Wellington: what to see in 1 day

Wellington is among the world's windiest capitals, squeezed between the sea and hills in a natural harbour so narrow that the centre can be walked almost entirely in a handful of hours.

Capital of New Zealand and hub of its film industry, it offers in a single day a free national museum, a historic cable car and a waterfront animated by cafés and art galleries.

The Te Papa remains the first appointment of the day: New Zealand's national museum, free admission, tells the natural history and culture of the country with collections ranging from Maori culture to the earthquakes that shaped the archipelago.

Continuing along the waterfront, the city's waterfront offers galleries, public sculptures, and restaurants overlooking the harbor, the preferred gathering point for residents on sunny days.

Climbing toward the center you reach the Wellington Cable Car, the historic cable car that since 1902 connects the city center to the Botanical Gardens, with panoramic stops along the way.

For lunch, Cuba Street, the city's most bohemian pedestrian street, offers independent cafés and restaurants among murals and vintage shops.

From here the Botanical Gardens, reached by cable car, descend on foot among greenhouses, rose gardens, and the city's old astronomical observatory.

The Mount Victoria overlook, the panoramic hill, instead dominates the entire harbor of Wellington, theater of some scenes of the Lord of the Rings.

As evening falls, heading back to Cuba Street or the waterfront, the restaurants in the area lend themselves well to dinner, among the city's vibrant gastronomic scene.

Te Papa, the waterfront, and the Cable Car are enough to show Wellington's compact soul, while an afternoon choice between the Botanical Gardens and Mount Victoria adds the botanical or panoramic dimension.

Weta Workshop studios, behind Tolkien's special effects, and a trip to Miramar Peninsula remain chapters for a second journey. Watching Wellington Harbor open up below the viewing platform of Mount Victoria remains the most direct image of the city.