About Dunedin

We love Dunedin for it's easy living. Being a small city it has all the cultural entertainment and shopping one expects from a city, and they are all in close proximity (walking distance or short travel). Dunedin is also situated in a stunning natural environment, with harbour, sea and rugged peninsula providing fabulous eco-tourism, wildlife and a vast array of water and outdoor sports.

Below are some links available to help you with your activity plans.

General Information
Single Day Trip
Gardens
Wild Life and Nature Tours
Tours
Art, Art Museums Galleries and Markets
Theatres
Wind Surfing and Surfing
Outdoor Adventures

General Information

Single Day Trip

If you are only in Dunedin for a single full day then what we find most people like to is the following:

Breakfast - Wake up and enjoy a breakfast of fresh croissants and breads, fruit and cereals, tea and coffee.
Peninsula here we come - Then set of to the peninsula, we usually have guides and enough maps to get you there and back and can point out the great walks and activities that you can do. Of course this will depend on your interests and if you want to spend some time in the city. We find that the peninsula is a wonderful place, another world and well worth a day exploring. Below we have some links to different places that relate the peninsula but we highly recommend:
The walks - you can see this at this link Dunedin City Council Peninsula tracks, it does depend on how much time you have and there are some great tracks to see wild life and our wonderful beaches :)
Albatross - yes this is the only place in the world where you can see albatross situated where we humans also live. They are amazing birds and with a bit of luck you will see them flying. Remember that you don't need to do the albatross tour to see them flying you can actually just see them from the car park by the albatross center.
Penguins - Seeing the (yellow eyed) penguins is another thing that most people like to do, and quite a few of the peninsula guide will do this. I'll put the links to the places we recommend below. Also remember that we have the little blue penguines here and they are situated very close the the car park for the albatross.
Other Tours - there are a number of tours that are wonderful to do and can arrange the whole day for you, check out our details below (I'll update this with the most recommended shortly).
Dinner - Once you have spend the whole day out on the peninsula you are bound to want some great food. Dunedin has some wonderful dinning and we have a folder full of information about this (with our three most recommended restaurants) that we can talk you through. Or there are several guides that will point you in the right direction. One of the great things about Dunedin's restaurants is that they are all very well priced, most would not have mains that exceed $35 (nz) and the quality is wonderful.

Gardens

Dunedin Botanic Gardens On a nice day you can take a trip to the gardens or to the cafe at the gardens(Croque-o-dile In the Garden). Its a great way to spend half a day or so and relax in a wonderful surroundings.
Larnach Castle Garden
Dunedin Chinese Gardens The gardens opened in July 2008 and are well worth a visit.

Wild Life and Nature Tours

Visitors Guide to Otago Peninsula This is a pretty good resource for things to do on the peninsula.
Armstrong Disappearing Gun
Elm Wildlife Tours
Marine Studies Centre, Otago University
Monarch Wildlife Cruises
Natures Wonders
Otago Peninsula
Penguin Place
Taieri Gorge Train
The Otago Explorer (Penguins, Albatross, Larnach's Castle)
Wild Earth Adventures

Tours

The Walking Bus, providing transport to Dunedin's extensive network of "track 'N' trails' for mountain bikers and freedom walkers - (03) 4718571
Cadbury World Factory Tour
Larnach Castle
Olveston
Speight's Brewery Tour

Art, Art Museums, Galleries and Markets

Dunedin Arts Galleries
Dunedin Fashion Incubator
Cleveland Living Arts Centre
Dunedin Public Art Museum
Historic Gasworks Museum
Milford Galleries Dunedin
Otago Museum - This museum has some great things to do and learn, ranging from the tropical butterfly house to the Maori cultural artefacts, and lots in between.
Otago Arts Guide
Otago Peninsula
Otago Sculpture Trails - Dunedin City and Beyond
The Blue Oyster Art Project Space was established in 1999 by the Blue Oyster Arts Trust to provide a contemporary art project space that encourages experimental and innovative art projects
Visit The Artists Room for an extensive range of contemporary New Zealand art
Gallery De Novo specialises in the following: - Exhibiting excellent quality original works of art by New Zealand artists in the following mediums; photography, print making, mixed media, pencil drawing, painting
Port Chalmers Well Port Chalmers is a great place, you can head out to Port, checkout the art scene and enjoy some food at 'The Port Royale Cafe' (on a sunny day there is a little court yard out the back that is just great). There are coupe of places to eat of course, we can tell you about them... Port's great and it's becoming an Arty place to go. Here is what the
Port Chalmer web site has to say "Port Chalmers was put on the New Zealand art map by its most famous resident Ralph Hotere, but dig a little deeper and you will discover a vibrant range of art and culture from potters and sculptors to musicians, jewellers, writers and fashion designers. Supporting this creative community is an eclectic mix of galleries, design boutiques, antique stores, cafes and restaurants, many of which are housed in the port's original historic buildings.". It's well worth a look and if you are heading north you can include this as part of the trip before you take the back road over the hill :)
Otago Farmers Market - If you have time the farmers market is reportedly the best farmers market in New Zealand, its got upto 75 stalls. There is some great fresh fruits and veges to have (yer right its holiday time leave the veges behind, those are for the restaurants and cafes). There are also some wonderful cooked food and usually live music. Its quite a buzz. The cheeze man will have you buying out of his hand and the beer man will have you sampling, not a bad start to the morning ;) Market runs from 8am Saturday morning only. Check out all the stalls that they have, Stall at the market, better still sample what they have to offer.

Theatres

The Fortune Theatre is Dunedin's professional theatre.
The Globe theatre is an amatuer theatre company dedicated to bringing the best in classical and modern plays to the public.
Built in 1928, the Regent Theatre continues to provide a grand backdrop to an exciting production line up, including the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the International Film Festival.
Allen Hall has lunch time performances on Thursday and Friday, these have become an intrinsic part of the University's (and Dunedin's) cultural life, with audiences flocking in to see each week's offering.