The Wellington Museum.

© Daria Trefilova/Getty Images/iStock

Wellington Museum

Top choice in Wellington


For an imaginative, interactive experience of Wellington’s social and maritime history, head to this bewitching little museum, inside an 1892 bond store on the wharf. Highlights include a moving documentary on the Wahine, the interisland ferry that sank in the harbour in 1968 with the loss of 51 lives, and the curio-packed Attic. Māori legends are dramatically told using tiny holographic actors and special effects.

The Attic's eclectic exhibits including a whizz-bang time machine and a suitably kooky display on Wellington vampire flick What We Do In The Shadows. Ship 'N' Chip Tour participants get a guided tour of the museum before they set off on their boat tour.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Wellington attractions

1. Academy Galleries

0.03 MILES

The showcase of the esteemed New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts (founded 1882), the Academy Galleries presents frequently changing exhibitions by NZ artists…

2. New Zealand Portrait Gallery

0.11 MILES

Housed in a heritage red-brick warehouse on the waterfront, this estimable gallery presents a diverse range of NZ portraiture and caricature from its own…

3. Wellington Cable Car

0.19 MILES

One of Wellington’s big-ticket attractions is the little red cable car that clanks up the slope from Lambton Quay to Kelburn. At the top are the…

4. City Gallery Wellington

0.23 MILES

Housed in the monumental old library in Civic Sq (the new library is next door), Wellington’s much-loved City Gallery does a cracking job of securing…

5. St Mary of the Angels

0.32 MILES

Closed for seismic strengthening and restoration from 2013 to 2017, this pretty Catholic parish church is looking downright heavenly. Built in 1922, it…

6. Old Government Buildings

0.39 MILES

Across the road from Parliament, this grand Italianate structure (1876) is the largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere, although it does a…

7. Te Papa

0.41 MILES

New Zealand's national museum is hard to miss, taking up a sizeable chunk of the Wellington waterfront. ‘Te Papa Tongarewa’ loosely translates as …

8. Bucket Fountain

0.5 MILES

Cuba Mall's landmark (and sneakily splashy) fountain mocks the surrounding commerce with its Zen-like tilt-and-pour processes. The kids (and the wandering…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "new-zealand/wellington/attractions/wellington-museum/a/poi-sig/440838/362813",
      "destination": "Wellington",
      "continent": "Australia-&-Pacific",
      "country": "New-Zealand",
      "city": "Wellington",
      "position": "superzone"
    }