Dunedin walking tour & city guide

The city

The Octagon is the city's central plaza. Dunedin Railway Station, a Flemish Renaissance building, is one of the most photographed in the country. Baldwin Street is often listed as one of the steepest streets in the world.

Otago Peninsula

The Otago Peninsula has the only mainland royal albatross colony in the world, yellow-eyed penguins and fur seals. Larnach Castle, New Zealand's only castle, has gardens and views.

A day in Dunedin

Dunedin was founded by Scottish settlers in 1848, and its name is the old Gaelic word for Edinburgh. Start at the Octagon, the eight-sided central plaza with a statue of the poet Robert Burns, then walk to the railway station, a grand building of dark basalt and white limestone often called the most photographed building in New Zealand. Inside, the mosaic floor has hundreds of thousands of tiny tiles.

In the afternoon, visit Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, then drive up to Baldwin Street, which for years held the title of the world's steepest residential street. Walking up it is harder than it looks, and the view back down is worth it.

The Otago Peninsula

The real treasure of Dunedin lies just outside the city. A narrow road winds along the Otago Harbour to the tip of the peninsula, where Taiaroa Head is home to the only mainland breeding colony of northern royal albatrosses in the world. With a wingspan of up to three meters, they glide past the cliffs on the wind.

Along the way, sandy coves shelter New Zealand fur seals and sea lions, and in the evening rare yellow-eyed penguins come ashore. Larnach Castle, a 19th-century mansion with gardens, sits on a ridge with views of both the harbor and the ocean.