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Wellington, New Zealand, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)
Top 10OceaniaNew Zealand

Top 10 Things To Do in Wellington

Country
New Zealand
Best months
Jan · Feb · Mar · Nov
Population
~211K
Language
English
Budget / day
NZ$190–330
Quick answer

Start at Te Papa on the waterfront, then walk the quays to Parliament for the free hour-long tour and ride the cable car up to Kelburn, walking back down through the Botanic Garden. Give day two to Zealandia and Mount Victoria, day three to Miramar and the Wētā Workshop tour. Eat on Cuba Street, and pack a layer that cuts wind.

Wellington is the world's southernmost capital, wedged between a deep harbour and a ring of hills at the bottom of the North Island. There is no room to sprawl, so the centre crosses on foot in half an hour, and the national museum, Parliament and the cable car all sit inside that walk.

The 10 best things to do in Wellington

Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand (Wimup)
1

Te Papa Tongarewa

Museum· 55 Cable Street, Te Aro, Wellington

The national museum, and the one attraction here everyone agrees on. Six floors of Māori taonga, Pacific collections, natural history and New Zealand art on the waterfront. Free if you live in New Zealand, NZ$35 for international visitors over 16. Come early on a weekday for the Gallipoli figures.

Time3 to 4 hours
CostFree for NZ residents
Best atWeekday mornings
TipThe museum states it is open 10am to 6pm every day except Christmas Day
↗ Te PapaMap
Wellington Cable Car, Wellington, New Zealand (Wimup)
2

Wellington Cable Car

Landmark· 280 Lambton Quay (Cable Car Lane), Wellington Central

New Zealand's oldest funicular, running since 1902 and climbing 120 vertical metres from Lambton Quay to Kelburn in five minutes. It is a working commuter line, so cars leave every ten minutes. Ride up for the view, then walk down through the Botanic Garden instead of paying twice.

Time30 minutes each way
CostTicketed, one way or return
Best atLate afternoon
TipThe operator says cars run every ten minutes and every day except Christmas Day
↗ Wellington Cable CarMap
3

Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne

Nature· 53 Waiapu Road, Karori, Wellington

A 225-hectare valley ten minutes from Parliament, sealed behind a predator-proof fence and given back to the birds. The results have leaked: kākā and tūī bred inside now turn up in suburban gardens across the city. Daylight for the reservoir walk, or book a night tour to see a wild kiwi.

Time3 hours
CostTicketed
Best atFirst entry or after dark
TipHours change with the season and last entry is before closing
↗ ZealandiaMap
4

Mount Victoria Lookout

Viewpoint· Lookout Road, Mount Victoria, Wellington

Matairangi rises 196 metres straight out of the eastern edge of the centre, and the platform on top gives the full 360: harbour, city grid, Miramar peninsula and the runway that runs from water to water. Twenty minutes up through the town belt from Oriental Bay, or bus 20 covers most of the climb.

Time1 hour with the walk
CostFree
Best atClear evenings
TipThe lookout is fully exposed
Map
5

Wētā Workshop Experience

Tour· 1 Weka Street, Miramar, Wellington

The workshop behind the props and creatures of The Lord of the Rings, Avatar and Black Panther runs 90-minute guided tours from the Wētā Cave in Miramar, seven days a week. Crew members walk you through how the pieces were made, hands-on rather than behind glass. From NZ$59.

Time90 minutes
CostFrom NZ$59
Best atBook ahead
TipTours run between 8:45am and 4:45pm
↗ Wētā WorkshopMap
6

New Zealand Parliament and the Beehive

Landmark· Molesworth Street, Pipitea, Wellington

Three buildings from three centuries in a row: the wooden Parliamentary Library of 1899, the marble of Parliament House, and the Beehive. Free guided tours run daily from the Beehive foyer, take an hour and reach the debating chamber. No booking needed, and none on public holidays.

Time1 hour
CostFree
Best atWeekday mornings
TipTurn up about fifteen minutes before the hour
↗ New Zealand ParliamentMap
Cuba Street, Wellington, New Zealand (Wimup)
7

Cuba Street

Neighbourhood· Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington

The pedestrianised blocks hold the record shops, tattooists, late cafes and the Bucket Fountain, a 1969 sculpture that has been tipping water on passers-by ever since. It is the best street in the city to eat and drink on, and it closes entirely each March for CubaDupa.

Time2 hours
CostFree
Best atLate morning, or after dark
TipThe Bucket Fountain sits between Ghuznee and Manners
Map
Wellington Museum, Wellington, New Zealand (Wimup)
8

Wellington Museum

Museum· 3 Jervois Quay, Queens Wharf, Wellington Central

The city's own museum, in the 1892 Bond Store on the waterfront. Four floors tell Wellington rather than New Zealand: the harbour that made it, the 1968 Wahine disaster, and the Māori legends of the place in a small theatre upstairs. Ninety minutes, the right size next to Te Papa.

Time90 minutes
CostFree for NZ residents
Best atAny afternoon
TipThe museum states it opens 10am to 5pm seven days
↗ Museums WellingtonMap
9

Matiu/Somes Island

Nature· Wellington Harbour, ferry from Queens Wharf

An island in the middle of the harbour that has been a quarantine station and a wartime internment camp, and is now a reserve. Pests were cleared decades ago, so tuatara, kākāriki, little blue penguins and wētā live here in the open. A loop track circles it in an hour.

TimeHalf a day
CostFerry ticket
Best atCalm mornings
TipFerry bookings are required
↗ DOC↗ East by West FerriesMap
Oriental Bay, Wellington, New Zealand (Wimup)
10

The waterfront walk to Oriental Bay

Walk· Waterfront promenade to Oriental Parade, Wellington

A flat, car-free promenade runs from the ferry terminal past Te Papa and the diving platforms to Oriental Bay, the city beach that faces the afternoon sun. Forty minutes end to end, and where Wellington runs, swims and eats ice cream. The water is genuinely swimmable in summer.

Time1 to 2 hours
CostFree
Best atLate afternoon in summer
TipThe bay is sheltered from the prevailing northerly
Map

8 of the 10, mapped

Wellington · 8 spots
AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Wellington travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Wellington?+
Three. One for the waterfront, Te Papa and Parliament, ending with the cable car. One for Zealandia and Mount Victoria. One for Miramar and Wētā Workshop, or the ferry out to Matiu/Somes Island. Two covers the centre if you skip the sanctuary.
Is Wellington walkable?+
The centre is, unusually so: two kilometres from the railway station to Courtenay Place with the museums, Parliament and Cuba Street inside it. What is not walkable is the vertical, since the suburbs climb the moment the flat land runs out. The cable car handles the steepest of it.
Is Te Papa free?+
Free for anyone living in New Zealand. International visitors aged 16 and over pay NZ$35, and some special exhibitions are ticketed separately. Open 10am to 6pm daily except Christmas Day. Allow three to four hours: the war galleries are the ones people underestimate.
When is the best time to visit Wellington?+
January to March. Summer runs warm rather than hot, typically 19 to 24 degrees, and the city spends it outdoors. November is quieter and still reliable. June and July are the wettest. The wind is constant in every season, so pack a layer that cuts it.
How do you get from Wellington Airport to the city?+
The airport is 5.5 km southeast of the centre and the drive takes about 17 minutes. Metlink runs the Airport Express bus on a flat fare, payable with a Snapper card or by tapping a debit or credit card, phone or watch. Taxis and ride-hailing services work the rank outside arrivals. There is no rail link to the terminal.
The city runs on it

Best coffee and cafes in Wellington

Wellington roasts its own and argues about it. Six cafes and roasteries worth crossing town for, all within a short walk of Cuba Street except the Newtown one.
Te Aro

Havana Coffee Works

Roastery and cafe · 163 Tory Street

Roasting in Wellington since 1989, behind a shopfront painted like nothing else on the street. The cafe sits alongside the roastery, so the beans were done metres away.

Map
Te Aro

Flight Coffee Hangar

Cafe · 119 Dixon Street · Open 7 days, 7am to 2pm

The flagship cafe of the Flight roastery, off Cuba Street. Everything is weighed and timed, the filter list is single origin, and the brunch holds up.

↗ Flight CoffeeMap
Te Aro

Customs Brew Bar

Brew bar · 39 Ghuznee Street

A narrow bar with a deliberately short menu: espresso and filter on Coffee Supreme beans, and very little else. Order a flat white standing up.

Map
Newtown

Peoples Coffee

Roastery and cafe

The Newtown roaster, trading in fair trade and organic beans since the early 2000s and supplying half the cafes in the southern suburbs.

Map
Te Aro

Midnight Espresso

Cafe · Cuba Street

The Cuba Street survivor, trading since 1988 and open when everything else has shut. Vegetarian food, strong coffee, a crowd from students to shift workers.

Map
Te Aro

Fidel's

Cafe · Cuba Street

A Cuba Street fixture with a courtyard out the back. Big breakfasts, unhurried service, and one of the few tables where nobody minds how long you sit.

Map
Craft beer capital

Best craft beer bars in Wellington

Wellington brews more beer per head than anywhere else in the country and drinks it in small rooms. Six taprooms and bars, five of them in the central grid, one worth the bus to the coast.
Aro Valley

Garage Project Taproom

Brewery taproom · 91 Aro Street · 18 taps

The brewery that pushed New Zealand beer past the pale ale, in a converted petrol station in Aro Valley with eighteen taps of whatever is being trialled.

Map
Te Aro

Golding's Free Dive

Craft beer bar · Hannahs Laneway

A small, loud, cheerfully cluttered bar in Hannahs Laneway, with a rotating tap list and pizza from next door. Where locals send a visitor with one night.

Map
Te Aro

Little Beer Quarter

Craft beer bar · Edward Street

Down Edward Street, dark and low-ceilinged, with a list leaning on New Zealand independents. The option here if you want a conversation rather than a queue.

Map
Te Aro

Heyday Beer Co

Brewery and bar · 264 Cuba Street

A brewery and bar on upper Cuba Street, mint green outside and impossible to walk past. Brewed on the premises, with a food menu built to go with it.

Map
Te Aro

Rogue & Vagabond

Craft beer bar · 18 Garrett Street

A corner bar on Garrett Street with a grass frontage that becomes an outdoor room the moment the sun holds. Live music most nights and big pizzas.

Map
Lyall Bay

Parrotdog Bar

Brewery bar · 60-66 Kingsford Smith Street

The Lyall Bay brewery bar out by the south coast: beer at the source, then a beach a block away with the airport approach directly overhead.

Map
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Wellington

Eight restaurants across the price range, from a Cuba Street institution to a thirty-seat cottage in Aro Valley. Book the first four; the rest take walk-ins more often than not.
Te Aro

Logan Brown

Fine dining · 192 Cuba Street · Dinner from 5pm Wednesday to Sunday, lunch Friday from noon

The city's benchmark fine-dining room, on Cuba Street, built on New Zealand produce and a wine list that takes the country seriously. The occasion booking.

↗ Logan BrownMap
Mount Victoria

Ortega Fish Shack

Seafood · 16 Majoribanks Street · Tuesday to Saturday from 5.30pm

A cluttered, warm seafood room in Mount Victoria, walls covered in fish prints and the menu driven by what the boats landed. Order what you cannot name.

↗ Ortega Fish ShackMap
Aro Valley

Rita

Set menu · Aro Valley

Thirty seats in an old cottage in Aro Valley, one set menu a night, no choosing. The most talked-about table in Wellington and the hardest to get.

Map
Te Aro

El Matador

Argentinian grill · Cuba Street · Walk-in only

Argentinian asado over wood, on Cuba Street since 2012 and walk-in only, which means a queue on a Friday. Go early and expect it to take as long as it takes.

Map
Te Aro

Ombra

Italian small plates · Cuba Street

A Venetian bàcaro on Cuba Street: cicchetti at the bar, pasta at the tables, Italian wine by the glass. Built for eating standing up on the way somewhere.

Map
Wellington Central

Charley Noble

Grill and rotisserie · Central city

A big central dining room built around a wood-fired grill and rotisserie, in a heritage building near the waterfront. Works for a long lunch or a table of eight.

Map
Te Aro

Floriditas

All day dining · Cuba Street

A Cuba Street all-day room that has fed the neighbourhood for years: brunch that queues, a bakery counter at the front, and a dinner menu that stays simple on purpose.

Map
Te Aro

Loretta

All day dining · Cuba Street

The lighter sibling a few doors along, with a courtyard at the back and vegetable-forward plates. The best daytime table on the street when the sun is out.

Map
Beyond Te Papa

Best museums and galleries in Wellington

Five more collections, none of them large, all within a cable car ride or a short walk of the centre. Read the note on City Gallery before you plan around it.
Space Place at Carter ObservatoryKelburn

Space Place at Carter Observatory

Planetarium · 40 Salamanca Road, Kelburn

The city planetarium, inside the Botanic Garden at the top of the cable car. Sessions cover the southern sky, and the Thomas Cooke telescope is still in the dome.

↗ Museums WellingtonMap
Wellington Central

City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi

Contemporary art · Te Ngākau Civic Square · Reopening 10 October 2026

The contemporary art gallery, in Te Ngākau Civic Square since 1980. Closed for strengthening until 10 October 2026, with its exhibitions at the National Library.

↗ City GalleryMap
Cable Car MuseumKelburn

Cable Car Museum

Free · 1 Upland Road, Kelburn

The original 1902 winding house at the top station, with two early grip cars and the machinery that hauled them. Small, free, fifteen minutes.

↗ Museums WellingtonMap
New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga WhakaataWaterfront

New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata

Portraiture · Shed 11, Wellington waterfront

A single-room gallery in Shed 11 on the waterfront, showing New Zealanders painted and photographed by New Zealanders. Half an hour, rotating every few months.

Map
Nairn Street CottageMount Cook

Nairn Street Cottage

Historic house · Nairn Street, Mount Cook

The oldest original cottage standing in Wellington, built in 1858 and lived in by three generations of the Wallis family. Limited opening, so check first.

↗ Museums WellingtonMap
Green belt and coast

Best walks and lookouts in Wellington

Wellington is ringed by a town belt and open coast, and six of the best walks start inside the bus network. None of these needs a car.
Wellington Botanic Garden ki PaekākāKelburn

Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā

Free · Begonia House open 9am to 4pm daily

Twenty-five hectares of free hillside between the cable car and Thorndon, with the Lady Norwood Rose Garden at the bottom. The standard way down from Kelburn.

↗ Wellington GardensMap
Ōtari-Wilton's BushWilton

Ōtari-Wilton's Bush

Free · Visitor centre open 7am to 4pm daily

The only public botanic garden in New Zealand given entirely to native plants, on a valley of original forest in Wilton. Free, and quieter than anything here.

↗ Wellington GardensMap
Khandallah

Mount Kaukau

Free · 1 hour up from Khandallah

The transmitter mast visible from most of the city marks the highest point north of the centre. An hour's climb from Khandallah buys the widest view in Wellington.

Map
South coast

Red Rocks and Sinclair Head

Free · 2 hours return from Owhiro Bay

A coastal track west from Owhiro Bay over red pillow lava to a winter haul-out of male fur seals. Flat, exposed, about two hours return.

Map
Town belt

The Southern Walkway

Free · 11 km, 4 hours one way

Eleven kilometres from Oriental Bay over Mount Victoria to Island Bay on the south coast. It shows how narrow the city is, and buses run back from either end.

Map
Makara Peak Mountain Bike ParkKarori

Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park

Free · Karori, 40 km of trails

Two hundred hectares of regenerating bush above Karori with forty kilometres of volunteer-built singletrack. Walkers are welcome on most of it.

Map
Where to spend an afternoon

Best neighbourhoods in Wellington

Five districts that each read as a different city. All are inside a twenty-minute bus ride of the centre.
Te Aro and the Cuba quarterCentral

Te Aro and the Cuba quarter

Cafes, bars, theatres

The dense southern half of the centre, where most of this guide happens: Cuba and Ghuznee Streets for eating, Courtenay Place for theatres and late bars.

Map
ThorndonNorth of the centre

Thorndon

Historic, government quarter

Wellington's oldest suburb: Parliament and the ministries, wooden villas on the hill behind, and Katherine Mansfield's birthplace on Tinakori Road.

Map
South of the centre

Newtown

Food, markets, the zoo

The most mixed neighbourhood in the city: Ethiopian, Malaysian and Indian kitchens, second-hand shops, and Wellington Zoo at the southern end.

↗ Wellington ZooMap
Harbour edge

Oriental Bay

Beach, promenade

The seaside edge of the centre, a curve of imported sand backed by the cafes of Oriental Parade. Wellington swims here in summer and runs here all year.

Map
Eastern suburbs

Miramar

Film district

The film peninsula, twenty minutes east of the centre: Wētā Workshop, the studios around it and the restored Roxy cinema. A working suburb, not a set.

Map
Out of the city

Best day trips in Wellington

Five trips beyond the town belt, four of them reachable on a Metlink train or the harbour ferry. Only the last one really wants a car.
Martinborough and the WairarapaWairarapa

Martinborough and the Wairarapa

1.5 hours by car, or train to Featherston then bus

A wine village ninety minutes over the Remutaka hill, with twenty-odd wineries close enough to the square to reach on foot or by bike. Pinot noir is the draw.

Map
Days Bay and EastbourneEastern harbour

Days Bay and Eastbourne

25 minute ferry from Queens Wharf

The East by West ferry crosses from Queens Wharf in 25 minutes to a beach with a wharf, a pontoon and bikes for hire. Walk on to Eastbourne village.

↗ East by West FerriesMap
Lower Hutt

Petone

Metlink train, Hutt Valley line

A short train ride up the harbour to a Victorian high street: Jackson Street runs a kilometre and a half of cafes, breweries and antique shops.

Map
Kāpiti CoastKāpiti

Kāpiti Coast

Under 1 hour by train to Paraparaumu

Under an hour by train to Paraparaumu for a long flat beach with Kāpiti Island offshore. The island is a reserve reached only with a permitted operator.

Map
Putangirua Pinnacles and Cape PalliserSouth Wairarapa

Putangirua Pinnacles and Cape Palliser

2.5 hours by car each way

A long day south: eroded badland spires in a river valley, then the North Island's southernmost point, a lighthouse up 250 steps and seals below.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Wellington

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
February to March, biennial

Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts

The country's largest performing arts festival, held here every two years since 1986. The next edition falls in 2028.

February to March

New Zealand Fringe Festival

Three weeks of theatre, comedy and dance in bars and basements. Uncurated by design, so tickets are cheap and the hit rate varies.

20 and 21 March 2027

CubaDupa

Cuba Street closes for a free two-day festival of music, food stalls and processions. The biggest weekend on the calendar.

March

Newtown Festival

A one-day street fair down Riddiford Street with stages and food from the neighbourhood's kitchens. Free to attend.

June or July

Matariki

The Māori new year, marked at the star cluster's midwinter rising with dawn ceremonies and light installations. A public holiday.

May and August

Visa Wellington On a Plate

New Zealand's largest culinary festival, in two editions. The August one carries Burger Wellington, a month of one-burger menus.

August

Beervana

The country's biggest craft beer festival, held mid-August alongside Wellington On a Plate, with a weekend of one-off beers.

September to October

World of WearableArt

A wearable art competition staged as full theatre, and the city's biggest ticketed event. GLO runs 17 September to 4 October 2026.

Getting around

Wellington transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
WLG

Wellington International Airport

Rongotai, 5.5 km southeast of the centre on a single runway between two beaches, about 17 minutes by road. Metlink's Airport Express runs a flat fare, and taxis work the rank outside arrivals.

↗ Wellington Airport↗ Metlink Airport ExpressMap
Metlink

Metlink buses, trains and ferries

One network for city buses, five suburban rail lines and the harbour ferry. Pay with a Snapper card or by tapping a card, phone or watch. A peak adult fare from Karori into the CBD is $4.67.

↗ Metlink↗ Snapper
Ferry

Cook Strait ferries

Two operators cross to Picton in about three and a half hours. Interislander sails from Aotea Quay with a shuttle from the railway station; Bluebridge berths directly behind it.

↗ Interislander↗ BluebridgeMap
In town

On foot and by cable car

The central city is two kilometres end to end and almost everything here sits inside it. The catch is vertical: the cable car covers the steepest climb, the waterfront gives you a flat spine.

↗ Wellington Cable Car
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Wellington, New Zealand

The classics to order before you leave.
Flat white, Wellington (Wimup travel guide)

Flat white

Espresso under steamed milk with a thin microfoam layer. Order it somewhere that roasts its own beans.

Fish and chips, Wellington (Wimup travel guide)

Fish and chips

The national takeaway, best eaten out of paper on the south coast. Ask what the shop landed that day.

Pavlova, Wellington (Wimup travel guide)

Pavlova

A meringue with a crisp shell and marshmallow centre, under cream and passionfruit. Australia claims it.

Green-lipped mussels

A shellfish found nowhere else, large and sweet, steamed in white wine and garlic or turned into chowder.

Whitebait fritter

Tiny native fish bound in barely any egg and fried flat, eaten with lemon. Strictly seasonal and expensive.

Mince and cheese pie

A hand-sized pastry of seasoned mince under melted cheese, and a serious national pie-awards category.

Hāngī

Meat and root vegetables cooked for hours in an earth oven over hot stones. Mostly eaten here at festivals.

Hokey pokey ice cream

Vanilla studded with honeycomb toffee, invented here and still the country's second most sold flavour.

Wellington fact sheet

Wellington at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
New Zealand
Region
Wellington region, at the southern tip of the North Island
Population
About 210,800 in the city (Stats NZ estimate, 2025), with roughly 434,000 across the wider metropolitan area
Founded
1840 as a New Zealand Company settlement, and the national capital since 1865
Nickname
Pōneke, and Windy Wellington
Language
English, with te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language also official
Currency
New Zealand dollar (NZD, $)
Time zone
NZST, UTC+12, moving to UTC+13 for daylight saving from late September to early April
Calling code
+64, with 04 as the local area code
Airports
Wellington International (WLG), Rongotai, 5.5 km from the centre
Power
230V, 50Hz, type I sockets
Emergency
111 for police, fire and ambulance
Ideal length
3 days
Getting around
On foot, Metlink buses, trains and harbour ferries
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • Wellington is the southernmost capital of a sovereign state anywhere, which is why the midwinter light goes long by mid-afternoon.
  • The cable car has run since 1902, climbing 120 metres from Lambton Quay to Kelburn. It is the oldest funicular in New Zealand.
  • The city is regularly ranked among the windiest in the world, above 26 km/h on average. Cook Strait funnels air between two oceans.
  • Zealandia is a 225-hectare valley behind a predator-proof fence, and birds bred inside it now turn up in gardens across the suburbs.
  • New Zealand's film industry clusters in Miramar, where Wētā Workshop opens its doors on props made for The Lord of the Rings and Avatar.

Headed to Wellington?

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