Old Government Buildings is located 280m or a 3-minute walk from Wellington Railway Station and central bus depot in central Wellington.

By public transport

Train

Take the Hutt Valley, Melling, Wairarapa, Johnsonville or Kapiti line to Wellington Railway Station, which is a 3-minute walk to Old Government Buildings.

Bus

Catch any bus to Lambton Quay. Get off near the Parliament precinct and it’s a 2minute walk to Old Government Buildings.

Ferry

From Days Bay, take the East by West ferry to Queens Wharf, travelling to Wellington. From there it’s an 8-minute walk to Old Government Buildings.

Catching a ferry from the South Island? Old Government Buildings is a 6-walk from the Bluebridge terminal on Aotea Quay. From the InterIslander terminal catch the free shuttle to the Wellington Railway Station, then Old Government Buildings is a 3-minute walk.

Cycling

The terrain in and around Old Government Buildings is reasonably flat, but it is a busy urban area, best suited to experienced cyclists.  There are lots of bike racks at the rear of the building.

By road

From Kapiti/Johnsonville/Porirua take the State Highway 1 motorway into Wellington, take the Murphy Street exit. Merge onto Murphy Street and continue onto Mulgrave Street. Using the left-hand lane, turn right onto Featherston Street. Follow Featherston Street for approximately 200m, before using the right lane to turn right onto Whitmore Street. Follow over Stout Street and Old Government Buildings will be on your right.

From Wairarapa/Upper Hutt/Lower Hutt take the State Highway 2 motorway into Wellington, take the Murphy Street exit. Merge onto Murphy Street and continue onto Mulgrave Street. Using the left-hand lane, turn right onto Featherston Street. Follow Featherston Street for approximately 200m, before using the right lane to turn right onto Whitmore Street. Follow over Stout Street and Old Government Buildings will be on your right.

From Wellington Airport/Miramar/Seatoun follow State Highway 1 into Wellington CBD, joining Jervois and Customhouse Quays, then turn left onto Whitmore Street. Old Government Buildings will be on your right.

Parking

There is paid on-street parking on Stout and Whitmore Streets (see parking signs for times) or in nearby Wilson Parking buildings on Molesworth Street and Kate Sheppard Place.

There is no onsite public parking.

Children and whānau

Both inside and out, there are things for kids to discover. Inside explore the vault or take a ride in an open-air lift. Keep an eye-out for the mummified rat.

Outside, there is plenty of room to stretch little legs. Make sure you check out the surveyor’s chain on the right-hand side of the building, one of only two left in the country. Before rulers and metres, this is how we measured things.

And if you’re really keen, have a go at counting the windows from the outside. We’ll give you a hint… it’s more than a hundred.

Things to remember

Old Government Buildings is a working university campus for Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington faculty of law. Due to this much of the building is closed to the public, by taking a guided tour you will be able to view specific areas of the building. During exam time some we ask visitors to keep noise to a minimum so students can concentrate.  

We care for some important taonga (treasures) in our collection and our heritage buildings have lived a long life, so some rooms or items in the house may be off limits at times for conservation and maintenance.

Some rooms may be dimly lit depending on the weather and time of year.