New Zealand’s capital labels itself as the coolest little capital in the world and while I didn’t visit too many capitals yet, I’m tempted to agree that it does look like a cool city, but there is this “but”…see further below. Most of the world’s capitals are freakin’ huge compared to tiny Wellington, but that doesn’t mean the city lacks necessary transport systems, infrastructure in terms of shops, restaurants and so forth. However, even though I’ve been there three times by now, the city didn’t manage to fascinate me yet or really provide me with memorable places and events. Likely I never emerged in it like I should do as young person…well, I’ll surely be over there in the future soon. For these reasons this post will rather be a short, generic summary of my impression about it, and I’m 100 % sure other travellers on the net will have blogs telling you more about the local micro brewery culture, the best clubs and other details I’ve missed all these times.

Just like Auckland, Wellington has been built in a hilly area – and just like many cities in NZ, nobody cared about the fact that building a big city in a hilly area makes walking and driving often a little bit difficult. I don’t say it’s not manageable, but a little bit of planning would really have helped that. Even the city council seems to have realised this decades ago and thus built a cable car simply to connect Te Aro (the central district) with the uphill districts The Glen and Kelburn. Having said this, there are also pretty much unavoidable stair connections (hidden by the plants on this pic, but you see the height difference) from The Terrace – a long major street running through Wellington’s CBD and featuring skyscrapers down to small residential homes from the early 20^th century – to the “lower” part of the city. Well, I suppose this also forms the character if this city; so if Auckland didn’t make you fit yet if you’re coming from a flat country, here you have another chance to train your body.

Apart from the famous Te Papa museum at the waterfront (which is NZ’s free national museum, probably even boasting something on exhibition for people who don’t usually go to museums), most tourists probably will spend their time in Te Aro’s centre. Here you’ll find all the amenities of a big city: Heaps of restaurants, bars, clubs and shops – Cuba St and the area around Courtenay Pl are particularly popular for all these things and full of life at night time, especially on the weekends. As always the iSite, hidden close to the library between the Civic Square and Willis St, will be a help, but be prepared: This one is particularly busy (much more than the one in Auckland was my impression) and hasn’t got the friendliest opening hours.

I personally didn’t do much apart from going to the Te Papa, strolling around here and there and hanging out in the hostel, but: If you fancy great views over the city, you should climb Mt Victoria, it’s pretty much Wellington’s equivalent to Auckland’s Mt Eden (although it is a lot smaller). You’ll likely understand why the city’s nickname is “Windy Welly” when reaching the summit: There a sign saying that small babies sometimes have been blown away by the strong winds coming from the Cook Strait (yeah…).

It’s possibly the best if you experience it yourself. Leave a comment if you have to recommend something I should absolutely experience so I can review what I’m thinking about Welly so far 🙂 My heart beats for the South Island, which will be covered by the upcoming “Travel through…” posts.