Wellington is New Zealand’s capital city and is located at the bottom of the North Island. It has a beautiful harbour and is surrounded by large areas of native bush and forest. Wellington is famous for having the best cafes in New Zealand and some of the most interesting shops and boutiques. Wellington is a ‘real’ New Zealand city where the people are friendly, the public transport is good and you can see new and interesting events every week.

Key Information

Main City Area: 290 km²
City Population: 379,000
City Website: www.wellingtonnz.com

Culture

Wellington is home to a number of museums, many of which are free to visit. The biggest is Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum, which is open every day and has fantastic cultural events and exhibitions. Close to the city centre you can also visit the Museum of City and Sea, Wellington’s Art Gallery, the Botanical Gardens and the popular Cable Car and Cable Car Museum. All of these places are close to the New Zealand Institute of English and easy to find!

Activities

If you like activity, you can hire kayaks and boats in the harbour, go rock-climbing or inline skating around the waterfront. There are lots of great walks around the city or you can just relax on Oriental Bay Beach. You can go to Lyall Bay and look at the seals lying on the rocks or see a kiwi in Wellington’s wonderful zoo. For fans of the Lord of the Rings you can also see some of the locations from the movies or visit some parts of the sets around Miramar where Peter Jackson has his studio. Whatever you like, there is always something to do in Wellington!

Shopping

Wellington is a great place to shop ‘til you drop! You can find almost anything you want in the city centre – clothes, shoes, jewellery, electronics, music….There are unique and interesting boutique shops, well-known international shops and markets. Individuality is part of Wellington’s culture and you will get a real feel of New Zealand when you walk around the city streets.

Nightlife

Wellington really comes alive in the weekend and on Friday and Saturday nights. The city has a huge variety of pubs, bars and nightclubs. There are pool/billiard halls, a bowling alley, gaming arcades and internet cafes. The city centre has a number of cinemas which show Hollywood blockbusters as well as local and arthouse films. You can listen to live music almost any night of the week at city bars.

References:

Image 8/8 of small photos
by Donovan Govan
All from Wikipedia Commons