Wellington – view from Botanic Gardens

10 Free Things to do in Wellington, New Zealand

Wellington is a fabulous city set on a stunning harbor and surrounded by forested mountains. Capital of New Zealand, home of the country’s now-famous film industry, trendy & artsy, outdoorsy & fitness-oriented, filled with top notch restaurants, bars and theaters, it’s by far New Zealand’s best city. At least in my opinion.

Accommodation, eating and drinking are expensive in Wellington, but many of it’s top attractions and venues are absolutely free. I’m talking about the country’s best museums, stunning panoramic views, art galleries and unique experiences.

During my week in Wellington I found many more than just 10 great free activities and attractions, so I may have to write pt 2 to this travel tips post. But for now, here are what I consider to be Wellington’s 10 best freebies.

Te Papa Museum

1. Museum of New Zealand – Te Papa

Wow is what I have to say to about Te Papa! This might be the best museum I’ve ever seen in my life, to be quite honest. Their extensive natural history exhibitions are on par with The Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum, which is previously the finest I’ve ever experienced.

fantastic nature exhibition in Te Papa

Considering that it’s widely regarded as New Zealand’s finest museum, it’s phenomenal that it’s completely free!

Huge Te Papa Museum consists of 4 floors devoted to all aspects of New Zealand: Maori history and culture, Pacific Islanders, European colonization and history in NZ, flora and fauna, geological development and physical phenomenon.

While the Maori and Pacific Islander exhibitions are rather limited compared to Auckland Museum, Te Papa’s various Natural History exhibitions cannot be beat.

The building itself is a gorgeous architectural marvel set on the harbor front, adding a fantastic modern touch to an otherwise quite historic region of the city. The museum’s interior spaces are equally jaw-dropping. In fact, some areas look more like a plush 5-star resort than a museum.

Be sure to visit Te Papa when you’re in Wellington, at least once if not two or three times to take it all in.

Wellington Harbor sunset

2. Harbor front Walk

Quite unfortunately, New Zealand’s cities and towns have a great knack for ruining what could be stunning harbor views. Every coastal city and town I’ve visited has plastered their shores with big ugly warehouses, cargo wharves and even industrial messes, thus blocking the scenic harbor views almost entirely.

Wellington has done the best (of the towns & cities I’ve visited) to undo the shoreline messes and improve its water front. Wellington’s shoreline still has some ugly warehouses and a messy cargo wharf off to the far end, however the city has created a long stretch of scenic, pedestrian-friendly water front.

People regularly jog, cycle, skateboard, roller blade and stroll the wide promenade, admiring stunning harbor views, surrounding mountains and beautifully-restored historic buildings lining the shore. Te Papa Museum adds a beautiful addition.

Street performers often set up along the promenade, entertaining passersby, hoping to earn a few bucks. Various small parks, gardens and benches are scattered along the whole stretch. Sculptures and other artworks decorate open spaces.

It’s a fantastic place to stroll, exercise or hang around any time of the day.

gorgeous renovated historic buildings on the waterfront – Wellington

3. Learn about Wellington harbor’s ongoing 25-year-long redevelopment project

Along the harbor front, you’ll pass a series of unique historic buildings built in a huge variety of different architectural styles. They’ve been lovingly restored to their former glory, creating a wonderful and interesting water front.

It’s all due to a 25-year-long redevelopment project. Large plaques along huge Shed 6, one of the largest warehouses, detail the restoration project from year to year and building by building. You can learn even more at the Waterfront Development Office, also located on the harbor front near Queen’s Wharf.

It’s great fun to read about the buildings, see their photos, and then go locate them along the water front.

forest on Mt Victoria – possible location of Lord of the Rings?

4. Mt. Victoria hike and viewpoints

Atop Mt Victoria, Wellington’s highest peak, you can take in 360 panoramic views over the city below, the vast circular harbor, the surrounding mountain chains, and across the wide Cook Straight to the South island. On clear days lucky visitors can clearly see South Island’s mountains, often snow-capped in autumn, winter and early spring.

You can hike from the city center to Mt Victoria in about 1/2-1 hour, depending on where you start and your fitness level. From the closest edge of the CBD at Cambridge Terrace Road, it’s only 15-20 minutes through hilly residential areas to forested parks at the base of Mt. Victoria (and the cool, super-long and narrow bus tunnel that runs under the mountain). From there it’s about 30-40 minutes to the peak.

Incidentally, the forest is where some of the Lord of the Rings locations were filmed! See if you recognize any of the spots during your walk.

For best views and photos of the city and harbor, head up to Mt Victoria in the morning when the sun will be behind you as you face the city. In afternoon, you’ll be staring into the sun.

Old St. Paul’s Cathedral

5. Old St. Paul’s Cathedral

If you’re at all interested in architecture, you MUST see the interior of this old church! It’s an utterly phenomenal

experience. After arriving at St Paul’s very drab exterior, you’ll be blown away when you walk inside.

One of the world’s best (and rare) examples of timber Gothic Revivial architecture, the vaulted ceilings, wooden pews and exquisite stained-glass windows will leave your mouth hanging open.

In this day and age, it’s actually quite rare to stand inside an entirely wood building. It’s an entirely different and awe-inspiring experience.

Go there!

goofing around with a troll outside Weta Studios

7. Weka Film Studio visit (producers of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbits Movies)

Weka Productions and Weka Digital are the sibling film companies that created the hyper-famous Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Trilogy Movies. But Weka has been around much longer than those particular films, specializing in horror flicks, special effects and digitally-created movies.

Weka studios are located in the Wellington suburb of Miramar, about 20 minutes by bus from the city center.

Although visiting the studio’s shop & museum is free, the bus trip will set you back $10. On a positive note, the bus drives through the amazingly long & narrow tunnel under Mt Victoria then along Wellington Harbor coastline with stunning views before reaching Miramar town.

The Weka shop/museum has many creatures, props and movie paraphernalia on display. Just outside the door are three huge trolls from Lord of the Rings. Visitors are also treated to a free 30-minute video about Weka: it’s history, various movies it’s created, and a glimpse into the studios where everything is made.

Guided tours of the actual studios costs $20 for a 45-minute tour. They run every half an hour, all day long.

6. Guided tour of New Zealand Parliament Buildings

Wellington’s Parliament Buildings are where it all happens: where all of New Zealand’s laws are proposed, discussed and debated, voted on and made into law. Or not.

Daily 1-hour guided tours take visitors through all three of New Zealand’s parliamentary buildings. The very informative tour guides explain the law-making process as well as the uses of various rooms and the history of the buildings. The Parliamentary Library building has exquisite interiors.

One unusual highlight of the tour is an explanation of how the buildings were upgraded to withstand earthquakes, complete with a walk into the basement to see the actual foundation and its state of the art ‘base isolation’ engineering.

Very educational tour.

Museum of Wellington City & Sea

8. Wellington City & Sea Museum

While Te Papa focuses on New Zealand as a whole, this museum focuses on Wellington city, particularly its human history and development.

Voted one of the top 50 museums in the world, its three floors are devoted to Wellington’s European history from colonization to present, Maori history & culture in the region, and the city’s important seafaring history

2 juvenile Kaori trees at the Botanic Gardens

9. Botanic Gardens

Most visitors access Wellington’s sprawling, hillside Botanic Gardens by the city’s cute, historic cable car. That costs $5 one way.

However, you can also walk up to the extensive gardens via a very interesting route starting near the Parliament Beehive building. The path first passes through a historic cemetery then crosses a high pedestrian bridge over the highway and into the forested park. The cemetery is a really unique gem: Have you ever seen tombstones with adjacent city skyscrapers as a backdrop?

The Botanic Gardens have several sections, including a large greenhouse, pine forests, native New Zealand forests, Succulents, Camelias, landscaped floral gardens and lawns. Some of the country’s oldest pines are located on the ridge-line and many native trees like Kaori, Pohutukawa and Kanuka are labeled along the walkways.

Near the top of the cable car you’ll find stunning panoramic views over the city and harbor, equally as great as those from Mt Victoria. Views from the Botanic Gardens are best in the afternoon.

You can walk back to the city the same way or hike down through Victoria University. Signs are posted.

Cable Car Museum

10. Cable Car Museum

Located at the top of the cable car, this very interesting museum details the intriguing history of Wellington’s much-loved red cable car. Two of the original cars are on display as well as many informative plaques and photos.

In the basement visitors can see the cable car engineering – wheels, cables and machines – that make the cable car function safely up and down the steep hillside.

QUESTIONS:

If you’ve been to Wellington, which of these do you most recommend?

Do you have any other great freebies to add to this list?

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You might also enjoy:

Photos of Hobbiton Movie Set

10 Free Things to do in Auckland

My Super Low Costs to Travel Around New Zealand for One Month

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