Must-see attractions in Dunedin & Otago

Every evening the tykes from the Ōamaru blue penguin colony surf in and wade ashore, heading to their nests in an old stone quarry near the waterfront…

Although it's a youngster by European standards, this spectacular 1906 mansion provides a wonderful window into Dunedin's past. Entry is via fascinating…

Consisting of only a couple of blocks centred on Harbour and Tyne Sts, this atmospheric enclave has some of NZ’s best-preserved Victorian commercial…

Storytelling is the focus of this excellent interactive museum, which traces the history of human settlement i

What makes the improbably beautiful beaches of this coastal sheep farm different from other important wildlife habitats is that (apart from pest…

From the impressive visitor centre there are great views over this 307-hectare predator-free nature reserve, which encloses cloud forest on the…

Discover an alternative past – or maybe a quirky version of the future – at this fascinating art project celebrating steampunk culture. Ancient machines…

The most photogenic of Ophir's many heritage buildings is this still-functioning 1886 post office, the oldest continually operated post office in NZ. Drop…

Crammed with weird theatrical sculpture, papier-mâché masks and vintage curiosities, this former Victorian grain store houses an ever-changing cornucopia…

Taiaroa Head (Pukekura), at the peninsula’s northern tip, has the world’s only mainland royal albatross colony, along with a late 19th-century military…

Larger and much rarer than their little blue cousins, yellow-eyed penguins waddle ashore at Bushy Beach in the late afternoon from a day of fishing. In…

Featuring mosaic-tile floors and glorious stained-glass windows, Dunedin’s striking bluestone railway station (built between 1903 and 1906) claims to be…

The centrepiece of this august institution is Southern Land, Southern People, showcasing Otago’s cultural and physical past and present, from geology and…

Standing proudly on top of a hill overlooking the peninsula, this gorgeous Gothic Revival mansion was built in 1871 by Dunedin banker, merchant and Member…

This street proudly held the title of steepest street in the world until July 2019, when Ffordd Pen Llech in the Welsh town of Harlech was officially…

Oamaru’s main drag owes its expansive girth to the need to accommodate the minimum turning circle of a bullock cart. The town's grand pretensions reached…

When the Clyde Dam was completed in 1992 it flooded Cromwell's historic town centre – 280 homes, six farms and 17 orchards. Many historic buildings were…

Even in Presbyterian Dunedin, the 'established church' (aka the Church of England) gets the prime spot on The Octagon. A Romanesque portal leads into the…

Wander about the chilly workshop filled with lathes, drills and pulleys where inventor and engineer Ernest Hayes manufactured all manner of useful farm…

This impressive brick-and-glass structure is the flash home of Emerson's, the microbrewery founded by local-boy-made-good Richard Emerson in 1992. Forty…