Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington and was opened in February 1998.
The main Te Papa building is on the waterfront in Wellington, on Cable Street. Inside the building are six floors of exhibitions, cafés and gift shops dedicated to New Zealand's culture and environment. The museum also incorporates outdoor areas with artificial caves, native bushes and wetlands.
Host to a vast range of collections from historical items which date back to the sixteenth century to a Pacific collection of about 13,000 historic and contemporary items from the Pacific Islands. It also has significant collections of fossils and archaeozoology. More famously the museum also is called home to the world's largest specimen of the rare colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni). It weighs 495 kilograms (1,091 lb) and is 4.2 metres (14 ft.) long. The squid arrived at the museum in March 2007 after being captured by New Zealand fisherman in the Ross Sea off Antarctica. Te Papa also has a stunning range of cultural collections include collections on photography, Māori taonga (cultural treasures), and Pacific cultures.
During your time here in Wellington we encourage you to take time out to visit the museum, its many exhibits especially Gallipoli: The scale of our war.
Directions: How to get to Te Papa
Address
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
55 Cable Street, PO Box 467
Wellington, 6011
New Zealand
On foot
In central Wellington you’re rarely more than 20 minutes’ walk from Te Papa. You’ll find us on the waterfront, right in the heart of Wellington.
Enjoy a five-minute stroll from the Wellington i-SITE Visitor Information Centre, or a 20-minute walk from the railway station. Many bus stops in the city are just a few minutes’ walk away too.
By car
Take the Aotea Quay exit when driving south into central Wellington along the SH1 motorway. Continue along Waterloo, Customhouse, and Jervois Quays, which lead directly into Cable Street and Te Papa’s convenient car park.
Facilities
For more information on the facilities at Te Papa please click here.
Conduct
Please note that Te Papa is smoke-free – no smoking, including electronic cigarettes, indoors or outdoors. Food and drink is also not allowed in the museum.
For information on conduct and photography in the museum please click here.
