---
title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Wellington, New Zealand | Wimup"
description: "The 10 best things to do in Wellington, from Te Papa and the cable car to Zealandia, the Wētā Workshop tour and the Cuba Street coffee run. Mapped and ranked."
url: https://wimup.com/city/wellington
type: City guide
updated: 2026-10-05
publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com)
---

# Top 10 Things To Do in Wellington

Wellington, New Zealand · Oceania · By Wimup Editorial, 15 min read

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.

## 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.

## Quick facts

- **Best months:** Jan · Feb · Mar · Nov
- **Ideal length:** 3 days
- **Budget per day:** NZ$190–330
- **Language:** English, with te reo Māori also official
- **Getting around:** On foot, Metlink buses, trains and harbour ferries
- **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://www.wellingtonnz.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## The 10 best things to do in Wellington

### 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.

- **Time:** 3 to 4 hours
- **Cost:** Free for NZ residents, NZ$35 for international visitors 16+
- **Best at:** Weekday mornings
- **Tip:** The museum states it is open 10am to 6pm every day except Christmas Day, so a wet afternoon is never wasted here.

Links: [Te Papa](https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 30 minutes each way
- **Cost:** Ticketed, one way or return
- **Best at:** Late afternoon
- **Tip:** The operator says cars run every ten minutes and every day except Christmas Day. Buy a one way ticket and walk back down through the garden.

Links: [Wellington Cable Car](https://www.wellingtoncablecar.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 3 hours
- **Cost:** Ticketed, night tours booked separately
- **Best at:** First entry or after dark
- **Tip:** Hours change with the season and last entry is before closing, so check the day you are going. The night tour books out well ahead in summer.

Links: [Zealandia](https://www.visitzealandia.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 1 hour with the walk
- **Cost:** Free
- **Best at:** Clear evenings
- **Tip:** The lookout is fully exposed. On a southerly the wind at the top is a different proposition from the wind in the street, so take a layer you can zip.

### 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.

- **Time:** 90 minutes
- **Cost:** From NZ$59
- **Best at:** Book ahead
- **Tip:** Tours run between 8:45am and 4:45pm. The number 2 bus stops on Darlington Road, about 250 metres from the Wētā Cave.

Links: [Wētā Workshop](https://www.wetaworkshop.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 1 hour
- **Cost:** Free
- **Best at:** Weekday mornings
- **Tip:** Turn up about fifteen minutes before the hour. Security screening applies and large bags have to be left at the desk.

Links: [New Zealand Parliament](https://www.parliament.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 2 hours
- **Cost:** Free
- **Best at:** Late morning, or after dark
- **Tip:** The Bucket Fountain sits between Ghuznee and Manners. Stand upwind of it: soaking people is not a malfunction, it is the design.

### 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.

- **Time:** 90 minutes
- **Cost:** Free for NZ residents, charged for international visitors
- **Best at:** Any afternoon
- **Tip:** The museum states it opens 10am to 5pm seven days, closed Christmas Day. Pair it with the harbour walk to Te Papa rather than doing both museums back to back.

Links: [Museums Wellington](https://www.museumswellington.org.nz/wellington-museum/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** Half a day
- **Cost:** Ferry ticket, island entry free
- **Best at:** Calm mornings
- **Tip:** Ferry bookings are required. Bags are checked for stowaway pests at the wharf, so pack food in sealed containers.

Links: [DOC](https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/wellington-kapiti/places/matiu-somes-island/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) · [East by West Ferries](https://eastbywest.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 1 to 2 hours
- **Cost:** Free
- **Best at:** Late afternoon in summer
- **Tip:** The bay is sheltered from the prevailing northerly, so it is often calm when the quays two kilometres west are not.

## 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.

1. **Havana Coffee Works** (Roastery and cafe · 163 Tory Street · Te Aro): 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.
2. **Flight Coffee Hangar** (Cafe · 119 Dixon Street · Open 7 days, 7am to 2pm · Te Aro): 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 Coffee](https://flightcoffee.co.nz/pages/the-flight-coffee-hangar?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Customs Brew Bar** (Brew bar · 39 Ghuznee Street · Te Aro): 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.
4. **Peoples Coffee** (Roastery and cafe · Newtown): The Newtown roaster, trading in fair trade and organic beans since the early 2000s and supplying half the cafes in the southern suburbs.
5. **Midnight Espresso** (Cafe · Cuba Street · Te Aro): 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.
6. **Fidel's** (Cafe · Cuba Street · Te Aro): 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.

## 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.

1. **Garage Project Taproom** (Brewery taproom · 91 Aro Street · 18 taps · Aro Valley): 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.
2. **Golding's Free Dive** (Craft beer bar · Hannahs Laneway · Te Aro): 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.
3. **Little Beer Quarter** (Craft beer bar · Edward Street · Te Aro): 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.
4. **Heyday Beer Co** (Brewery and bar · 264 Cuba Street · Te Aro): 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.
5. **Rogue & Vagabond** (Craft beer bar · 18 Garrett Street · Te Aro): 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.
6. **Parrotdog Bar** (Brewery bar · 60-66 Kingsford Smith Street · Lyall Bay): 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.

## 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.

1. **Logan Brown** (Fine dining · 192 Cuba Street · Dinner from 5pm Wednesday to Sunday, lunch Friday from noon · Te Aro): 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 Brown](https://www.loganbrown.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Ortega Fish Shack** (Seafood · 16 Majoribanks Street · Tuesday to Saturday from 5.30pm · Mount Victoria): 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 Shack](https://www.ortega.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Rita** (Set menu · Aro Valley · 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.
4. **El Matador** (Argentinian grill · Cuba Street · Walk-in only · Te Aro): 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.
5. **Ombra** (Italian small plates · Cuba Street · Te Aro): 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.
6. **Charley Noble** (Grill and rotisserie · Central city · Wellington Central): 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.
7. **Floriditas** (All day dining · Cuba Street · Te Aro): 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.
8. **Loretta** (All day dining · Cuba Street · Te Aro): 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.

## 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.

1. **Space Place at Carter Observatory** (Planetarium · 40 Salamanca Road, Kelburn · 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 Wellington](https://www.museumswellington.org.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi** (Contemporary art · Te Ngākau Civic Square · Reopening 10 October 2026 · Wellington Central): 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 Gallery](https://citygallery.org.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Cable Car Museum** (Free · 1 Upland Road, Kelburn · 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 Wellington](https://www.museumswellington.org.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
4. **New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata** (Portraiture · Shed 11, Wellington waterfront · 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.
5. **Nairn Street Cottage** (Historic house · Nairn Street, Mount Cook · 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 Wellington](https://www.museumswellington.org.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## 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.

1. **Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā** (Free · Begonia House open 9am to 4pm daily · Kelburn): 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 Gardens](https://wellingtongardens.nz/our-gardens/wellington-botanic-garden-ki-paekaka?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Ōtari-Wilton's Bush** (Free · Visitor centre open 7am to 4pm daily · Wilton): 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 Gardens](https://wellingtongardens.nz/our-gardens/otari-wiltons-bush?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Mount Kaukau** (Free · 1 hour up from Khandallah · 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.
4. **Red Rocks and Sinclair Head** (Free · 2 hours return from Owhiro Bay · South coast): 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.
5. **The Southern Walkway** (Free · 11 km, 4 hours one way · Town belt): 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.
6. **Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park** (Free · Karori, 40 km of trails · Karori): Two hundred hectares of regenerating bush above Karori with forty kilometres of volunteer-built singletrack. Walkers are welcome on most of it.

## Best neighbourhoods in Wellington

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

1. **Te Aro and the Cuba quarter** (Cafes, bars, theatres · Central): 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.
2. **Thorndon** (Historic, government quarter · North of the centre): Wellington's oldest suburb: Parliament and the ministries, wooden villas on the hill behind, and Katherine Mansfield's birthplace on Tinakori Road.
3. **Newtown** (Food, markets, the zoo · South of the centre): The most mixed neighbourhood in the city: Ethiopian, Malaysian and Indian kitchens, second-hand shops, and Wellington Zoo at the southern end. [Wellington Zoo](https://www.wellingtonzoo.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
4. **Oriental Bay** (Beach, promenade · Harbour edge): 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.
5. **Miramar** (Film district · Eastern suburbs): 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.

## 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.

1. **Martinborough and the Wairarapa** (1.5 hours by car, or train to Featherston then bus · Wairarapa): 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.
2. **Days Bay and Eastbourne** (25 minute ferry from Queens Wharf · Eastern harbour): 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 Ferries](https://eastbywest.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Petone** (Metlink train, Hutt Valley line · Lower Hutt): 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.
4. **Kāpiti Coast** (Under 1 hour by train to Paraparaumu · Kāpiti): 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.
5. **Putangirua Pinnacles and Cape Palliser** (2.5 hours by car each way · South Wairarapa): 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.

## Festivals & annual events in Wellington

- **Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts** (February to March, biennial): The country's largest performing arts festival, held here every two years since 1986. The next edition falls in 2028.
- **New Zealand Fringe Festival** (February to March): Three weeks of theatre, comedy and dance in bars and basements. Uncurated by design, so tickets are cheap and the hit rate varies.
- **CubaDupa** (20 and 21 March 2027): Cuba Street closes for a free two-day festival of music, food stalls and processions. The biggest weekend on the calendar.
- **Newtown Festival** (March): A one-day street fair down Riddiford Street with stages and food from the neighbourhood's kitchens. Free to attend.
- **Matariki** (June or July): The Māori new year, marked at the star cluster's midwinter rising with dawn ceremonies and light installations. A public holiday.
- **Visa Wellington On a Plate** (May and August): New Zealand's largest culinary festival, in two editions. The August one carries Burger Wellington, a month of one-burger menus.
- **Beervana** (August): The country's biggest craft beer festival, held mid-August alongside Wellington On a Plate, with a weekend of one-off beers.
- **World of WearableArt** (September to October): A wearable art competition staged as full theatre, and the city's biggest ticketed event. GLO runs 17 September to 4 October 2026.

## Must-try dishes in Wellington, New Zealand

- **Flat white**: Espresso under steamed milk with a thin microfoam layer. Order it somewhere that roasts its own beans.
- **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.
- **Fish and chips**: The national takeaway, best eaten out of paper on the south coast. Ask what the shop landed that day.
- **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.
- **Pavlova**: A meringue with a crisp shell and marshmallow centre, under cream and passionfruit. Australia claims it.

## Wellington transport & airports

- **Wellington International Airport** (WLG): 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](https://www.wellingtonairport.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) · [Metlink Airport Express](https://www.metlink.org.nz/getting-started/airport-express?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **Metlink buses, trains and ferries** (Metlink): 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](https://www.metlink.org.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) · [Snapper](https://www.snapper.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **Cook Strait ferries** (Ferry): 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](https://www.interislander.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) · [Bluebridge](https://www.bluebridge.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **On foot and by cable car** (In town): 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](https://www.wellingtoncablecar.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Wellington at a glance

- **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

## 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.

## Watch

[Wellington Travel Guide](https://wimup.com/watch/wellington.md), 5:07

## 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.

## Nearby guides

- [Nelson](https://wimup.com/city/nelson.md): New Zealand · 10 picks
- [Napier](https://wimup.com/city/napier.md): New Zealand · 10 picks
- [Christchurch](https://wimup.com/city/christchurch.md): New Zealand · 10 picks
- [All of Oceania →](https://wimup.com/oceania): 24 cities

Part of the [New Zealand guide](https://wimup.com/country/new-zealand.md) · [Oceania](https://wimup.com/oceania.md)

## Sources

- [Wellington tourism board](https://www.wellingtonnz.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Te Papa Tongarewa: Te Papa](https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Wellington Cable Car: Wellington Cable Car](https://www.wellingtoncablecar.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne: Zealandia](https://www.visitzealandia.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Wētā Workshop Experience: Wētā Workshop](https://www.wetaworkshop.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [New Zealand Parliament and the Beehive: New Zealand Parliament](https://www.parliament.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Wellington Museum: Museums Wellington](https://www.museumswellington.org.nz/wellington-museum/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Matiu/Somes Island: DOC](https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/wellington-kapiti/places/matiu-somes-island/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Matiu/Somes Island: East by West Ferries](https://eastbywest.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Flight Coffee Hangar: Flight Coffee](https://flightcoffee.co.nz/pages/the-flight-coffee-hangar?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Logan Brown: Logan Brown](https://www.loganbrown.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Ortega Fish Shack: Ortega Fish Shack](https://www.ortega.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Space Place at Carter Observatory: Museums Wellington](https://www.museumswellington.org.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi: City Gallery](https://citygallery.org.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā: Wellington Gardens](https://wellingtongardens.nz/our-gardens/wellington-botanic-garden-ki-paekaka?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Ōtari-Wilton's Bush: Wellington Gardens](https://wellingtongardens.nz/our-gardens/otari-wiltons-bush?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Newtown: Wellington Zoo](https://www.wellingtonzoo.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Wellington International Airport: Wellington Airport](https://www.wellingtonairport.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Wellington International Airport: Metlink Airport Express](https://www.metlink.org.nz/getting-started/airport-express?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Metlink buses, trains and ferries: Metlink](https://www.metlink.org.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Metlink buses, trains and ferries: Snapper](https://www.snapper.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Cook Strait ferries: Interislander](https://www.interislander.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Cook Strait ferries: Bluebridge](https://www.bluebridge.co.nz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.