Wellington: Getting there & around

From Wellington airport (tel: 04 385 5100; www.wellington-airport.co.nz), Air New Zealand (tel: 0800 737 000; www.airnz.co.nz) offer direct domestic flights between Wellington and most major centres, including Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Rotorua and Quuenstown. Qantas (tel: 0800 808 767; www.qantas.co.nz; 2 Hunter St) also runs connections to/from Wellington to Auckland and Christchurch. Origin Pacific (tel: 0800 302 302; www.originpacific.co.nz) connects Wellington with Blenheim, Nelson and Christchurch and Soundsair (tel: 0800 505 005; www.soundsair.co.nz) runs services between Wellington and Picton, Kaikoura and Nelson via Blenheim. Holders of backpacker and student cards may be eligible for discounts.

There are two ferry companies running regular services across the strait between Wellington and Picton on the South Island, Bluebridge Ferries (tel: 0800 844 844; www.bluebridge.co.nz) and Interislander (tel: 0800 802 802; www.interislandler.co.nz. The crossing takes around three hours and you can take a car, motorbike, surfboard or bicycle across with you for an extra cost. Note that the Lynx high-speed catamaran ceased operating in April 2005.

Wellington is an important junction for bus travel, with buses north to Auckland and all major towns in between. InterCity (tel: 04 385 0520; www.intercitycoach.co.nz) and Newmans (tel: 04 385 0521; www.newmanscoach.co.nz) buses depart from Platform 9 at the train station. Tickets are sold at the travel centre in the train station. Kiwi Traveller (tel: 0800 500 100; www.kiwitraveller.co.nz) operates a daily service through the heart of the North Island, from Wellington north to Palmerston North (2.25hr), National Park (5.5hr), Taupo (7hr) and Rotorua (8hr).

Wellington train station has a travel centre (tel: 04 498 3000, ext 44324) that books and sells tickets for Tranz Scenic trains, Intercity buses, Interislander ferries, tours and more. Long-distance services operated by Tranz Scenic (tel: 0800 872 467; www.tranzscenic.co.nz) include the Overlander operating daily between Wellington and Auckland (12hr) and the Capital Connection , primarily a commuter service between Wellington and Palmerston North (2hr).

The Stagecoach Flyer (tel: 0800 801 700; www.stagecoach.co.nz/flyer) is a local bus running between the airport, Wellington city and Lower Hutt, calling at major stops.

Wellington has an efficient local bus system. Stagecoach (tel: 0800 801 700; www.stagecoach.co.nz/wellington), has frequent services from 07:00 - 23:30 on most routes. Most depart from the Lambton Quay interchange (beside the train station) and from the major bus stop on Courtenay Place at the intersection with Cambridge Terrace.

The City Circular ( 10:00 - 16:45 ) is the name given to the distinctive bright yellow buses that take in Wellington's prime inner-city locations, making it handy for travellers wishing to see the major sights. These buses loop the city every 15 minutes. The After Midnight Bus Service (tel: 0800 801 700) has buses departing from the central entertainment district (Courtenay Pl or Cuba St) until 03:00 Saturday and Sunday to a number of outer suburbs.

As well as the major car-hire companies, Wellington has a number of operators that will negotiate cheap deals, including Ace Rental Cars (tel: 0800 535 500; www.acerentalcars.co.nz), Apex Car Rental (tel: 0800 939 597; www.apexrentals.co.nz) and Omega Rental Cars (tel: 0800 667 722; www.omegarentals.com).

Taxi companies include Wellington Combined Taxis (tel: 0800 384 4444) and Wellington City Cabs (tel: 0800 388 8000).

Tranz Metro (tel: 0800 801 700; www.tranzmetro.co.nz) operates five suburban train routes. Trains run frequently from 06:00 - 24:00 , departing from Wellington train station.