Wellington Sights and Landmarks Guide, New Zealand

Wellington is essentially well-placed to start your New Zealand tour. As such, the capital city gives easy access to northern cities like Auckland, Napier, Palmerston or southern cities like Christchurch or Dunedin; the Harbor Capital, in addition, promises you enough sightseeing. Here we are grouping the many Wellington sights under specific headings so that you can make the most of your Wellington-break.

Wellington Sights – Cultural Attractions

First, there is Te Papa Museum, which gives you a comprehensive view of New Zealand’s history. The museum’s permanent exhibit is a complete-account of Maori settlement in New Zealand; besides, there are many temporary exhibitions.

The Colonial Cottage Museum throws light on the cultural/social life in the colonial era and gives a good understanding of the ways the immigrants adapted to their new home. The Museum of Wellington City And Sea is yet another museum that gives an insight into Wellington’s social history.

The Katherine Mansfield Birthplace is the other must-see cultural attraction of Wellington. The Victorian house, where the world-famous short stories writer was born, has been turned into a museum and here you get to see a video documentary on her life apart from other exhibits like photographs and excerpts of writings.

Among the other museums are Wellington Cable Car Museum and the New Zealand Film Archive. Besides visiting the cable car museum, a cable car trip is a must for the visitors.

Wellington city has some really famous art galleries like the Adam Art Gallery and the Wellington City Gallery. Besides exhibiting art-works of artists from New Zealand and abroad, these galleries also have architecture and graphic designs among the exhibits.

Wellington Sights – Historic Attractions

The Parliament Building at Corner Lambton Quay & Molesworth Streets, is a ‘must-see’ attraction. Historic importance apart, the blend of architectural styles of the buildings demands detailed inspection. Visit the Hall of the Edwardian neo-classical Parliament House, the Maori Affairs Select Committee Room, the modern beehive building and more.

The Government Buildings (at 15 Lambton Quay) and the National Archives of New Zealand (at 10 Mulgrave Stree) are worth exploring, too.

St. Paul’s Cathedral built in the 1860s is a good example of early colonial church architecture. The Gothic-styled cathedral, made of New Zealand timber, has a really stunning interior.

Wellington Sights – Natural Attractions

Wellington city has enough lush green belts to keep the city-air clean. One such green-pocket is the Belmont Regional Park – a winding valley full of twists and turns, ups and downs covered by gentle growth of native bush.

The Otari-Wilton’s Bush is another natural-draw of Wellington city. Much of this garden is uncultivated (about 90 acres, only 5 acres of land falls under cultivated garden area). Various avian species make their homes in the more than 90-meter high canopy of this garden. Another beautiful Wellington sight is the Wellington Botanic Garden spread over some 64 acres of land. Comprising mainly of cultivated gardens, the botanic garden is the home of many exotic and rare flora species.

Wellington Sights – Special Attractions

Speaking of Wellington’s special attractions, we must name Wellington Zoo first. A huge-hit among children as well as adults, the zoo has animal representatives of endangered species like sun bears and Sumatran tigers.

Capital E and Fly By Wire, though diametrically opposite in the kind of excitement they offer, are two oft-visited attractions of Wellington. (The former is a fun-zone and the latter is an adventure-zone.)

The Carter Observatory and Planetarium is ideal for a family-visit. Besides catching up on the Planetarium shows, you can also use the telescopes, explore the sky, and locate the celestial bodies.

email to a friendAsk our travel experts a question about Wellington
ask now

Things about Wellington you may be interested in

Be the first who requests a site listing for this page.

 

+ list your site

 

ReviewsTravel TipsWrite a reviewWrite a travel tip

 

 

Read our members' reviews about Wellington

No reviews have been added yet for this category. Be the first to add a new one.

 

Read our members' travel tips about Wellington

No travel tips have been added yet for this category. Be the first to add a new one.

 

 

Community

Members Who Have Been to Wellington

See who has been to Wellington and ask them a question (membership required)

JackRussel ask a question add to friends

hudson88 ask a question add to friends

norfolkjon ask a question add to friends

paddlequest ask a question add to friends

 

show all

 

 

the best travel deals provided by TravelZoo...