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Napier Must Do's
ART DECO, GIN AND WINE TASTING TOUR Ride in style in a 1930s chauffeur driven vintage car, on this four-hour tour. Visiting Napier’s art deco sights, combined with a wine tasting session at the Urban Winery, and a sip or two at the National Gin Distillery.
MUNICIPAL BUILDING Having been closed since 2014, this beauty is back with a bang. You’ll be spoilt for choice as this iconic building houses Craft & Social a new eatery and bar, and Cellar 495, a boutique wine cellar and bar. Add in a delicatessen, gallery, the Toitoi ticketing box office and the revamped i-Site and Visitors Centre, and it’s once again a hive of activity.
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HOOTERS VINTAGE & CLASSIC VEHICLE HIRE Hire the only opentop vintage cars in the country. Master the art of ‘double declutching’ during a one-hour lesson and then take your classic car for a spin around town. Fully chauffeured guided tours are also an option.
NAPIER PRISON Provided with an audio device, absorb chilling prison tales while traipsing the cells and prison ground. Built in 1862, for something extra unsettling, try the ghost tour. Fingerprinting and mugshot photographers keep things light for children.
MTG HAWKE’S BAY A museum, theatre and gallery. As well as art collections, there’s an exhibition on the 1931 earthquake, short films and approximately 90,000 objects of interest. Free entry.
WALK MARINE PARADE The perfect space for sauntering. Along the prom, you’ll find the NationalAquarium of New Zealand, mini-golf, a BMX and skateboard park, the sunken garden, open-air hot pools and Napier Viewing Platform: a contemporary pier that juts over the sea.
OCEAN SPA HOT POOLS With a swish new ‘The Bach’ café, relax in heated saltwater pools and sauna, open until 10pm in summer. The outdoor spas are magical at sunset and twinkle when night falls.
ĀTEA A RANGI STAR COMPASS Located in Waitangi Regional Park, aseries of large Māori carvings form a striking celestial circle to represent traditional Māori navigation
THREE-DAY BACK COUNTRY RAFTING Join Mohaka Rafting in Kaweka Forest Park for three days of wild river rapids, thermal hot springs and wilderness camping. Helicopter in and raft out.
NAPIER MĀORI TOURS Understand Māori culture in the Hawke’s Bay region by visiting a 650-year-old Māori village site. Tours incorporate traditional māori gathering practices, music and cuisine.
NAPIER URBAN FARMERS’ MARKET Make like the locals and get yourself to central Emerson Street every Saturday between 8.30am and 12.30pm for a shop, mingle, decent coffee and long peruse.
NAPIER’S BOTANICAL GARDENS You couldn’t ask for a better picnic site. These immaculate gardens are brimming with fragrant flowers, ponds full of bird life, a small aviary and several easy walks.
SPACE NAPIER Sitting behind a striking art deco doorway on market street, this small yet striking art gallery features a clever collection of modern art from both local and national artists.
THE FARADAY CENTRE This is Hawke’s Bay’s Museum of Technology, a place where visitors are encouraged to touch, hold and pull everything they can get their hands on. A big hit with families.
ŌTATARA PĀ HISTORIC RESERVE WALK This 1.6km easy walk through Ōtatara Pā has archaeological features from one of the largest and most ancient Māori pā sites. Forty-five minutes each way, it’s a good option for kids.
Art Deco Festival, Napier © Kirsten Simcox
Art deco
Following a devastating earthquake in the early 1930s, Napier was rebuilt in the styles of the time: Spanish mission/stripped classical and art deco architecture. Notable sites include the Daily Telegraph Building, Masonic Hotel, the Public Trust Building and many more.
Napier Art Deco Festival
Clear your calendar, this is a bucket-list event if ever we saw one. Held every February, over five fabulous days, Napier’s streets erupt with scores of art deco events.
