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IMAGE: POSITIVELY WELLINGTON TOURISM. ILLUSTRATION: JOHN PLUMERGetting there & around
There’s no way to reach Wellington from the UK
without having to stopover twice. Air New Zealand
flies from Heathrow via Los Angeles and Auckland,
while other flight options include Qantas, Emirates
and Singapore Airlines. airnewzealand.co.uk
qantas.com emirates.com singaporeair.com
The best way to explore Wellington is on foot,
as the city centre can be traversed within 20
minutes and all the key attractions are within easy
reach. There are easy-to-use buses, trains and
ferries, if needed.When to go
Wellington’s al fresco potential is best realised in
summer (mid-December to mid-March), whenESSENTIALS
500 yardsCuba StreetWellington
GardensBotanicTe Papa
TongarewaMount Victoria
LookoutCBDMiramaraLbm
tonQuayOriental^ ParadeWellington
Cable CarZEALANDNEW
WellingtonLambton
HarbourMOUNT
VICTORIALAMBTONKELBURNTE ARO2 milesSLEEP
GOURMET STAY: A 13-room boutique
hotel with a strong European design ethos
near Cuba Street, offering varying levels of
affordability, from smart-yet-basic hostel-
style rooms with shared bathrooms to
apartment-style family suites, all the way up
to a rooftop studio with a terrace and outdoor
hot tub. gourmetstay.co.nz
COMFORT HOTEL WELLINGTON: A good
mid-range option, not least because it puts
you right in the heart of Cuba Street. The
location means you probably won’t need to
frequent its cafe, restaurant and bar, but
they’re there should you wish to do so, as is a
lofty, and rather welcome, swimming pool.
hotelwellington.co.nz
MUSEUM ART HOTEL: This aptly named
silk purse of a hotel positively bulges with
art, be it painted, sculpted, daubed onto its
outside walls or grafted onto the upholstery
of a well-placed bedroom chair. Similarly
ornate views of the harbour accompany
breakfast, during which guests can ponder
how, in 1993, the entire five-storey hotel was
shifted wholesale 120 metres across the road
to its current site. museumhotel.co.nzCup of Joe // A coffee-
loving capital, Wellington
is considered by many to be
the city that gave the world
the fashionable flat white
— though this claim is
disputed vigorously by Sydney
The plush interior of a
Museum Art Hotel room
AFTER HOURS
MATTERHORN: Found through swing
doors at the end of a long corridor on Cuba
Street, Matterhorn is something of a
Wellington institution, having started life in
the 1960s as a Swiss-style cafe, before
evolving into a restaurant, popular weekend
brunch spot, late-night supper club and a
highly imaginative cocktail bar. And if that
wasn’t enough, there’s also regular live
music, too. matterhorn.co.nz
HAWTHORN LOUNGE: The archetypal cosy
nook, designed in the style of a gentleman’s
club, the Hawthorn Lounge is the perfect
place to hide away with a drink from the
blustery world outside. Its compact size
makes chit-chat with the bar staff inevitable
— the kind of conversations from which
you’ll generally emerge with a rather fine
cocktail tailored exactly to your mood.
hawthornlounge.co.nz
FOXTAIL CHAMPAGNE & COCKTAIL BAR: No
city can consider itself truly cutting-edge
without at least one fashionable, hard-to-find
speakeasy. Wellington has a few, the cutest
of which is the Foxtail. To get there, you must
first go to the Foxglove Bar & Kitchen and
then head upstairs to its snug Sitting Room
bar — one of three intimate lounges inside
the building — where you’ll find a wardrobe,
which is actually the secret entrance to a
charming little bar with a surprisingly huge
whisky collection. foxglovebar.co.nztemperatures average around 18-20C and there’s
less rain, although there’s better availability and
value to be found in the shoulder seasons.More info
wellingtonnz.com
newzealand.com
The Rough Guide to New Zealand. RRP: £17.99How to do it
KUONI offers seven nights at the four-star Copthorne
Hotel Oriental Bay, Wellington, staying in a superior
room from £2,125 per person. The price is for travel
in June 2017, based on two sharing, and includes
flights with Air New Zealand from Heathrow.
kuoni.co.ukWELLINGTON152 natgeotraveller.co.uk