Must-see attractions in Wellington

  • The Wellington Museum.

    Wellington Museum

    Wellington

    For an imaginative, interactive experience of Wellington’s social and maritime history, head to this bewitching little museum, inside an 1892 bond store…

  • Karori Reservoir Tower at Zealandia.

    Zealandia

    Wellington

    This groundbreaking ecosanctuary is nooked into a valley in the hills about 2km west of downtown Wellington. Living wild within the fenced, predator-free…

  • The Duck Pond at Wellington Botanic Gardens.

    Wellington Botanic Gardens

    Wellington

    These hilly, 25-hectare botanic gardens can be effortlessly visited via the Wellington Cable Car (nice bit of planning, eh?), although there are several…

  • View of Wellington harbor from Mount Victoria lookout in Wellington, New Zealand.

    Mt Victoria Lookout

    Wellington

    The city's most impressive viewpoint is atop 196m-high Mt Victoria (Matairangi), east of the city centre. You can take bus 20 most of the way up, but the…

  • Te Papa National Museum at Lambton Harbour.

    Te Papa

    Wellington

    New Zealand's national museum is hard to miss, taking up a sizeable chunk of the Wellington waterfront. ‘Te Papa Tongarewa’ loosely translates as …

  • Wellington, New Zealand - August 27, 2013: Front Entrance at Weta Cave; Shutterstock ID 306493316; Your name (First / Last): Lauren Gillmore; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online-Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: 65050/ Online Design /LaurenGillmore/POI

    Weta Workshop

    Wellington

    Academy Award–winning special-effects and props company Weta Workshop has been responsible for bringing the likes of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit,…

  • New Zealand Parliament

    Wellington

    New Zealand might be a young country but it has one of the oldest continuously functioning parliaments in the world and has chalked up more than its share…

  • City Gallery sign and entrance.

    City Gallery Wellington

    Wellington

    Housed in the monumental old library in Civic Sq (the new library is next door), Wellington’s much-loved City Gallery does a cracking job of securing…

  • Pukeahu National War Memorial Park

    Wellington

    It seems strangely fitting that NZ's National War Memorial should be a musical instrument and contain as its centrepiece not a statue of a soldier, but of…

  • St Mary of the Angels

    Wellington

    Closed for seismic strengthening and restoration from 2013 to 2017, this pretty Catholic parish church is looking downright heavenly. Built in 1922, it…

  • Bolton Street Cemetery

    Wellington

    Lost beneath a canopy of oak and pohutukawa, between freeway off-ramps and apartment towers, this fabulously dank and atmospheric remnant dates back to…

  • Otari-Wilton’s Bush

    Wellington

    The only botanic gardens in NZ specialising in native flora, Otari features more than 1200 plant species including an extant section of native bush…

  • Old St Paul's

    Wellington

    Designed by Rev Fred Thatcher, the first vicar of Wellington, this wonderfully woody former Anglican cathedral (1866) is well worth a look. Despite its…

  • Old Government Buildings

    Wellington

    Across the road from Parliament, this grand Italianate structure (1876) is the largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere, although it does a…

  • Space Place

    Wellington

    Inside the Carter Observatory at the top of the Botanic Gardens, this full-dome planetarium offers space-themed multimedia shows and stargazing sessions…

  • Petone Settlers Museum

    Wellington

    Built for the centenary of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1940, this gorgeous little art-deco building on the shell-strewn Petone foreshore contains a fun and…

  • Cable Car and view over Wellington city and harbour, Kelburn, Wellington, New Zealand

    Wellington Cable Car

    Wellington

    One of Wellington’s big-ticket attractions is the little red cable car that clanks up the slope from Lambton Quay to Kelburn. At the top are the…

  • National Library of New Zealand

    Wellington

    As well as being a wonderful resource for researchers, the National Library has various exhibition spaces including the Turnbull Gallery, displaying rare…

  • Dowse Art Museum

    Wellington

    A beacon of culture and delight, the excellent Dowse is worth visiting for its jaunty architecture alone. It’s a family-friendly, accessible art museum…

  • Wellington Cathedral of St Paul

    Wellington

    At 88m long and 18m high, this modern Anglican cathedral exudes quasi-Moorish architectural vibes inside its lofty interiors. It first opened its doors in…

  • Katherine Mansfield House & Garden

    Wellington

    Often compared to Chekhov and Maupassant, Katherine Mansfield was one of NZ’s most distinguished authors, who pushed the short-story form to uncharted…

  • Wellington Zoo

    Wellington

    Committed to conservation, research and captive breeding, Wellington Zoo is home to a menagerie of native and exotic wildlife, including lions and…

  • New Zealand Portrait Gallery

    Wellington

    Housed in a heritage red-brick warehouse on the waterfront, this estimable gallery presents a diverse range of NZ portraiture and caricature from its own…

  • Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

    Wellington

    Ngā Taonga is a vortex of NZ moving images into which you could get sucked for days. Its library holds tens of thousands of titles: feature films,…

  • Cable Car Museum

    Wellington

    The small-but-nifty Cable Car Museum tells the history of the Wellington cable car, arcing back to when it was built in 1902. Take the cable car back down…

  • Cable Car Lookout

    Wellington

    There's a terrific vantage point at the top of Wellington's cable car tracks. Ride up the hill, ogle the view over the city and Cook Strait, then wander…

  • Nairn Street Cottage

    Wellington

    Just a five-minute amble from the top of Cuba St, Wellington's oldest cottage (1858) has been carefully restored, complete with an organic garden and…

  • Academy Galleries

    Wellington

    The showcase of the esteemed New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts (founded 1882), the Academy Galleries presents frequently changing exhibitions by NZ artists…

  • New Zealand Cricket Museum

    Wellington

    Tucked under a stand at the Basin Reserve, the NZ Cricket Museum is a must-see for fans of the old game. It's only open during cricket matches or by…

  • Bucket Fountain

    Wellington

    Cuba Mall's landmark (and sneakily splashy) fountain mocks the surrounding commerce with its Zen-like tilt-and-pour processes. The kids (and the wandering…