One of the last relatively unchanged areas of dunes and wetlands along the Kāpiti Coast, this undulating 650-hectare park offers swimming, walking, cycling, picnic spots and healthy-looking seagulls, as well as the Wellington Tramway Museum and a horse riding outfit. There are three entrances: off Wellington Rd in Paekākāriki, at MacKay's Crossing on SH1, and off the Esplanade in Raumati to the north.
Queen Elizabeth Park
North Island
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
23.45 MILES
For an imaginative, interactive experience of Wellington’s social and maritime history, head to this bewitching little museum, inside an 1892 bond store…
24.36 MILES
This groundbreaking ecosanctuary is nooked into a valley in the hills about 2km west of downtown Wellington. Living wild within the fenced, predator-free…
23.55 MILES
These hilly, 25-hectare botanic gardens can be effortlessly visited via the Wellington Cable Car (nice bit of planning, eh?), although there are several…
23.88 MILES
The city's most impressive viewpoint is atop 196m-high Mt Victoria (Matairangi), east of the city centre. You can take bus 20 most of the way up, but the…
23.7 MILES
New Zealand's national museum is hard to miss, taking up a sizeable chunk of the Wellington waterfront. ‘Te Papa Tongarewa’ loosely translates as …
23.97 MILES
Academy Award–winning special-effects and props company Weta Workshop has been responsible for bringing the likes of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit,…
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23.02 MILES
New Zealand might be a young country but it has one of the oldest continuously functioning parliaments in the world and has chalked up more than its share…
23.68 MILES
Housed in the monumental old library in Civic Sq (the new library is next door), Wellington’s much-loved City Gallery does a cracking job of securing…
Nearby North Island attractions
1.07 MILES
A glimpse into historic Wellington by way of restored wooden trams and museum displays housed in a large garage. Take a 2km tram ride through Queen…
4.72 MILES
Paraparaumu's oddest claim to fame is surely this 14m-high statue of the Madonna, looming over the town from a 75m-high hill. It was commissioned by the…
6.61 MILES
This huge hangar-like museum looks like a 1960s university but houses one of Australasia’s largest collections of antique and unusual cars. Check out the…
4. Hemi Matenga Memorial Park Scenic Reserve
9.13 MILES
This 330-hectare reserve overlooking Waikanae contains a large remnant of native kohekohe forest. The reserve rises steeply from 150m to its highest point…
9.42 MILES
Waikanae's main visitor lure, Ngā Manu is a 15-hectare bird sanctuary dotted with picnic areas, bushwalks, aviaries and a nocturnal house with kiwi, owls…
16.63 MILES
A beacon of culture and delight, the excellent Dowse is worth visiting for its jaunty architecture alone. It’s a family-friendly, accessible art museum…
18.07 MILES
Built for the centenary of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1940, this gorgeous little art-deco building on the shell-strewn Petone foreshore contains a fun and…
8. Katherine Mansfield House & Garden
22.47 MILES
Often compared to Chekhov and Maupassant, Katherine Mansfield was one of NZ’s most distinguished authors, who pushed the short-story form to uncharted…