Sights and landmarks in Wellington

390 sights worth seeing in Wellington: landmarks, galleries, monuments and viewpoints.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first. Showing the top 40 of 390.

Photo: Phillip Capper, CC BY 2.0 (licence)

SeeMuseumCity
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Te Papa
New Zealand's national museum contains interesting exhibitions on the country's history and culture and includes several shops. It has the only complete colossal squid on display.
Daily 10AM-6PM, closed 25 Dec · Free for NZ citizens (except for the occasional special presentation), $35 for 48hr international visitor ticket · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible
SeeArt galleryCity
City Gallery
Runs a consistently avant-garde set of exhibits, with no permanent collection. In it's usual location has an excellent café, Nikau, attached to it.
Tue-Fri 10AM-5PM, Sat 9AM-1PM · Wheelchair accessible
SeeMuseumCity
Wellington Museum
formerly Museum of Wellington City & Sea
A well-presented museum of the history of Wellington, including its maritime history.
Daily 10AM-5PM, closed 25 Dec · Free for NZ residents, $16 for international visitors · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible
SeeAttractionCity
Zealandia
Karori Wildlife Sanctuary
A predator-proof fence encloses an old water catchment area, forming a mainland island that provides a natural haven for endangered native birds, tuatara, wētā, and other indigenous flora and fauna, safe from introduced predators. By far the most convenient place in the country to see rare New Zealand wildlife.
Daily 9AM-4:30PM (last entry 4PM), closed 25 Dec · Adult $26, child (5-17) $10, more for guided day tours & night tours · Limited wheelchair access · Wheelchair accessible
SeeAstronomy museumCity
Carter Observatory
Space Place
Offers a state of the art planetarium show, along with multimedia exhibits that show how early Māori, Polynesian and European settlers navigated their way to New Zealand.
Daily 10AM-5PM · $18 · Wheelchair accessible
SeeAttractionCity
Bucket Fountain
a real splash, for many years. The Bucket Fountain is an iconic kinetic sculpturet. It consists of a series of "buckets" that fill with water until they tip, spilling their load into the buckets and pool below. The fountain was designed by Burren and Keen and erected in 1969.
Wheelchair accessible
SeeCastleCity
Wrights Hill
More views, and World War II underground tunnels which are open to the public on public holidays for a small fee.
Open 4 days per year · $10
SeeMuseumCity
New Zealand Portrait Gallery
The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata is an art gallery in the Waterfront Shed 11 building in Wellington, New Zealand.
daily 10:30AM - 4:30PM · free · Free entry · Built 1905
SeeHistoric buildingCity
Turnbull House
This imposing brick mansion now seems small and out of place amongst the surrounding high-rises. It is closed for renovation.
SeeMemorialCity
Massey Memorial
An interesting place to go if you want to see a large memorial in the middle of nowhere, with a good view of the surrounding harbour. The memorial's namesake is William Massey, Prime Minister of New Zealand between 1912 and 1925.
SeeLibraryCity
National Library of New Zealand
The library regularly holds exhibitions.
Mo-Fr 09:00-17:00; Sa 09:00-13:00; PH closed
SeeMemorialCity
Pukeahu National War Memorial Park
A tall Art Deco carillon was dedicated in 1932, the Hall of Memories opened in 1964, and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior was built in 2004. There are Australian, Belgian, French, Turkish, UK and US memorials and some sculptures in the wider park, which was opened in 2015.
Park always open; National War Memorial interior daily 10AM-5PM · Free
SeeMuseumCity
Nairn Street Cottage
Preserved cottage built in 1858 and kept in the same family until it became a museum, with an exhibition on its history. The small garden is open every day..
daily tours at noon, 2PM, and 3PM · $8
SeeAttractionCity
Brooklyn Wind Turbine
Another great place to go to get an excellent view of the city, the harbour, and Cook Strait, plus experience the wind! The current turbine was installed in 2016 and is the second on the site; the first was erected in 1993 to test the potential of turning Wellington's infamous wind into electricity.
SeeHistoric siteCity
Parliament Buildings
Home of New Zealand's lawmakers and leaders, the complex consists of four building: the Beehive (or Executive Wing), Parliament House, the Parliamentary Library and Bowen House. The grounds of Parliament are open to the public, and free tours of the buildings are available from the visitor centre located between the Beehive and Parliament House. Depending on parliamentary business, tours may include a visit to the House of Representatives debating chamber and the Select Committee rooms. For security reasons, you need to leave all your belongings at the visitor centre and clear a checkpoint.
SeeHistoric siteCity
Old Government Buildings
This is the largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere and the second-largest in the world. It is now the home of Victoria University Law School.
SeeArchaeological siteCity
Plimmer's Ark
In 1883, a bank was built on top of a wrecked ship that had been built in Nova Scotia in 1848, and had been used as a market. When they renovated the building, they discovered the ship's timbers and preserved the remains in the building. Take the escalator down through the bank vault doors.
Mon-Fri 9:30AM-5PM, Sat 10AM-4PM, Sun 11AM-3PM
SeeCity
Cathedral of St Paul
Large Anglican church built between 1954 and 1998. The cathedral is a relatively plain design, made of reinforced concrete, and has some fine stained glass. A farmer's market is held in the car park on Saturday mornings.
Mon-Fri 10AM-5PM, Sat 10AM-4PM, Sun 8AM-4PM; services Sun 8AM, 10AM, 4PM
SeeCity
Katherine Mansfield Birthplace
The Victorian house where the author Katherine Mansfield was born, and lived for her first five years. The house is furnished as it would have been in the 1890s.
Tue-Sun 10AM-4PM · $10
SeeCity
National Tattoo Museum of New Zealand
History of tattooing in New Zealand and the Pacific, especially traditional Maori tattooing. Shown in just two rooms attached to a tattoo studio. One of Wellington's least museums.
Fri Sat noon-8PM, Sun-Thu noon-5:30PM · Free (the sign at the entrance about payment relates to getting a tattoo)
SeeCity
Old St Paul's
This was the Anglican centre for decades. Superseded by the new cathedral north of Parliament, this one is popular for weddings and funerals.
Daily 9:30AM-5PM · Donation, tours $5
SeePorirua
Pataka Art + Museum
A museum and art gallery. There is a Japanese Garden (contributed by sister city Nishio) and at the adjacent public library you can see one of the North Island's best genealogical collections.
Daily 10AM-5PM · Free
SeeCity
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court was established in 2004 to replace the UK Privy Council as New Zealand's highest court, and primarily hears appeals from the Court of Appeal (New Zealand's second-highest court). The Supreme Court complex was completed in 2010, extending on and incorporating the old 1879-built High Court building. The building is open to the public, but you can only look at the courtroom through a window. If you want to see inside the courtroom, join a free tour available three times a week.
Mon–Fri 9AM–5PM
SeeCity
Wellington Cable Car
From Lambton Quay (next to the McDonald's). The easiest way to get a nice view of the city and harbour, the Cable Car runs on rails from Lambton Quay to the Botanic Garden in Kelburn every ten minutes.
Mon–Fri 7AM-10PM, shorter hours at weekends & around Christmas & New Year · Adult $4 one way, $7.50 return. Concession prices are available for children, students and senior citizens over 65
SeeRailway museumCity
Cable Car Museum
1A Upland Road, Kelburn
Daily 9AM-5PM, closed 25 Dec · Free · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible
SeeHistory museumCity
Holocaust Centre of New Zealand
A small museum.
Sun-Fri 10AM-1PM · Free · Free entry
SeeCity
Matiu/Somes Island
Out in the middle of the harbour, this island has its share of history. It was once a quarantine station for immigrants, and later (and more extensively) for animals. It was also an internment camp for "dangerous" individuals during both world wars. The island is a nature reserve managed by the DOC, bio-security bag inspections on arrival and a small exhibition. The animal quarantine station and some wartime defences can be explored, there are good harbour views, but the wildlife is the main attraction. Bring food in sealed containers and something to drink as there are no shops. There is a campsite and two bachs which need to be booked in advance.
Ferry $25
SeeLower Hutt
Matiu/Somes Island
Out in the middle of the harbour, this island has its share of history. It was once a quarantine station for immigrants, and later (and more extensively) for animals. It was also an internment camp for "dangerous" individuals during both world wars. The ferry leaves from Day's Bay / Eastbourne and from Queen's Wharf in Wellington City. Only at certain times will the ferry stop at the island and only upon request.
$22
SeeCity
Weta Workshop
The studio that made the hit movie trilogy The Lord of the Rings. Tours must be booked online in advance. Also features a gift shop where you can buy Lord of the Rings memorabilia.
SeeCity
Central Fire Station
Fire station (still in use) designed by Cyril H Mitchell of Mitchell & Mitchell in 1935, which includes the clock from the old Town Hall. Fountain Court, 10-48 Oriental Parade, a three-storey block of flats, a few doors towards the sea was built in 1938.
SeePorirua
Colonial Knob
It may get snow in winter but at other times is a rewarding few hours' walk for great views of Cook Strait and beyond.
SeeCity
Mount Kaukau
455 m high, and easily recognisable by the 122-metre television transmitter atop it. A great lookout point, but not as close to the city as Mt Victoria.
SeeCity
Mount Victoria
196 m high, this is the best lookout in Wellington. The full 360-degree view is a great place to see the airport, the harbour, the CBD and the Town Belt with just a turn of the head. It takes about an hour to walk up from Courtenay Place. Many tourist buses go there but also a lot of the locals, especially at night to 'watch the view'.
SeePorirua
Pauatahanui Inlet
At its eastern end is a wildlife sanctuary that has one of the highest densities of copepods (small crustaceans) in the world.
SeePorirua
Plimmerton Beach
Maybe watch yet another future world champion windsurfer or boardsailor beating the breezes. The area near the beach is one of the Porirua's oldest settlements, dating from the nineteenth century when Plimmer and others pushed the Wellington and Manawatu Railway through.
SeePorirua
Takapuwahia Marae
The headquarters of the Ngati Toa tribe, who immigrated from the Waikato in the 1820s under Te Rauparaha; across the harbour, see the small historic reserve in Plimmerton where the Government captured him in 1846, and which seems to be in better condition than the ruins of the stone fort that was built in the same year at "Parramatta" (now the Ngatitoa Domain) but dismembered by an earthquake very soon after.
SeeCity Not mapped
St Mary of the Angels, Wellington
St Mary of the Angels is the Catholic parish church for Wellington Central. The church opened in 1922.
SeeAttraction
Wellington Botanic Garden
Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā is a botanical garden close to central Wellington in New Zealand. It covers 25 ha (62 acres) of land in a valley between Thorndon and Kelburn, with Glenmore Street as a boundary along the valley floor. One of the access points is from the top of the Wellington Cable Car.
Free entry
SeeCathedral
Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and of Saint Mary His Mother, better known as Sacred Heart Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral church on Hill Street, Wellington, New Zealand. It is the parish church of the Thorndon Catholic parish (founded 1850) and the seat of the Archbishop of Wellington. The New Zealand Parliament is a close neighbour of the cathedral.
Built 1851
SeeArt gallery
Adam Art Gallery
The Adam Art Gallery (in Māori: Te Pātaka Toi) is a purpose-built arts gallery located in the Kelburn Campus of Victoria University of Wellington in Wellington, New Zealand.

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Wellington (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Place data from Overture Maps. Some descriptions from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).