Wellington

The Beehive is the popular name for the executive wing of the New Zealand Parliament in Wellington. The building’s shape is similar to a traditional woven beehive called a "skep". It is a New Zealand heritage building and one of the most recognizable structures in the country. It is ten stories high and has four floors underground. The impressive entrance foyer floor is made of marble, its wall panels are made of stainless steel mesh, and it has a translucent glass ceiling. The Beehive is lavishly decorated with noted New Zealand art. The top floor has the c room, and the prime minister's offices are on the ninth floor. Other floors house the offices of various cabinet ministers. The building is open to visitors and there are guided tours. When parliament is in session, the visitors can sit on the public gallery and watch the proceedings.

Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand, Phone: +64-48-17-99-99

Originally opened in 1980 in a different venue, the City Gallery Wellington is located in Civic Square in downtown Wellington. In 2009 it reopened after extensive renovation with a new auditorium and three new galleries, one exclusively devoted to the Maori and Pacific art. The gallery plays a unique, crucial role in the cultural and art life of New Zealand. It does not have a permanent collection, instead, it constantly presents a range of programs and exhibitions. The City Gallery Wellington focuses on contemporary art, both from New Zealand and from all over the world. Besides mounting frequent new exhibitions, the gallery has an extensive calendar of events, such as artists' talks, live performances, debates, movie showings, guided tours, and others.

101 Wakefield St, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand, Phone: +64-49-13-90-32

Katherine Mansfield was New Zealand's most famous writer. Her home, a small Italianate villa in Thorndon, is considered to be of outstanding cultural value and was declared a country’s historic heritage. Katherine Mansfield wrote short stories, poetry, journals, letters, and reviews and lived her life to the fullest until her death in 1923 at the age of 34. Some of her short stories were A Birthday, Prelude, The Aloe, and The Doll’s House. She described her house as “horrid little piggy house” and “dark little cubby hole.” The house was restored to its original look by the Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Society in 1980 and the visitors can see some of her parent’s and her personal possessions. The garden that she loved so much has been replanted with heritage plants and flowers that grew in it during the family’s time.

Katherine Mansfield Birthplace, 25 Tinakori Rd, Thorndon, Wellington 6011, New Zealand, Phone: +64-44-73-72-68

Attractions for Couples

Mount Victoria rises 196 meters above the very center of Wellington and is a big part of the city, its activities, and landscapes. It is also by far the best spot to see the city in all its glory, with the ocean stretching beyond. To reach Mount Victoria Lookout, you can drive from the Business District, or hike along the green, shady Town Belt. Once on the top of Mount Victoria, you can enjoy breathtaking views of the Hutt Valley, Tinakori Hill, Miramar Peninsura, and Matiu/Somes island. Relax, have a snack and a cold drink, and watch ferries, cruise ships, and sail boats come and go as the sun slowly sets into the ocean in the big show of colors.

49 Lookout Rd, Hataitai, Wellington 6021, New Zealand, Phone: +64-48-02-48-60

Te Papa Tongarewa, or “containers of treasures” in Maori, is New Zealand's interactive, innovative, and fascinating national museum. In its six floors, the museum explores the country’s unique, spectacularly beautiful natural environment as well as Maori ancient culture, art, and fascinating history. It is the museum of the land and its people. Among the most memorable exhibits is the giant squid and the actually shaking Earthquake House. The History Collection features textiles and dresses from the 16th century, the New Zealand Post Archive has about 20,000 stamps, and the Pacific Collection contains over 13,000 historic and modern objects from the Pacific Islands. The museum has collections of fossils, a herbarium of more than 250,000 dried plants, a collection of almost 70,000 New Zealand birds and a number of reptiles, amphibians, and mammals.

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 55 Cable St, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand, Phone: +64-43-81-70-00

Visiting Nairn Street Cottage is like going back in time and witnessing Wellington at the end of the 19th century. Wellington's oldest cottage was built by William Wallis for his family when he arrived in New Zealand in the 1870s in search of better life, like so many before him. The Wallis family lived in the quaint Georgian cottage for three generations. Located in the Mount Cook neighborhood, the cottage is now open for tours and has been declared a New Zealand cultural heritage. It is home to the Colonial Cottage Museum. The Museum Society managed to save the cottage from planned demolition and turned it into a museum in 1980. Most of the items in the cottage are original and date from the period between 1850 and 1880. Some belonged to the Wallis family and others were donated by other settler families.

68 Nairn St, Mount Cook, Wellington 6011, New Zealand, Phone: +64-43-84-91-22

Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington serves as a reminder of the New Zealanders who served and gave their lives in the South African War, two World Wars, Korean war, and wars in Malaysia and Vietnam as well as on various peace-keeping operations all over the world. The Memorial Park consists of New Zealand's National War Memorial, with the War Memorial Carillon built in 1932, the Hall of Memories built in 1964, the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior added in 2004, and the Australian War Memorial built in 2015. The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior hosts the remains of a New Zealand soldier who died during World War I on the Western Front. He could not be identified and serves as a symbol of all the New Zealand soldiers who did not make it back home.

Taranaki St, Mount Cook, Wellington 6021, New Zealand, Phone: +64-43-85-24-96

Recommended Activities for Families

Located at Wellington’s famous Basin Reserve, the New Zealand Cricket Museum is a treasure trove of everything cricket for researchers, fans, writers, and tourists who are curious about this interesting sport. The museum holds more than 20,000 objects in its archives, such as documents, photos, books, and memorabilia, and over 3,000 cricket-related books covering cricket as a sport and its role in New Zealand’s social history. The museum shop offers all sorts of cricket souvenirs, second-hand books, and memorabilia, from cricket ball key rings and early Wisden Almanacs to autograph sheets and posters. The museum is open only during cricket matches and entry fee is by donations.

2 Rugby St, Mount Cook, Wellington 6021, New Zealand, Phone: +64-43-85-66-02

The Northern Explorer Train is New Zealand's longest-operating passenger service. This long-distance train service runs between Auckland and Wellington, with stops at Palmerston North, Ohakune, National Park, and Hamilton. Passengers have the opportunity to experience the North Island’s amazing range of scenery as the Northern Explorer travels through lush green farmland and dense virgin bush, passes quaint small towns, and chugs along spectacular rocky coasts. They will see the many fascinating engineering solutions that were necessary to complete the line that spans the length of New Zealand's rugged North Island. One of the most fascinating is the iconic Raurimu Spiral. Another highlight of the voyage is the journey through magnificent Tongariro National Park, with its three spectacular volcanic mountains, a place of total extremes and real surprises, with snow-covered fields, old lava flows, and beautiful beech forests, side by side.

1 Bunny St, Pipitea, Wellington 6011, New Zealand, Phone: +64-44-95-07-75

The Old Bank Arcade is a popular shopping center located on the corner of Lambton Quay and Hunter Streets in the historic Edwardian baroque building designed by Thomas Turnbull and built in 1901 for the Bank of New Zealand. After the bank abandoned the building, it stayed empty until 1990, when it was purchased and restored to its former glory. The Old Bank Arcade was opened in 1999 and offers exclusive, luxury boutique shopping, restaurants, and cafés in beautiful, elegant surroundings. An animated, musical clock suspended from the ceiling of the Banking Chamber opens every hour on the hour to tell the story of the building site.

233-237 Lambton Quay, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand, Phone: +64-49-22-06-00