Sightseeing
Dunedin Heritage Tours
For more information on our Heritage Tours and to book online please click here.
Experience Dunedin's sights from the comfort and height of a double deck bus. Entertaining and informative commentary will lead you through Dunedin's fascinating and vibrant history.
Tour 1: ‘First City’ Double Deck Bus Tour
Enjoy a 1.5 hour introductory tour to life and times in this 'City of Firsts'.
• A lookout over Dunedin harbour and city
• Olveston stately home (set-down stop)
• New Zealand's first botanical garden
• New Zealand's first University
• Dunedin's classic old railway station and courthouse precinct
• The world's steepest street
• Speights Brewery
Year Round (Excluding Cruise Ship Days): 9.00am, 10.30am, 1.00pm and 2.30pm
Cruise Ship Days: 9.00am, 10.15am, 1.00pm and 2.15pm
Tour 2: 'First City wih Olveston' Double Deck Bus Tour
The Double Deck Bus Tour above with an Olveston stately home guided tour.
• 1 hour guided tour
• 4 floors, 35 rooms
• Global collection of stately treasures
• Totally authentic experience – experience 20th Century affluence
Year Round: 9.00am and 1.00pm
Dunedin Wildlife Tours
For more information about our Wildlife Tours and to book online please click here.
Settle back and enjoy the spectacular drive up and over the Peninsula 'high road', your driver will provide an informative commentary along the way.
At the peninsula headland you have a choice of one of three optional wildlife tours:
Tour 3 (A) Albatross Colony
• Guided visit to the nest site observatory (Open Nov 24th – Sept 16th)
• A presentation on the life of an Albatross.
• A guided tour of Fort Taiaroa including the ‘Disappearing Gun’.
Tour 3 (B) Natures Wonders
• Exciting 8 wheel drive Argo all terrain tour over the Reid Family farm to Penguin Beach.
• Visit strategically placed hides and see: Yellow-Eyed Penguins, Little Blue Penguins, New Zealand Fur Seals, Cormorants and much more.
Tour 3 (C) Penguin Place
• Yellow-Eyed Penguin Reserve
• Walk through carefully constructed tunnels and view Penguins from wooden huts up close.
• Informative talk on the Yellow-Eyed Penguin.
The Otago Peninsula tour options all depart from the Visitor Centre, Octagon at 2:45pm, returns at 6:45pm. Return journey is on the scenic harbour-side low road. Hotel/ motel pick-ups (from 45 minutes prior) and set-downs are available on request to centrally located hotels/motels.
Explore Dunedin on a PT Citibus Bus
St Clair Beach
Take the Normanby – St Clair bus right out to Dunedin’s beach resort village of St Clair. On warm days parking can be difficult in this area due to the popularity of the golden sand beaches and fantastic cafés. Once there you can go for a stroll along the beach, let the kids play in the playground or in the summer months you can visit the heated Saltwater Pool for a swim.
St Clair has a number of excellent places to enjoy a coffee or a meal. Savor a high end contemporary meal at the award winning Pier 24 Restaurant and Bar. Soak up the fabulous views while drinking a coffee at Swell Café. Or enjoy the delicious casual dinning at The Esplanade Bar and Restaurant, Starfish café or Salt café.
Garden Village
A trip the other way on the Normanby - St Clair route will find you at the Gardens shopping village and right across the road from Dunedin’s fantastic Botanic Garden. Continue along this route and you will come to Baldwin Street – also known as the world’s steepest street.
Port Chalmers
Catch the Port Chalmers bus from outside Countdown supermarket and travel via Sawyers Bay and Ravensbourne out to the charming, little port village. Port Chalmers is littered with fantastic arts and craft shops. Old architecture and a vibrant, entertaining community make for a great afternoon out. In the evenings Chick’s Hotel regularly plays host to an assortment of Dunedin’s finest musical talent.
The Speight’s Brewery and Cadbury World
Speight’s beer is one of the south's enduring icons, epitomizing the "southern man" lifestyle. Tours of the Speight’s Brewery can be taken everyday of the week. The Speight’s Alehouse is also open for dinning, and is popular for its hearty meals. You could combine a visit to Speight’s with a tour around Cadbury World – to experience the chocolate making process and view the Chocolate Waterfall, complete with a goodie bag of chocolate to nibble on.
Hare Hill Horse Treks
Hare Hill is a lovely 60 acre farm located in Deborah Bay on the north side of the Otago Harbour and close to historic Port Chalmers. Hare Hill offers horse riding suitable for the beginner right through to the more advanced rider throughout the year.
Dunedin Railway Station
The Dunedin Railway Station, Otago Settlers Museum and Dunedin Chinese Garden are a short walk from central city and many major bus routes. Get off any bus that stops in the Octagon and walk down Lower Stuart Street towards the Dunedin Railway Station. From there you can wander south along Cumberland Street to the Otago Settlers Museum and Chinese Gardens. Head back up Rattray Street to Princes Street and you can jump on another bus to continue exploring the city.
The Dunedin Railway Station is the second most photographed piece of architecture in the South Hemisphere. Designed by George Troup, it was opened in 1906. Constructed from dark basalt rock with lighter Oamaru stone facings, the Station has a distinctive light and dark pattern. A 37-metre clock tower dominates the building and is visible from much of central Dunedin. Bought by the Dunedin City Council in 1994, the Dunedin Railway Station underwent a refurbishment in the late 1990s. Originally one of the busiest stations in New Zealand, total the Station is home to the Otago Excursion Train Trust's Taieri Gorge Railway tourist train, the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, the Otago Art Society and the Otago Farmers Market on a Saturday morning. During the Dunedin iD fashion week the Stations main platform transforms into one of the world’s longest catwalks.
Settlers Museum
Established in 1898, the Otago Settlers Museum was founded to mark the 50th anniversary of settlers in Dunedin, it is one of New Zealand’s most significant social history museums. Currently it is undergoing a $38 million redevelopment, including refurbishment of the heritage buildings, the construction of a new storage facility, additional exhibition spaces and visitor facilities.
During the redevelopment the museum is still open with a reduced exhibition programme in the former NZR Bus Station entrance hall. The hall is a Category 1 Historic Place and is a fantastic piece of Art Deco architecture. The renovations are expected to be finished in 2012.
Dunedin Chinese Garden
The Dunedin Chinese Garden is short walk from the city and many major bus routes. The garden is an exceptional an example of a late Ming, early Ching Dynasty Scholar's Garden. Surrounded by a four meter high perimeter wall everything in the garden is original and was imported from China. It is one of only three authentic Chinese Gardens outside of China. It is a wonderful tribute and representation of the Chinese contribution to Dunedin’s history and culture. The Chinese Garden is a peaceful oasis of calm in the middle of the busy city.
Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza – Dunedin City Council
Check out Dunedin’s new stadium by hopping off the Port Chalmers bus just before it turns to head out along the northern side of the Harbour. In the summer time catch a cricket match at the Logan Park international test cricket venue, or even watch some football or athletics fixtures at The Caledonian.
From here you can then easily walk back through our magnificent and world famous University of Otago past the historic Clock tower building to the city – you could even stop into one of the oldest student pubs in Dunedin The Captain Cook Tavern, also known as ‘The Cook’ for a drink with the future doctors, lawyers and leaders of our nation!
Mornington Village and High Street
Take the Mornington bus straight up High Street and marvel at the size of some of the oldest residential buildings in the city. With a gradient like a San Francisco street you will be amazed at how many huge stately old homes remain perched upon the hillside. Too expensive to maintain as single houses many of them now exist as beautiful Bed and Breakfast accommodation or are even divided up into five or six student flats!
Citibus under its initial alias of Dunedin City Transport used to use High Street as one of the main cable car and trolley bus routes up into Mornington village. The run was also referred to as the ‘Big Dipper’ due to its similarity to a roller coaster, going steeply down one side of the valley and then up the other side.
The photo below shows how health and safety rules surrounding transport really have changed! (Scanned images to be provided here)
Otago Museum
Otago Museum is a very special place. Only one block’s walk from any service that runs down George Street, the museum is a very well constructed snapshot of Dunedin’s amazing history. They even have an incredible tropical forest teeming with life including thousands of beautiful butterflies right inside the building!
