13 Hidden Gems in Wellington Most People Walk Right Past
13 landmarks with verified facts and stories
Ataturk Memorial
Tarakena Bay Reserve, Breaker Bay Road
On a windswept ridge above Tarakena Bay, overlooking the harbour entrance, there is a memorial to the man who killed the ANZACs.
Bolton Street Cemetery
Bolton St, Wellington Central, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand
Wellington's oldest cemetery opened in eighteen-forty, the same year European settlers arrived.
Futuna Chapel
67 Friend St, Karori, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand
New Zealand's most awarded building is a tiny chapel in suburban Karori that most Wellingtonians have never heard of.
Hannahs Laneway
Eva St, Te Aro, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand
You've stepped into Hannahs Laneway, and the big brick building above you is the reason it exists.
Katherine Mansfield Birthplace
25 Tinakori Rd, Thorndon, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand
This modest villa on Tinakori Road is where Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp was born on the fourteenth of October, eighteen eighty-eight.
Kumutoto Stream
Woodward St, Wellington Central, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand
You're standing on top of a hidden river.
Matiu / Somes Island
New Zealand
Matiu / Somes Island is a predator-free island sanctuary in Wellington Harbour accessible by ferry — a DOC-managed reserve where native birds (little blue penguins, wētā, tuatara) thrive in an environment free of the introduced predators that threaten them on the mainland.
Nairn Street Cottage
68 Nairn St, Mount Cook, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand
This is the oldest surviving original house in Wellington, still on its original site.
Old Government Buildings
55 Lambton Quay, Pipitea, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand
Look at this building.
Plimmer's Ark and the Vanished Shoreline
233 Lambton Quay, Wellington Central, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand
Look at the curve of Lambton Quay beneath your feet.
Te Aro Pa
Te Aro, Wellington, New Zealand
You're standing in front of what looks like a fairly ordinary modern building on Taranaki Street.
Wrights Hill Fortress
Wrights Hill Rd, Karori, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand
In suburban Karori, under a hillside that most Wellingtonians walk their dogs over, there is a Second World War fortress with six hundred and twenty metres of underground tunnels.
Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne
53 Waiapu Rd, Karori, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand
Zealandia is the world's first fully fenced urban ecosanctuary — a 225-hectare valley in Karori that has been predator-fenced and restored to native bush, reintroducing species like kiwi, tuatara, saddleback, and takahē that had been absent from the mainland for over a century.
Explore hidden gems in Wellington
GPS-guided narration at every landmark. Tap a spot on the map, hear the story. Every fact verified.