Things to do in Dunedin

Is Dunedin worth visiting?

Yes, and it is the most underrated stop on the South Island. People skip it because it is on the east coast and the mountains are in the west, and they miss the one place in New Zealand where you can see albatross, yellow-eyed penguins, New Zealand sea lions and fur seals in an afternoon without getting on a plane or a long boat. The city itself is compact and a little faded, which is part of its appeal: grand Victorian and Edwardian buildings, a good museum, street art, cheap student cafes and a surf beach inside the city limits.

What it is not is quick to reach. Dunedin sits on the way to nowhere except the Catlins and Southland, so it costs a day of driving to include. Our itineraries use it as the hinge of a southern loop, between the Mackenzie high country and Fiordland. Our guide to Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula goes into the wildlife in more detail.

Otago Peninsula wildlife: albatross, penguins and sea lions

The peninsula is a long ridge of old volcanic hills running about 20 km out from the city, with the harbour road along one side and wild Pacific beaches along the other. At its tip is Pukekura / Taiaroa Head, where the Royal Albatross Centre runs guided tours to an observatory above the nesting birds. Northern royal albatross have a wingspan of about three metres, and they nest here nearly all year; December to March, when parents take turns guarding the chicks, is the best time, and windy afternoons put more of them in the air. The albatross tour is on 9 of our itineraries.

• Monarch wildlife cruise (15 itineraries, and part of the combined peninsula tour on more): the boat runs out from Wellers Rock around Taiaroa Head, where you see the albatross from below along with fur seals, shags and often sea lions. On a calm day it is the best view of the albatross you will get.
• Yellow-eyed penguins, hoiho: among the rarest penguins in the world, and in decline. They come ashore in the late afternoon to private reserves on the ocean side of the peninsula, viewed from hides and trenches with a guide. 20 of our itineraries book the penguin tour run by The Opera, a conservation group on the peninsula.
• Little blue penguins: the smallest penguin, landing at Pilots Beach below the albatross colony after dark. The Blue Penguins Pukekura evening tour is on 2 of our itineraries.
• New Zealand sea lions: males weigh up to 400 kg and haul out on the peninsula's beaches. Give them at least 10 m and never get between one and the sea.

Things to do in Dunedin city

• Larnach Castle (20 itineraries): a stone mansion on the peninsula ridge, begun in 1871 for the banker and politician William Larnach, with gardens and views down both sides of the peninsula. 23 itineraries have dinner there, and the combined castle, cruise and penguin day is on 23.
• Dunedin Railway Station: the 1906 station in black basalt and white limestone, the most photographed building in the city. Scenic trains into the Taieri Gorge leave from here, on 8 of our itineraries.
• Speight's Brewery (18 itineraries): the brewery tour in the middle of town, a Dunedin institution, with a tasting at the end.
• Toitū Otago Settlers Museum and Tūhura Otago Museum: the first tells the city's story from Kāi Tahu to the gold rush and is free; the second has a strong natural history collection, a planetarium and a tropical butterfly house.
• Baldwin Street: listed by Guinness as the steepest residential street in the world, with a gradient of roughly 1 in 3. People walk up it, take the photo and walk down.
• St Clair and St Kilda: the city's surf beaches, ten minutes from the Octagon, with a heated salt water pool at St Clair and cafes along the Esplanade.
• Lan Yuan, the Dunedin Chinese Garden, and the Botanic Garden, founded in 1863 and the oldest in New Zealand.

How to get to Dunedin

State Highway 1 runs through the city, north to Christchurch and south to Invercargill. Most of our itineraries come in from inland: down from the Mackenzie and the Waitaki valley to Oamaru, then down the coast past the Moeraki Boulders, which are about an hour north of the city and worth the stop. The road west to Te Anau crosses Southland through Gore.

Dunedin Airport (DUD) is at Momona on the Taieri Plains, about 30 km south west of the city, with domestic flights from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. InterCity coaches connect with Christchurch, Queenstown and Te Anau.

How long to stay, and the weather

Two nights, which is what most of our itineraries give it. One night lets you do the peninsula in an afternoon and evening but leaves nothing for the city, and you arrive after a long drive whichever way you come. With two nights you get the peninsula one day and the station, the museums and the beach the other. Add a third if you want the Taieri Gorge train or a day in the Catlins.

Dunedin is cooler and cloudier than the north of the country but drier than people expect, with somewhere between 600 and 750 mm of rain a year. Summer highs average around 19°C and winter highs around 11°C, and a southerly can drop the temperature ten degrees in an hour at any time of year. Bring a warm layer even in January. The MetService forecast for Dunedin is the one to watch, and wildlife tours run in most weather.

Where to stay in Dunedin

Most visitors stay in the centre, between the Octagon and the university, where everything is walkable. The peninsula has a handful of lodges and the castle stays for people who want to be closer to the wildlife. These are the properties our itineraries use:

• Motel on York (46 itineraries): a modern motel a few minutes' walk from the Octagon.
• Scenic Hotel Dunedin City (20): a central hotel near the Octagon.
• Camp Estate at Larnach Castle (20) and Larnach Lodge (3): rooms in the castle grounds on the peninsula ridge, with dinner in the castle for those on the dinner package.
• Bella Vista Dunedin (11) and Kingsgate Hotel Dunedin (11): central, practical stays.

You can see every trip through the city on the tours through Dunedin, from NZ$1,865. If you are heading on west, our Te Anau page covers the next stop.