Wellington travel guide

Plan your trip, step by step

• Where to stay
  Pick a base — flat and central, on the harbour, or up the hill — and hotel vs apartment.
• Things to do
  Decide which timed experiences and day trips to reserve before you arrive.
• Wellington in 3 days
  Follow a plan that splits the waterfront, the Cable Car hill and the eastern bays.
• Estimate your trip cost
  See what a Wellington trip costs in NZ dollars and set your style.
• First-timer mistakes to avoid
  Sidestep the errors that catch first-time Wellington visitors out.
• Wellington on a budget
  See what a lean, comfortable or generous day really costs here.

The areas at a glance

Te Aro & Cuba Street

Known for the city’s café, bar and live-music quarter — Cuba Street’s Bucket Fountain, second-hand shops, the Leeds Street brewery lane and the Courtenay Place end of the night.

Lambton Quay & the waterfront

Known for the “Golden Mile” retail and office spine, the bottom terminal of the Cable Car, and the wharf promenade running past Queens Wharf and Wellington Museum down to Te Papa.

Thorndon

Known for Parliament and the Beehive, Old St Paul’s, the railway station and the oldest streets in the city, on the Botanic Garden’s northern doorstep.

Oriental Bay & Mount Victoria

Known for the city beach crescent on the harbour edge, and the steep residential slope behind it that climbs to the Mount Victoria lookout.

Kelburn

Known for the top of the Cable Car — the Cable Car Museum, Space Place, the Wellington Botanic Garden and, further along the ridge, the Zealandia ecosanctuary.

Miramar & the eastern bays

Known for Wellington’s film district (Wētā Workshop), the airport, and the calm swimming bays at Scorching Bay and Seatoun on the peninsula road.

Deciding where to base yourself? The where-to-stay guide turns these areas into a lodging decision.

When to go — month by month

Average daytime high (bars) and rainy days per month, from 5-year climate normals. Greener months are the most comfortable to visit.

Best months to visit: Jan–May

Destinations with a similar climate

Like Wellington’s weather? These places have the closest year-round climate in our data — tap through for each one’s best time to visit.

• Queenstown →
• Auckland →
• Melbourne →
• Dublin →
• Bogota →
• Cape Town →

Know before you go

Currency & prices

New Zealand dollar (NZ$). New Zealand’s 15% GST is already inside every advertised price — the number on the menu or the room rate is the number you pay. Tipping is not expected. Cards and contactless are accepted almost everywhere, though some businesses add a small surcharge for contactless or credit.

Language

English is the everyday language. Te reo Māori is an official language and is used constantly in place and institution names — Te Papa Tongarewa, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Matiu/Somes Island — so expect signage and greetings (“kia ora”) in both.

From the airport

Wellington Airport (WLG) sits about 8km southeast of the centre. Metlink’s Airport Express (route AX) runs to Wellington Railway Station every 10–20 minutes, seven days, taking 25–35 minutes: NZ$9.23 with a Snapper card, NZ$12 cash or contactless. Taxis and Uber run direct. There is a Snapper card vending machine by Door E on level 0, next to where the AX picks up.

Getting around

Walk first — the central city is about 2km across, roughly 30 minutes end to end. Metlink runs the buses, suburban trains and the harbour ferry on one zone-based fare system; pay with a Snapper card or a contactless bank card, both cheaper than cash. The Cable Car is a separate operator and does NOT accept Snapper — it stopped taking it in October 2023.

Best time

Seasons are flipped: December–February is warm and busiest, March–May is the calmest and clearest stretch, June–August is cool, wet and cheapest but has the strongest indoor arts and food calendar, and September–November is the windiest. The city’s marquee events cluster in March (CubaDupa), August (Visa Wellington On a Plate) and September–October (World of WearableArt).

The wind, honestly

Wellington’s wind is not a joke told about the city, it is a planning input. Gales close the Cook Strait ferries, delay flights and make the exposed south coast genuinely unpleasant. Pack a real windproof layer rather than an umbrella, which will not survive.

For the best months to visit and a day-by-day plan, see Wellington in 3 days.