Te Papa is Wellington's 'must-see' attraction, for reasons well beyond the fact that it's NZ's national museum. It's highly interactive, fun, and full of surprises: aptly, ‘Te Papa Tongarewa’ loosely translates as ‘treasure box’. The riches inside include an amazing collection of Māori artefacts and the museum’s own colourful marae; natural history and environment exhibitions; Pacific and NZ history galleries; the National Art Collection; and themed hands-on ‘discovery centres’ for children. Big-name temporary exhibitions incur an admission fee, although general admission is free.
You could spend a day exploring Te Papa’s six floors and still not see it all. To cut to the chase, head to the information desk on level two and collect a map. For exhibition highlights and to get your bearings, the one-hour ‘Introducing Te Papa’ tour (adult/child $15/7) is a good idea; tours leave from the info desk at 10.15am, noon and 2pm daily, plus 7pm on Thursdays. 'Māori Highlights' tours run at 2pm daily ($20/10). Two cafes and two gift shops complete the Te Papa experience, which could well consume a couple of rainy-day visits.
