The beating cultural heart of Napier is the smart-looking MTG – a gleaming-white museum-theatre-gallery space by the water. The MTG showcases live performances, film screenings and regularly changing gallery and museum displays (earthquake gallery, Māori heritage, social history), along with touring and local exhibitions. Napier's rather lovely public library (www.napierlibrary.co.nz) is here too (free wi-fi).
© EQRoy/Shutterstock
MTG Hawke’s Bay
Napier
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Te Mata Peak
14.69 MILES
Rising dramatically from the Heretaunga Plains 16km south of Havelock North, Te Mata Peak (399m) is part of the 1-sq-km Te Mata Trust Park. The summit…
Daily Telegraph Building
0.11 MILES
The Daily Telegraph is one of the stars of Napier's art-deco show, with superb zigzags, fountain shapes and a symmetrically patterned facade. If the front…
National Tobacco Company Building
1.3 MILES
Around the shore at Ahuriri, the National Tobacco Company Building (1932) is arguably the region’s deco masterpiece, combining art-deco forms with the…
Gannet Colony
14.01 MILES
The gaggling gannet colony at Cape Kidnappers – Te Kauwae-a-Māui to local Māori – is best visited between early November and late February, when the…
Black Barn Vineyards
12.72 MILES
This hip, inventive winery has a bistro, a gallery, a popular summer Saturday morning farmers market (one of the first in NZ) and an amphitheatre for…
Elephant Hill
9.52 MILES
There's plenty of great vineyard dining around Hawke's Bay, but copper-clad Elephant Hill in beachy Te Awanga is something special. Huge picture windows…
National Aquarium of New Zealand
0.8 MILES
Inside this modern complex with its stingray-inspired roof are piranhas, terrapins, eels, kiwi, tuatara and a whole lotta fish. Snorkellers can swim with…
Hastings City Art Gallery
11.44 MILES
The city's neat little gallery presents contemporary NZ (including Māori) and international art in a bright, purpose-built space. Expect some wacky stuff…
Nearby Napier attractions
1. Marine Parade
0.03 MILES
Napier's elegant seaside avenue is lined with huge Norfolk Island pines, and dotted with motels and charming timber villas. Along its length are parks,…
2. Pania of the Reef
0.08 MILES
A bronze statue of the sea-dwelling Pania, whose tale is long and heartbreaking – ask a local to regale you with her story or read the statue's plaque.
3. Tom Parker Fountain
0.09 MILES
A 1936 art-deco fountain named after a local gentlemen's outfitter of the day. Best viewed at night when it's flamboyantly lit.
4. Daily Telegraph Building
0.11 MILES
The Daily Telegraph is one of the stars of Napier's art-deco show, with superb zigzags, fountain shapes and a symmetrically patterned facade. If the front…
5. Sunken Gardens
0.18 MILES
An interesting historic curio (1969) along Napier's waterfront promenade with tidy floral arrangements set into the ground below street level. A pretty…
6. Napier Prison
0.37 MILES
On the run from the law? Assuage your guilt with a tour of the grim 1862 Napier Prison (the oldest in NZ) on the hill behind the town. There's a self…
7. Centennial Gardens
0.41 MILES
Whoa! A massive waterfall right in the middle of Napier! There may be an artificial pump system in play, but we don't mind – it's still an impressive…
8. Bluff Hill Lookout
0.72 MILES
The convoluted route to the top of Bluff Hill (102m) goes up and down like an elevator on speed (best to drive), but rewards intrepid mountaineers with…