Strolling through the colourful Wellington Botanic Garden is one of my favourite ways to unwind. It offers a peaceful retreat during any visit to New Zealand’s capital city.
We nearly always take the cable car to the top and follow the mosaic tile path down through the garden trails down to the city. We pass through a variety of colourful and often fragrant gardens as well some of the oldest exotic trees in the country.
An ever-changing variety of sights and aromas – from flowers to trees, from common to exotic, there is something magical about these gardens that draws me back during every visit to the capital.
Perhaps, it’s simply that the path goes downhill, but I think it’s more than that. After all, the Wellington Botanic Garden is now classified as a Garden of National Significance by the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture and is a Historic Places Trust Heritage Area.
The Wellington Botanic Garden was established in 1844 and is one of the country’s oldest gardens, with plenty to see.
Note: Always check the official rules regarding New Zealand’s traffic light’ levels. Many options are at reduced capacity, therefore, booking ahead is more important than ever, as is reading cancellation policies.
A few Wellington Botanic Garden photo highlights
Lady Norwood Rose Garden and the Begonia House
A favourite section of many is the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. It blooms bright and colourful in summer featuring 106 formal beds, each containing a different variety.
Adjacent to the rose garden is the Begonia house. Indoors to maintain tropical temperatures and climate, plants thrive.
Bolton Street Cemetery
Bolton Street Cemetery has an interesting history. Wellington’s oldest European cemetery is located inside the Wellington Botanic Garden. Although originally a site of Māori burials, it began European burials in 1841.
It was a new concept for the colonies to have one shared town cemetery rather than a graveyard at each church. Although mixed, Anglicans, Jews, and Roman Catholics each kept separate areas.
Then in the 1960s, a motorway was built through a section of the cemetery. Despite protests, between 1968 and 1971, nearly 3700 burials were exhumed and shifted to a large vault that now sits beneath the Early Setters Memorial Lawn. Although, some were moved to other locations at the request of relatives.
More things to see at the Wellington Botanic Gardens
There are plenty of other things to see and do at the Wellington Botanic Gardens. In fact, there are 26 hectares to explore and include sections of exotic, rare, native, and colourful flora.
- If you are looking to walk from the top (Kelburn station) to the bottom (city), follow the mosaic flowers on the paved path. It’s our favourite walking path in the gardens.
- Don’t miss the stunning views of Wellington from the Kelburn station before starting your walk.
- Be sure to stop at the Tree House visitor centre, at a minimum, to enjoy the views from the extensive decks.
- In addition to nature, there is public art throughout the garden.
- There is a play area for kids.
- The Space Place at the Carter Observatory is located inside the Wellington Botanic Garden, as is the free-to-enter Cable Car Museum.
- There are many interesting walks, including dedicated areas for ferns, camelia, herbs, a rock garden, and even a duck pond.
- While we have never seen them (nor have we looked), we have been told there are glow worms in the Main Garden, along the banks of some of the moist and shady areas.
Wellington botanical gardens cafe
Just beyond the rose garden is the lovely Wellington botanic garden cafe, officially named Picnic Cafe. With both outdoor and indoor eating areas, it’s the perfect spot to relax and enjoy life.
Equally important, both the food I have found the coffee to be fabulous. Personally, I prefer to eat outdoors breathing in the aromatic fresh air and enjoying the sunshine while protected from it under big shade umbrellas.
Practical Information on Visiting the Wellington Botanic Garden:
- The Botanic Gardens are open from dawn to dusk. The Begonia House hours are 9 am to 5 pm in Summer, with earlier closing in the winter.
- Entry to the gardens is free. (It’s one of many Wellington activities with free entry)
- For more information, see the garden’s official website here.
Getting to the Wellington Botanic Garden
As many of the garden paths run downhill from the Kelburn cable car station to the city, one can start at the top or the bottom.
From Lambton Quay, one can go either way. One of the things I like to do when I bring visitors to Wellington is to take the cable to the top (Kelburn station) and walk down to the city through the gardens. Of course, one could just explore a section of the garden and return via cable car.
Note that the Cable Car operates until 10pm Monday to Saturday and until 9pm on Sunday.
The other option is to enter from the bottom. The entrance is on Glenmore Street.
Best deals and discounts for New Zealand travel
We earn from qualifying purchases through partnerships or affiliate programmes.
- Activity discounts: Bookme regularly offers discounts up to 70% on selected tours, activities, restaurants and more.
- Get an exclusive 10% discount on New Zealand activities from Klook!
Use code: EXPLORENZ10
(Applies to NZ activity purchases over $50 initiated in NZ or Aus) - Flights: When it comes to flights, we always start with Expedia.
- Vehicle hire: RentalCars is like a rental car search engine with no hidden costs, that lets us find the best deals on car rentals.
- Campervans users check out Spaceships Rentals NZ‘s free one-way drop-off between Auckland and Christchurch.
- Hotels: We use Booking.com to compare and book accommodations. Don’t miss Booking.com’s Getaway 2022 Deals that save 15% or more on selected accommodations. (T&Cs apply)
- Other accommodations: If you prefer B&B or self-contained type lodging, check out Bookabach.
Find more money-saving resources and T&Cs on some of the above, check our Travel Resources page.
Looking for help planning a New Zealand adventure? We invite you to join Explore New Zealand Facebook Group to ask questions or share photos, stories, or anything about New Zealand.
Save for later
If you enjoyed this article, please share it on social media, including Pinterest:
Have you been to the Wellington Botanic Garden?
More on Wellington:
Jean Marie
What a feast for the eyes, I love that deep, deep blue of the Hydrangea but everything is so beautiful! I’m very glad I stopped to look!
Rhonda Albom
Coming around that corner to see the hydrangea was magical.
Ting
What beautiful flora and foliage. I imagine it’s very peaceful here. I do love a botanical garden, it transports you away from the city somewhere colourful and quiet. 26 Hectares is some area to explore!
Rhonda Albom
It is peaceful, although I was with teens 🙂
Lisa at LTTL
I can get lost for hours in a botanical garden. I just told my family that they should be happy it will be a little cold yet for the garden in Denver, otherwise we’d be visiting on our upcoming trip. Lovely photos.
Lisa @ LTTL
PS sorry I am late in visiting this week, I was caught up in celebrating my birthday.
Rhonda Albom
Happy Birthday!
Trekking with Becky
Beautiful shots and great angles! 😀 Thank you so much for sharing this for #ExpatTuesday! 😀
Is Sarah going to be writing about her cultural exchange in Argentina? I’d love to read about it! 😀
Susanne
How lovely to have so much colour at this time of the year. I’ve only been to a botanical garden once but I loved it. So inspiring for a gardening geek as myself. 🙂
Rhonda Albom
Actually, it’s summer in New Zealand.
DBA Mountaineer
the garden is definitely beautiful, i am not really a fan of flowers too but in overall, the surroundings become alive because of their beautiful colors.
Rhonda Albom
I agree, the colours were beautiful.
peregrinationgourmande
Wow! NZ is on my list! really! For now I enjoy Australia but I really have to go there. Your pics are very nice, the nature is beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
cathy
Rhonda Albom
If you are already in Oz, it’s not that far to cross the ditch.
[email protected]
Oh so much colour! Looks like a great spot to hang out.
Rhonda Albom
It is a great spot to hang out.
Corey
Looks beautiful, especially the rose garden. I love coming across a good botanical garden in my travels..this one looks like it has great variety.
Paul F. Pietrangelo
Hi Rhonda. It’s been some time since I’ve written. My wife & I went on a cruise to the Caribbean on the Carnival Breeze. It was pretty good but I got sick ( found to have bronchitist ) and later my wife got it also. Many guests on the ship were hacking & coughing so that wasn’t good. I’m now writing about our cruise and Wednesday’s blog shows a photo I took out of my balcony. I’d like to have your feelings about it. I’m very excited and proud of the picture. I guess I must be getting better. ( I hope so )
Good luck to your daughter. She’ll be do well. Mom & dad might be lonely though. Have a great time together. See ya my friend.
Cruisin Paul
Rhonda Albom
Sorry to hear you got sick. It would be pretty awful to be on a ship full of sick people. Lots of great photos on you page, and that special on is really nice.
Claudia | ImagesByCW
I think the Garden and your photos look gorgeous. I have not, but I would not mind at all to visit. I have never seen a banana flower, bloom – that is amazing! Thanks for sharing.
p.s. and good luck to your daughter.
Kathy Marris
Glorious photos! I haven’t been to Wellington but I have visited the gorgeous gardens in Hamilton. They were spectacular!
Rhonda Albom
I haven’t been to the Hamilton Gardens, but will try to stop here on my next drive through.
Colleen
Well that was a winter pick-me-up!
Rhonda Albom
Glad to be helpful.
Kristi
What gorgeous colors – especially in the first photo. I just want to spend the day there!
Rhonda Albom
A whole day . . . I don’t think I have ever spent more than a few hours.
Inkslinger
Great shots. That place looks absolutely gorgeous, just what I needed to brighten me up on this very dull day here.
Rhonda Albom
Happy to be the cause of smiles.
Jay @CraftySpices
What a lovely place, the flowers, the color and the bananas look great.
Thank you for sharing, hope you have a wonderful week!
Kathe W.
Begonias, cactus and hydrangeas! Wowee!
Rhonda Albom
And there was plenty more to choose from, but these were my favourite photos.
Merlinda (@pixiedusk)
Amazing colors! I just love how vivid they are. My photos always comes up gloomy like the weather here =)
Rhonda Albom
LOL – maybe you need to come to New Zealand to take photos.
Patrick Weseman
Great shots. All colors just pop out. I love the cemetery.
Indah Nuria Savitri
look at all those pretty colors. Love it! NYC is still wet and cold..
Rhonda Albom
Thank Indah 🙂
Mrs. Pepper
Absolutely gorgeous! I’ll have to put this on my list of places I want to visit someday.
Rhonda Albom
Wellington is one of my favourite getaway cities.
Lexa Cain
The pics are gorgeous! I like the one of the rose the best. I never knew bananas started out so green. When I first saw the pic, I thought they were jalapeno peppers! lol Kinda weird that there’s a cemetery attached to the place. Wishing your daughter a bon voyage and hoping the year passes quickly for you. 🙂
Claire
So many beautiful colours, great shots here 🙂
Jessica
I LOVE a good botanical garden.
Rhonda Albom
Then you should visit this one in Wellington.
Amy
oh I love it, reminds me of the BOP quarry gardens, how old is the jewish cemetery btw?
Rhonda Albom
I haven’t been to BOP, but someday I will get there. The cemetery began in 1840. I don’t know if the Jewish section started at the same time or later.
JM Illinois U.S.A.
I enjoyed the cyber tour of the Wellington Botanic Gardens. Thanks for posting such beautiful photos. We are experiencing winter months here so really appreciated seeing all the color and photos of bananas etc.
JM, Illinois-U.S.A.
Rhonda Albom
Thank JM. By the way, I was born in Illinois, so I know how cold it actually is.
Star Traci
Stunning pictures of a lush and beautiful place.
🙂
Traci
Lyn (aka) The Travelling Lindfields
Your photos are lovely. We went to the Botanic Garden when we were in Wellington almost exactly a year ago. I had forgotten about the little path mosaics until I saw your photo – and thought – that looks familiar.
Rhonda Albom
So you must have seen similar colours and blooms.
Teresa from NanaHood
Those pictures are gorgeous. What type camera do you use? Thanks for stopping by NanaHood!
Rhonda Albom
I switched to mirrorless last year and love my camera. I have an Olympus OMD-Em5 with several good lenses.
Marcella @ WhatAWonderfulWorld
Gorgeous! I love all of the colours and textures that you captured. There is something so peaceful about wandering around gardens, camera in hand and just taking it all. It’s one of my favourite things to do!
Rhonda Albom
In that case this botanic garden should be on your bucket list.
Kathryn Grace
As always, your photographs are marvelous. I thoroughly enjoyed walking down the hill with you. I had to wonder: Did the gardeners put a railroad spike at the foot of each of the pink hydrangeas to get them to turn pink, as gardeners used to in the Pacific northwest when I was a child? Whatever made for that purply-pink-blue rainbow, you captured it beautifully, as you did all the other goodies.
Thanks! I needed a nice break from work, work, work.
Rhonda Albom
Interesting question, and one which I have no idea. We have shell at home as a ground cover and we get very purple/pink hydrangeas.
Alissa Apel
Such pretty colors. I love cacti. You have some great photos!
Rhonda Albom
Glad you said that, as I almost left the cacti photo out, as it wasn’t as colourful. But I really like it too.
Parent Club
How I miss seeing things grow – it’s cold and snowy here.
Rhonda Albom
What about indoor plants?
Comedy Plus
Oh what a lovely garden. I love botanical gardens very much.
Have a terrific day. ☺
Rhonda Albom
I really think you would love New Zealand. I hope you get to visit here some day.
Comedy Plus
We just might do that Rhonda. 🙂
Karren Haller
What amazing pictures, so vibrant, just beautiful! I love begonias, I have some thriving in my greenhouse. Karren
Minoru
Hi! It’s nice to see the botanical garden in winter in Tokyo. The hydrangea photo is very beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Rhonda Albom
It is summer here.
Birgitta
These are wonderful, colorful photos!
L. Diane Wolfe
I love the cactus. So weird how bananas grow.
Eli
Looking at those colorful flowers made me soooo happy:-) They are just so lovely!! You sure know Your photoskills too – amazing Pictures:-) Good Luck to Your daughter on her New adventures. I knwo the feeling — when mine moved out to study n another country…. Oh…. Well, as long as they are happy we feel happy too, right. Hugs
Hilary
Hi Rhonda – those are stunning shots … loved seeing them .. the hydrangeas are particularly stunning – they’re a Cornish shrub to me .. and remind me of my mother and Cornwall. Have a very happy last few hours – as you’re into that sort of count down now with Sarah – she will have the most amazing time … as will you when you get to chat with her as she travels and learns … lucky girl. Have so much fun – and lots of thoughts to you all – cheers Hilary
Amila @ Leisure and Me
All these are beautiful photos .I really love the colourful begonia flowers.It is interesting to see a banana tree in this garden.
Rhonda Albom
I thought so too, about the banana tree. Seemed out of place, yet not really.
Lady Fi
So beautiful! I love visiting botanical gardens!
Rhonda Albom
Honestly, it’s not always my favourite thing to do, except in Wellington. There is something really special about this one.
stevebethere
Now these are beautiful shots Rhonda love all the colours that lovely rose and the pretty begonia
Have a petaltastic day and gissa banana LOL 🙂