Wellington/City

Wellington City is that part of the urban area of Wellington in New Zealand that is administered by Wellington City Council. The Windy City is centred on the western foreshore of Wellington Harbour and stretches as far north as the suburb of Tawa. It is ringed by hills, providing the scenic home of New Zealand's parliament and government, and many of the country's national arts and cultural attractions. The adjacent districts of Wellington are Lower Hutt, at the head of Wellington Harbour, and Porirua, to the north beyond Tawa.

By car
Two main arteries carry traffic to Wellington City. State Highway 1 which leads to Porirua and State Highway 2, which connects Wellington City with the lower and the Upper Hutt.

By train

 * There is a train from Auckland three days per week. It is operated by KiwiRail.
 * There are regular local services from Porirua, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and the Kapiti Coast. Those are operated by Metlink.
 * A daily commuter service connects the city with Masterton in the Wairarapa. There are no trains on Sundays but Metlink runs replacement buses departing from the bus platform on the far side of train platform 8.
 * A weekday commuter service operated by KiwiRail comes in from Palmerston North in the morning and returns there in the evening.
 * A weekday commuter service operated by KiwiRail comes in from Palmerston North in the morning and returns there in the evening.

By bus

 * Intercity buses arrive at the Railway Station

By ferry

 * Cook Strait ferries are run from Picton to Wellington by two companies. The Bluebridge terminal is near the railway station and the Interislander terminal is 2 km to the north.
 * Eastbywest ferries run around the harbour. Services run from Days Bay in Eastbourne on the east side of the harbour, some of them also stopping at Matiu/Somes Island. Other services run between Seatoun on the Miramar Peninsula and downtown Wellington.

Landmarks










Art Deco architecture
Wellington has a significant number of Art Deco buildings. The city council have produced a Art Deco Heritage Trail.

Statues and sculptures
Statues and sculptures appear in some intriguing places around town. Famous prime ministers, memorials, and works of art have all been erected in the streets of Wellington, including:
 * Memorial statues to two prime ministers in the grounds of Parliament as well as a bicentennial memorial to Captain Cook's 1769 discovery of New Zealand.
 * The Cenotaph on the corner of Lambton Quay and Bowen St, just outside the Parliament Grounds, is where a Dawn Memorial Service is held every ANZAC Day (25 Apr).
 * Behind Parliament, on the corner of Museum and Bowen Sts, is a small park with 3 sculptures in block.
 * On the corner of Lambton Quay and Stout St, the fallen column was created from a column and letters from the State Fire Insurance Building demolished in the 1980s.
 * On Lambton Quay, opposite Cable Car Lane, the two stainless steel monoliths with pimples are actually a poem in Braille.
 * Where Lambton Quay meets Featherston St there is a wind mobile.


 * The Wellington City Council website provides a guide to its public art: Wellington City Council Public Art. More information and a walking tour guide is available at Wellington Sculptures.
 * The Wellington City Council website provides a guide to its public art: Wellington City Council Public Art. More information and a walking tour guide is available at Wellington Sculptures.

Lookout points
Wellington City is surrounded by hills, so there are a number of good vantage points.

Parks and gardens

 * The Botanic Garden is a nice place to go for a picnic, or just an afternoon walk (or run for a challenging fitness experience). You can take the Cable Car from Lambton Quay for a quick 5-minute trip to the top; but it is not designed to be exciting, despite being photogenic. If you're keen on walking up, take the lifts in the James Cook Arcade (or one of several others along Lambton Quay) up to The Terrace, head south uphill until you reach Salamanca Rd. Head uphill up Salamanca Rd until you reach Victoria University. A set of stairs on the opposite side of the road to the Hunter Lawn goes uphill right to the top of the Gardens. If you already shelled out for a Busabout Daypass ticket, just catch the Mairangi bus, get off at the stop after the University, and walk back along Upland Rd until you reach the Cable Car Museum. At the top of the Gardens, there are several attractions:
 * The Cable Car Museum has two of the old cars in semi-restored and fully-restored condition and some of the original Cable Car machinery from the system that was replaced in 1978.
 * The Lookout has a great view day or night, and the large map next to the round tree usually has a few pamphlets with maps of the Gardens.
 * The Carter Observatory is a stones throw from here. This is the perfect place to explore the Garden from, or wander back to the city.

Other activities

 * (aka Wellington Regional Stadium) is a multi-use facility built in 1999, with a capacity of 34,500. Its usual tenants are Wellington Lions and Hurricanes rugby teams, and internationals with the All Blacks are often played here. In 2023 it staged games in the Women's World Cup for soccer, co-hosted by NZ and Australia.
 * Take a ferry across the harbour. Go down to Queen's Wharf and check out the destinations and times.
 * Take a ferry across the harbour. Go down to Queen's Wharf and check out the destinations and times.
 * Take a ferry across the harbour. Go down to Queen's Wharf and check out the destinations and times.

Events

 * Comedy Festival.
 * Comedy Festival.

Eat
Wellington has a lot of restaurants and cafés, in fact more cafés, bars and restaurants per head than New York City. Malaysian food is surprisingly popular and available in most areas. You can also get good Turkish kebabs anywhere in the city, or Lebanese at the Phoenician Falafel on Kent Terrace (their kebabs are better than all the Turkish places too). Fish and chips is the best value food and you usually get better quality in the suburbs.

Drink
Wellington has a bustling nightlife, concentrated along Courtenay Place, one of the major streets running from the CBD. It runs through Te Aro and ends in Mt Victoria. The nightlife causes this street to have the highest population density in all of New Zealand on Friday and Saturday nights. In most establishments, drinks are remarkably affordable at about $6, and entrance charges are either nonexistent or minimal. In some of the better clubs reasonable dress standards apply, however in the day the mood is usually extremely casual, with flip-flops (called Jandals in New Zealand) and even bare feet occasionally accepted (a common Kiwi choice on hotter days). Cuba Mall also features some cool and more alternative bars.

Away from Courtenay Place in the CBD district (Lambton Quay) there are many after work bars frequented by office workers, however this area becomes deserted in the later hours, and thus these establishments usually do not provide all night partying.



Cafés
Wellington is home to a range of good coffee roasteries. Local roasters include Caffe L’affare, Coffee Supreme, Havana, Mojo, and People's Coffee. Below is a small range from the extensive café scene.



Sleep
A way to get to know more locals and experience some NZ culture (if that's what you are looking for) is a shared house (a "flat" in NZ English). These are an option for stays of a month in summer while students are away – usually flats are taken for the year or at least several months. Look for "Flatmates wanted" in the local Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday newspaper (Dominion Post) classified ads or on TradeMe.

Flats are usually well furnished already by the other tenants in the communal rooms. You may need to provide your own bed (you could buy a cheap one second hand for the summer), or they might be able lend you one. All flatmates share the rent, bills and chores, and occasionally food, meals and even washing too. Some flats come fully furnished, but this is not the norm.

To find flats, the locals use www.trademe.co.nz or Facebook.

Connect

 * (The library is closed indefinitely as of 2018 while it undergoes evaluation for earthquake strengthening.)

Go next

 * Lower Hutt
 * Porirua – including suburbs such as Mana, Paremata, Pauatahanui, Plimmerton, Pukerua Bay and Titahi Bay