The best free things to do in Wellington

Wellington is the perfect place to visit on a budget.

Not only is the compact little capital easy to walk around, reducing your transport costs to next to nothing, but it’s also crammed full of interesting things to do that won’t cost you a cent.

Here are the best free activities in Wellington.

READ MORE:
* The best restaurants in Wellington for a special occasion
* Culture in the capital: The best museums and galleries to explore in Wellington
* Hand-pulled noodles and fried chicken in a converted public toilet: Wellington’s best cheap eats

Te Papa

The mother of all museums, no trip to the capital is complete without spending some quality time at Te Papa.

If it’s been a while since your last visit, you’ll be blown away by Te Taiao Nature, the $12 million permanent exhibition that opened in 2019. There are lots of hands-on experiences, from creating your own tsunami to finding out which species of moa you weigh the closest to, as well as old favourites like the infamous giant squid and the Quake House, where you can experience what it’s like to be in an earthquake.

You can still check out Te Papa’s most successful exhibition ever, Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War. Created by Wētā Workshop, the exhibition features eight giant, hyper-realistic figures, frozen in a moment of time during the war. It’s unlike any war exhibition you’ve seen before, and has proven so popular since opening in 2015 it’s been extended twice, and will now be on display until at least 2025.

Te Papa, 55 Cable Street. Free entry. tepapa.govt.nz

Wellington Museum

Often overlooked in favour of Te Papa, Wellington’s own museum is a real hidden gem, housed in a striking 1892 heritage building on the waterfront.

It’s well worth a visit just to check out the weird and wonderful Attic on the fourth floor – highlights include a time-travel machine, a pair of roaring lions, and even an alien mailbox, where you can post a letter to a friend on another planet.

Wellington Museum, 3 Jervois Quay, Queens Wharf. Free entry. museumswellington.org.nz/wellington-museum

New Zealand Portrait Gallery

In another heritage building along the waterfront you’ll find this quirky art gallery, dedicated to the art of portraiture.

Exhibitions in the two gallery spaces are changed up a few times a year, so there’s always something new to see. They also hold regular talks, and there’s even free portraiture drawing sessions on offer every month – bring your own paper and drawing materials.

New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Shed 11, Wellington Waterfront. Free entry. nzportraitgallery.org.nz

City Gallery

It might be most famous for Ronnie van Hout’s Quasi, the giant hand that looms over the entrance, but plenty more thought-provoking pieces await inside the capital’s contemporary art hub.

Exhibitions across the seven galleries change frequently, running the gamut from photography and paintings to eye-popping installations and multi-sensory experiences.

Art galleries can be overwhelming, so they offer free 45-minute guided tours every Saturday and Sunday at 1pm, as well as shorter “art encounter” sessions focusing on a single artwork, to help you better understand what you’re seeing.

City Gallery, Te Ngākau Civic Square. Free entry (charges may apply to special exhibitions). citygallery.org.nz

Parliament Tour

See where all the big decisions get made on a guided tour of the Parliament buildings.

The 60-minute Introduction to Parliament tour is offered daily, taking place on the hour between 10am and 4pm. You’ll get to have a nosey at all sorts of important locations, from the banquet hall to the Beehive theatrette that you might recognise from the news.

During the school holidays, they offer a 45-minute tour designed for visitors aged 5 to 12. Kids will get a special booklet which they can fill with stickers, and get the official Beehive stamp at the end.

New Zealand Parliament Grounds, 1 Museum Street, Pipitea. Free, book in advance here.

Government House Tour

It might be where the royals stay on their visits to New Zealand, but we’re all welcome at the official residence of the Governor-General. Many are surprised to learn there are public tours of the stately mansion you can take, for free.

The two-hour guided tours offer a fascinating glimpse into the history of the house, which was built in 1910, and its occupants over the years, with plenty of treasures to admire inside – from artworks from top New Zealand artists, to a tin containing a piece of Prince William and Kate’s wedding cake.

Government House, 1 Rugby Street, Newtown. Free, book in advance here.

Mount Victoria Lookout Walkway

Few CBDs boast a short walk on their doorstep as spectacular as the route heading up to the Mount Victoria lookout, which takes about half an hour from Courtenay Place.

It’s a bit of a thigh-burner to get to the 196-metre-high summit, but it’s well worth the effort for the 360-degree views over the city, harbour and hills. And on the way back down you can go the other way ending up at Oriental Bay, Wellington’s beloved inner-city beach.

Mount Victoria Lookout Walkway, find out more here.

Wellington Botanic Garden

Wellington’s beautiful botanic gardens, which sprawl over 25 hectares of land, are also just a short walk from the CBD – starting from the Terrace, head up through the Bolton Street Cemetery (a fascinating attraction in itself) and through the Lady Norwood Rose Garden.

There are plenty of spots that will encourage you to stop and take a moment in nature, from the always popular duck pond to a scented garden full of fragrant plants.

The Botanic Garden also plays host to a series of free concerts and light displays over the summer.

Wellington Botanic Garden, 101 Glenmore Street, Kelburn. Free entry. wellingtongardens.nz

Red Rocks Coastal Walk

Head to the south coast to set off on one of Wellington’s most iconic walks. Starting at the carpark at the end of Ōwhiro Bay, you follow an easy track along the rugged shoreline around to Red Rocks (Pari-whero) – which, as the name suggests, are a collection of curiously ruby-coloured rocks, formed 200 million years ago.

Keep going past Red Rocks, and you’ll reach Sinclair Head, which is home to a fur seal colony. You can see them sunning themselves on the rocks in the winter months.

Red Rocks Coastal Walk, find out more here.

Karori Cemetery

It might sound like a bit of a grim attraction, but Karori Cemetery – New Zealand’s second-largest burial ground, the final resting place of about 85,000 people – is full of fascinating tales.

There are many graves of note, from six former prime ministers, to more than 600 victims of the 1918 influenza pandemic. But arguably the star attraction is the grave of Harry McNeish, one of the heroes of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-17.

On his grave sits a bronze statue of a cat – Mrs Chippy, who accompanied her owner on the Endurance, which infamously became trapped in ice. Sadly, Shackleton thought the cat wouldn’t survive the conditions, and ordered her – along with the expedition’s sled dogs – to be shot. McNeish supposedly never forgave him.

Karori Cemetery, 76 Old Karori Road. Free entry. Find out more here.