The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, commonly referred to as Te Papa (Māori for Our Place), is New Zealand’s leading museum and Wellington’s top attraction attracting over one million visitors each year.
The museum is housed in a building on Cable Street on Wellington’s waterfront and is comprised of six floors although the museum’s main exhibition space is on levels 2–4. Te Papa is noted for its excellent interactive exhibits and interesting displays about New Zealand culture and history.
Starting at the main entrance on level one, the first permanent exhibit is Quake Breaker which demonstrates how base isolators work to protect major buildings (including Te Papa) during an earthquake.
Level two features the Britten V1000 motorcycle, an excellent exhibition about New Zealand’s involvement in the Gallipoli campaign during the First World War and displays about natural history plus the Awesome Forces exhibition. The Awesome Forces exhibition focuses on geological forces with an emphasis on earthquakes and it features an earthquake simulator where you can experience being inside a house during an earthquake. One of the highlights of this level is the world’s largest colossal squid. The 4.2m long, squid weighs 495kg and was captured in 2007 in the Ross Sea off the Antarctic coast. It is the only colossal squid on display anywhere in the world.
The Bush City exhibit is an outdoors exhibition space between levels one and two. This area features native plants as well as a glow worm cave and fossil dig.
Level three has the Blood Earth Fire gallery, which depicts how introduced species have transformed New Zealand’s environment, and displays commemorating the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s and 1870s.
On level four you will find interesting displays about Māori and Pacific Islander history and culture and its place in New Zealand society along with stories of people of have migrated to New Zealand over the past 200 years. The Mana Whenua gallery focuses on Māori culture with taonga including a waka taua (war canoe) from the Whanganui region as well and displays about the Moriori, the original inhabitants of the Chatham Islands. There is also an exhibit relating to the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, although you have to visit the He Tohu exhibition in the National Library to see the original treaty. Level four also features the skeleton of Phar Lap, New Zealand’s most famous racehorse.
On level six, there is a viewing terrace with sweeping views of Wellington Harbour.
Our address
- Address:
- 55 Cable Street, Wellington 6011
- Bus 24 (stop: Cable Street near Te Papa Museum)
- Telephone (04) 381 7000
- Website www.tepapa.govt.nz
- Admission free; admission charges apply for some temporary exhibitions
- Open 10am–6pm daily
Jeremy,
18 May 2024
At the Trans Solidarity Rally (on the Te Papa forecourt). #transrights #transrightsarehumanrights 😀 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️
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Jeremy,
14 Jul 2023
Watching the Mātariki video show on the outside walls of Te Papa. :)
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Sean,
28 Feb 2023
Could easily spend the entire day here! Arrive early and try working your way through the museum from the top floors down.
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Inge,
28 Nov 2022
The nature exhibit is fantastic, great for kids and adults alike. Love the Gallipoli exhibit, fantastic!
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James,
01 Aug 2021
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Vlad,
06 Jan 2020
This is probably the best museum out of 30 museums I’ve ever been too
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H,
17 Dec 2019
Nice museum, very large, free entrance
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Zack,
11 Dec 2019
Free entry for most of the museum and a wide variety of art, science, and history of the country.
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Joak,
19 Oct 2019
Best museum in NZ and free. Gallipoli exhibit is impressive.
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Glen,
02 Jun 2019
The ANZAC exhibition is very cool
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John,
25 Apr 2019
Go top floor first then work way down
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Grahame,
24 Feb 2019
Always something new popping up here.
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Kath,
16 Feb 2019
One of the best in the world.
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Leon,
28 Dec 2018
Love the museum. Check out the earthquake area.
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Sara,
03 Oct 2018
Excellent free museum with paid tour options. Lots of interesting things to see and learn.
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Arthur,
10 Apr 2018
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Leroy,
10 Feb 2018
Awesome place. Take your friends and family
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Robson,
09 Feb 2018
Museu bonito e agradável! Lugar gostoso para apreciar e descançar
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Pamela,
22 Jan 2018
Learning about The World of the Maori People, natives of New Zealand
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Catherine,
22 Dec 2017
Amazing museum! Best exhibition I have ever seen for WWI
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Darwich,
06 Nov 2017
Amazing place to look through NZ history
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Gabriela,
16 Jun 2017
One of the best museums in NZ. The expositions are amazing! Certainly a day full of knowledge and fun
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Petr,
02 Mar 2017
The Gallipoli exhibition is breathtaking and highly recommended to everyone.
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Yannick,
28 Feb 2017
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Elise,
16 Jan 2017
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Steven,
23 Dec 2016
Get the pie in the cafe sensational!
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Darren,
16 Dec 2016
The free Gallipoli exhibition, about the Battle of Anzac Cove from 25 April to December 1915, is incredibly moving and not to be missed. http://gallipoli.tepapa.govt.nz
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Ashok,
21 Nov 2016
World class museum. Start with the art collection at the top and make your way down, allow 4-6 hours if you want to check out everything. The Gallipoli exhibition is incredible!
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Bjørn,
15 Sep 2016
Lovely big museum with free entry. Fascinating Māori culture exhibits with lots of information.
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Mark,
31 Aug 2016
We provide Vehicle Tracking Systems including car tracking
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