Wellington is a small capital city, but it's known for its hip café culture and beautiful views. Nestled between steep forested hills and a wide bay overlooking Cook Strait, Wellington stretches down the hillside and a sturdy pair of walking shoes is perfect for visitors.

It has earned the nickname "Windy Wellington" due to the city's location, which captures the stormy conditions in Cook Strait. But don't let that put you off. With blue sky and white clouds in summer, there is really no more beautiful city in New Zealand. To learn more about this exciting tourist destination, be sure to check out our list of top Wellington tourist attractions.

Nairn Street Cottage & Colonial Cottage Museum

Wellingtons earliest surviving original residence, the Nairn Street Cottage is constructed by the William Wallis family in the early 1850. The building was meticulously maintained with some of the family's original furniture and fixtures from 19th-century and recreates the atmosphere of life in New Zealand's pioneering age. Outside the garden contains a biological heritage garden. Entry to the house is by guided tours that allow visitors the opportunity to explore colonial Wellington and detail the history of the Wallis family, which has occupied this area for three generations. The garden can be visited by the tourists every day.

Beehive

Wellington's greatest architectural landmark is the Beehive which housed the New Zealand Parliament House. The building designed by British architect Sir Basil Spence was commissioned from 1966 to 1970 in the style of the iconic buildings that represent the most loving or hated architectural work on the planet today. The next door is the classically shaped Parliament House, built in 1907 in Neoclassical Edwardian style and now hosts parliamentarians. A free day tour of parliaments is offered daily between 10 and 4 p.m. and follows the parliamentary history of New Zealand and includes touring important government rooms.

City Gallery Wellington

City Gallery Wellington opened in 1980 and is a contemporary art space in Auckland's oldest city building. Bright Soaring Gallery features rotating exhibition schedules throughout the year and showcases artworks from nationally and internationally renowned local, Pacific Island artists and emerging local artist groups. In embracing the modern visual art, exhibitions ranged from paintings to photographic works to sculptures and multimedia works to installations. This gallery also makes Wellington a central cultural hub with talks, meeting-the-artist activities, tours and workshops.

Wellington Museum

The award-winning Wellington Free Museum offers an interactive display that helps bring to life the historic town's history and heritage. This museum contains informative exhibits and film presentations that trace the history of the Wellington Seaside and the history of the city.

The exhibit about the 1968 Wahine disaster (the sinking of the Wahine ferry in Wellington Harbour during a thunderstorm that claimed 51 people) it is not only a commemoration of New Zealand's worst ship disaster, but also a reminder of the power of nature.

Weta Cave Workshop Tour

Fans of the famous trilogy The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings will never forget Wellington's relationship to the Peter Jackson success trilogies. Wellington houses a Weta Workshop where many of these big screen props have been made. The best way to experience the movie attraction is on Weta Cave workshop tours. This professionally guided tour offers the best inside look at the production of these movies as well as other hits such as Avatar and The Amazing Spiderman 2. A few models used for portraying various characters can be seen in person at the film.

Wellington Waterfront

Its waterfront area makes for a charming district located in central Wellington. Both Queen's Wharf & Frankkitts Park are connected with beautiful architecture including the Civic centre and the museum for New Zealand. The park offers great views of Wellington Harbour and holds an annual market on Sundays. The area has plenty of cafés and restaurants so it is the perfect place to take some pit stops while you stroll through the Central District.

Princess Bay

Eight kilometres south of Wellington Central is a sandy beach at Princess Bay. These sheltered stretches of sandy beaches with plenty of pools are the most popular swimming spots in the summer for residents at weekends. On a clear day the beach gives an excellent perspective stretching out into the South Island. A short coastal path over the beach runs towards the point of observation offering better views, which is often used for strolls in the late afternoon.

Mount Victoria

Located west of the city center is Mount Victoria. The peak has 196 metres of cliffs offering spectacular views of downtown but is windy at its highest. A narrow winding lookout leads from Oriental Bay to the Byrd memorial below this view platform. From the terrace at the top there are breathtaking views over the wide town harbour and Cook Strait in one direction, and Kelburn Park on the other side of campus. The Byrd Memorial commemorating the American air aviator Richard Byrd was launched from New Zealand from Kent Street in 1929.

Wellington Cable Car and Kelburn Lookout

From 1910, the Wellington cable car climbed up a steep slope to Kelburn Lookout adjacent to the Botanical Gardens. This fun 5 min journey offers a scenic alternative to puffing your way up Wellington's steep hill. On this route you can enjoy great views of this area and keen photographers will definitely be happy when they have captured the panoramas on Kelbourne Lookout. The Kelburn cable car terminal houses the interesting Cable Car Museum where a collection of the first cable cars was displayed.

Wellington Botanic Garden

Wellington Botanic Gardens was created in 1868 and has 25 acres of lush gardens and native wildlife. Several walking paths traverse gardens ranging from forest coniferous to ferneeries or seasonal flower beds. The Lady Rose Garden is a highlight of Botanic Gardens with 100 rose gardens featuring numerous different varieties. Carter Observatory's Space Place is set on the eastern portion of the Garden (in close proximity of the Wellington cable car Kelburn Terminal), and it contains Begonia house which features displays of exotic plants.

Wellington Zoo

Wellington Zoos is one of New Zealands oldest zoos. The organization founded in 1906 has gained recognition for conservation efforts. This is a good spot for young people to see New Zealand wildlife close to them, particularly shy animals such as the Kiwibird (national symbol) and the Tulatara reptile. The park also has plenty of well-maintained cages for animals from different countries like Lion, Giraffe, Monarch, Chimpanzee, Mercat and Big Cat. The zoological zoo is known for bringing animals into the zoo to see the work of zoology veterinarians.

Katherine Mansfield House & Garden

The small wooden house at Thorndon's Wellington suburb was the home of one of New Zealand's greatest writers. She is the first British woman to be published. She became famous for a major part of the novels she was famous for was written in London and lived as a child in England with the late Virginia Woolf. The house where her father was based is now an old school building that contains countless Mansfield personal belongings, along with typical furniture and fixtures from the late 19th century.