What to do in Wellington

[Cruisin D]

Hello to all,

 

We are a family of 4 and just wondering if Wellington is an easy city to explore on your own? Are there lots of things to see and do close to where the ship (Celebrity Solstice) is docked?

 

Thanks in advance for any information or suggestions.

 

Cheers

[cruisermsoon]

Your ship will dock withinin walking distance of the city. I advise you to follow the pleasant harbourside walkways round to the magnificent Te Papa Museum, which is free to enter, and has enough well presented exhibits to keep the whole family entranced for hours.

Wellington is compact, and you can walk back to the ship via the main shopping streets. The rail station is near the port, should you want to go on an excursion by rail or bus to a nearby location [but check the return timetables first].

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Your ship will dock withinin walking distance of the city. I advise you to follow the pleasant harbourside walkways round to the magnificent Te Papa Museum, which is free to enter, and has enough well presented exhibits to keep the whole family entranced for hours.

Wellington is compact, and you can walk back to the ship via the main shopping streets. The rail station is near the port, should you want to go on an excursion by rail or bus to a nearby location [but check the return timetables first].

 

I agree. Its a lovely walk from the ship to the Museum. It opens at 10am but if you arrive earlier there is an outdoor exhibit...bush walk...you can do. The big problem with Te Papa will be dragging the children away once they get involved with the interactive exhibits.

Wellington is a compact City and very easy to do on your own. After the Museum you could....

*take a taxi up to the top of Mt Victoria

*ride the cable car

* visit Zealandia

*visit the Botanical Gardens

*do the free 1 hour tour of Parliament Buildings

 

There are also tours, both ship and private that will take you out of Wellington to visit the rugged ...and wild .... coastline on the outskirts of the City .

[Cruisin D]

Thanks so much for your replys and suggestions, as we are lucky to be doing B2B we might opt for a bit of the city on one stop and venture out of the city on our second stop.

 

Thanks again :)

[rkacruiser]

There is also an excellent Maritime Museum near the waterfront that I found quite interesting.

[whimsy7]

also note that Wellington has free wi-fi in its city centre.

brilliant!

[Katgoesonholiday]

If you don't mind a taxi ride, the Weta Workshops tour is a good one - especially for all the LOTR/Hobbit fans.

 

http://www.wetanz.com/cave/

[kbert92069]

If you don't mind a taxi ride, the Weta Workshops tour is a good one - especially for all the LOTR/Hobbit fans.

 

http://www.wetanz.com/cave/

 

We took the city bus line which goes a block away. It was a scenic ride from downtown right by the iSite where the cruise ship shuttle let us off. The Weta Cave is a smaller affair than we imagined but we quite enjoyed it.

[no fuss travel]

Doable completely on your own. Lots of free museums which are interesting for all ages. Walking along the waterfront boardwalk is fascinating. Take the tram and walk down. Lots to see and do. The city is known for being windy though.

[kccrzr]

We were just in Wellington in February. We walked to the tram which went up to the Botanic Garden, walked back down to town and over to Te Papa, went to lunch, did a bit of shopping and walked back to port. Here is a link to a review of our cruise (which is still a work in progress!) in case you are interested in seeing a more detailed description of what we did along with some photographs: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2011628 The information on Wellington is in posts 72, 73, 77 and 79.

[lynncarol]

Absolutely loved their Botanical Garden. It even has an eternal flame from the atomic bomb fires in Hiroshima.

[Fletch1]

Catch the cable car up and walk back down through the rose garden and the old cemetery (which they built a freeway through the middle of by the way!!).

[nattygee]

I recommend what basically the others have. Perhaps Wellington Zoo. Definitely Zealandia & Te Papa if you have time. Cable car & Parliament buildings are ok (depends on the age of your kids)