives during the First World War.