If you’re looking for the best day trips from Wellington, New Zealand, then you’re in luck. We will cover those here on this page, as well as so much more.
Tucked away at the southern tip of New Zealand’s North Island is the lively and eclectic capital of Wellington. Home to barely 200,000 people, Wellington is tucked away between mountains and a cozy bay. It’s a great place to visit and an awesome place to live. One of the main reasons for this is the beautiful landscape of the southern North Island (though the same could be said about New Zealand in general), which offers ample opportunities to get out of the city and explore the mountains and the coastline. So in this post we will discuss the 5 best day trips from Wellington, New Zealand.
Wellington as a Home Base – What You Need to Know
I called Wellington home for over two years, living in the hills above the city center. I met my wife in Wellington and look back fondly on my time spent there. It’s a great place to live (check out my pros and cons of living in Wellington here) and visit and makes an awesome home base for a few days in the south of the North Island on your trip to New Zealand.
How to get to Wellington
Wellington is well connected to the rest of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, but not much else. If you’re flying to Wellington from overseas, you’re either laying over in Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane. But realistically, if you’re visiting Wellington it’s probably on a longer two-week or three-week road trip around New Zealand.
How to get out of town for a day trip
For most of these day trips from Wellington you’ll need a car, though one of them is offered as a tour from Wellington and one is only accessible by boat. For renting cars in New Zealand we use Discovercars, who usually offer the best rates.
Click here to find a great rate on a rental car in New Zealand!
Just remember you drive on the left side of the road in New Zealand. If you’ve never done it before, you get used to it real quick!
Money
New Zealand is not a cheap place to visit, but these day trips won’t break the bank. In fact, most of what is given here is free minus transportation costs and whatever wine and/or food you might want to buy. No cash is needed to visit any of these day trips. Save your money for elsewhere in New Zealand.
Where to stay in Wellington
There are plenty of accommodation options in Wellington, though it does lack big international hotel brands. It’s mostly smaller chains and independent hotels. A few recommendations for where to stay:
Where to stay in Wellington
- James Cook Hotel (I personally led the seismic strengthening of this hotel building in 2015 so you know you’ll be safe should an earthquake hit while you’re there!)
- The Cobbler Hotel (there is no reception, it’s sort of like an Airbnb in that way)
- Quest 256 Lambton (Quest is a common serviced apartment hotel brand in New Zealand)
- Intercontinental Wellington (for a more luxurious experience)
Food and Restaurants
Wellington has some really great places to eat, and some really not great places to eat. So it’s important to choose a good restaurant. The rule of thumb here is that restaurants with Asian cuisine are usually the way to go. There are some great continental/western restaurants too, but Asian food is where it’s at in Wellington. Here are some recommendation:
- Phuthai Esarn Restaurant: possibly the best Thai food you’ll have outside of Thailand.
- KK Malaysian Restaurant: a total hole-in-the-wall Malaysian restaurant that makes the best beef rendang you will ever have.
- Bin 44: A nice, local western-style restaurant very close to the bay with the best burgers in town.
There are so many more, but these are my go-to Wellington restaurants.
Weather and when to visit
Let’s be real here: the weather in Wellington sucks about 80% of the time. Its location on the bay gives it a unique temperate climate. It hardly ever gets hot and rarely gets cold. The average summer high is only 68 degrees (20 C). And it’s literally never been hotter than 87 degrees (30.5 C).
But winter is really not that cold. The bay keeps frigid temperatures away. It’s not like it’s warm, but it never dips below freezing. And by never I mean like literally never.
Perhaps the biggest weather factor in Wellington is the wind. It’s not known as “Windy Wellington” for nothing. The wind can be downright brutal in Wellington, another effect of the bay.
Lastly, it rains a lot and cloudy days are the norm. While summers are sunnier than winters, don’t expect green grass and sunshine every day. Summer days can still bring rain for weeks on end. They can also be super nice. When I came back to visit in 2025 we had three days of sunshine with a scattered storm here and there.
All this being said, summer is by far the best time to visit Wellington, but it’s really a year-round destination. It depends what your goals are on your New Zealand trip. The vast majority of people visit NZ in summer, and that’s my strong recommendation too.
The 5 Best Day Trips from Wellington
Now that we’ve discussed the basics of visiting New Zealand and how to get to all these day trip locations, let’s go through the destinations, in no particular order.
1) Martinborough
Martinborough is the Wellington area’s premier wine region. A little over an hour east of Wellington, the climate changes and the humid, cloudiness of Wellington gives way to the drier plains of Martinborough.
Martinborough is small, and there are only a handful of wineries outside of the town center. But while you might not mistake it for the expansive Marlborough wine region on the South Island, it packs a punch when it comes to good wine. And this is wine that you won’t find anywhere outside of New Zealand unless it’s been specially ordered.
Some of the top wineries to try in Martinborough are:
- Poppies Martinborough: A beautiful vineyard with a quaint tasting room that will refund your $15 wine tasting fee if you purchase a bottle.
- Moy Hall Wines: A lovely vineyard with a rustic building with a full service restaurant.
- Colombo Martinborough: Enjoy some fresh, wood-fired pizza with your wine tasting at Colombo.
There are, of course, many other wineries in Martinborough and they are all great. So feel free to make your own choices too!
Wine tasting typically costs $10-15 and includes 4-5 tastings of wine. Some wineries will refund your tasting fee if you buy a bottle. No matter which wineries you visit, you’ll have a wonderful day in Martinborough!
The wife and I actually had our first weekend away together when we started dating in Martinborough. We rented bikes and drank copious amounts of wine. I asked her to be my girlfriend and she immediately threw up. The rest is history!
How to get there
The only way to get to Martinborough is to drive or take an organized tour that will drive you there. If you don’t have your own car there are plenty of rental car companies in Wellington. If you don’t want to drive (always smart when visiting wineries) the tour might be the best option.
This day tour from Wellington will take you to five wineries in Martinborough and back to Wellington. It’s the perfect option to avoid drinking and driving.
Pro Tip
Rent a bike and cycle around the wineries. You won’t have to cover much distance, as the wine region is small. Reserve a bike ahead of time from Indi Bikes Martinborough.
2) Castlepoint
Castlepoint is one of the most underrated coastal destinations in all of New Zealand. Located on the southern part of the east coast, it’s really in the middle of nowhere, not close to anything else. But what it lacks in services it makes up for in raw beauty.
Castlepoint features two long stretches of beach below a windy cliff with an epic lighthouse at the end of a small rocky peninsula (see the cover photo of this post). It’s a quiet place, with not much more than a few holiday homes, a market, and a hotel with a restaurant and bar. It’s a great place to go to escape your busy city life and connect with the sound of the wind!
The top thing to do when visiting Castlepoint is to hike along the cliffs. If you hike up to Castle Rock you get an amazing view of the whole coastline, including Castlepoint Lighthouse. The Deliverance Cove Track will take you to the lighthouse and up the rock on a lovely 3-mile hike.
How to get there
The only way to get to Castlepoint is to drive. It’s not a major tourist destination and there are no organized tours there. Though you may have some luck in including it in a tour if you design your own tour with one of the many agencies in New Zealand.
Pro Tip
While a day trip to Castlepoint is nice, an overnight stay is better. Stay the night and book a holiday home right on the beach where you enjoy the peace and silence of Castlepoint.
3) Putangirua Pinnacles
NOTE: The access hike to the Putangirua Pinnacles has a tumultuous 2020s and has suffered damage on numerous events, often closing or having parts of it washed away. Be sure to check the Department of Conservation website for accurate, up-to-date information.
The Putangirua Pinnacles are a collection of natural gravel spires, hidden in a dense fern forest. It’s not a particularly large place and only takes a few minutes to view, as you’re not allowed to actually walk through the spires due to how fragile they are. Once you get to the end of the hike it’s basically just a boardwalk viewpoint where you can see the pinnacles before turning back.
The bulk of your time on this day trip from Wellington will be spent on the hike. It’s not a long hike, only about 3 miles round trip, but there is a decent elevation gain so you’ll get a good workout in. The trail is mostly dense bush until you get to the pinnacles.
How to get there
The Putangirua Pinnacles are about an hour and forty minute drive from central Wellington and the only way to get there is to have your own vehicle. Once at the carpark, it’s about a 3-mile round trip hike to the pinnacles. Be sure to check for updates on when the trail opens again.
Pro tip
Martinborough is almost on the way to the pinnacles. A morning hike to the pinnacles can easily be combined with an afternoon sipping wine in Martinborough.
4) East Harbour Regional Park
East Harbour Regional Park is on the other side of the bay from Wellington. Close as the crow flies, but about a 30-minute drive (with no traffic) from central Wellington. It’s basically a mountainous park with hiking trails through dense fern forests. The mountains are not big, but offer some steep trails for those looking to get a little exercise.
After hiking you can enjoy lunch or a drink in Eastbourne or Day’s Bay, two of the Wellington area’s most secluded suburbs. From these little towns you can see across the bay to Wellington and the mountains beyond the city.
How to get there
This is one of the few day trips from Wellington that you can get to on public transportation. The number 84 bus runs from the city to Eastbourne and on top of that there is a regular ferry to Days Bay. If you catch the ferry you’ll have a bit of an extra walk or you can wait for the number 84 bus.
You can also, obviously, drive to the park as well. It’s about a 30-45 minute drive depending on where you’re coming from in Wellington.
Pro Tip
Visit in the morning and stop for lunch along the coast in Days Bay.
5) Matiu-Somes Island
Visible from central Wellington in the middle of the bay, Matiu-Somes Island is a super interesting place to visit. Although it’s so close to the city, most locals have never been there. It’s sort of just this mystical place you look at but never go to. You will change that, though.
Matiu-Somes Island is mainly known for two things: little blue penguins and being a quarantine location for both humans and animals throughout its history.
The main attraction and what most people go to see is the little blue penguins. The little guys are the smallest species of penguin, standing at most about 12” (300mm) tall, and reside exclusively in New Zealand and Australia.
They are not exactly nocturnal, but spend the days at sea, only coming onto shore as dusk fades into darkness. So the only way to see the little blue penguins is to stay overnight and go trekking around at night. They usually appear from their burrows along the coast every now and then. When we stayed overnight on the island we saw about a total of 10 penguins. It’s hard to describe just how tiny they are!
Matiu-Somes Island is also known for being used as a human quarantine for people arriving from Europe until the 1920s. When you’re there it makes total sense why they would have used the island for quarantine back then. After they stopped human quarantine the island was still used to quarantine animals until the 1990s. New Zealand has very strict guidelines for importing flora and fauna in order to protect its fragile ecosystem.
These days, the island’s natural environment has been restored and there are some hiking trails through the pristine forest. You can also learn all about the quarantine history at the visitors center. For more information about the island you can refer to this brochure.
How to get there
There is a regular ferry that runs from Queen’s Wharf in Wellington to the island dock. It runs every day during the day and stops at Day’s Bay before going to the island. Click here for the latest timetable.
To stay overnight you need to arrive on a special Overnight Visitor Drop Sailing ferry, however. This is run by East by West Ferries and you need to contact them to book it.
Pro tip
To see the little blue penguins you’ll have to spend the night on the island, which turns your day trip into an overnight trip. If you just go for the day you almost certainly will not see the penguins. There is a campsite on the island, but as of late 2024 the campsite has been closed and there is no indication on when it will open again. The only other accommodation on the island is the Caretakers Cottage. Be sure to book in advance using the link provided here.
Final Word
So now that we’ve gone through the 5 best day trips from Wellington, where do you think you’ll go first? Of all these my favorite was Matiu-Somes Island and seeing the little blue penguins. Still the only time I ever saw penguins in New Zealand! There are plenty other awesome day trips from Wellington, but these are – at least in my humble opinion – the best!
