Mount Victoria Lookout Wellington

Mount Victoria rises to 196 metres immediately behind the city centre, and the lookout at the top gives the view Wellington is always photographed from: the harbour with its two arms, the central city below, the airport runway running between the water on both sides, the Miramar peninsula, and on a clear day the South Island across the strait. You can drive to within a few metres of it, which makes it unusually easy, or walk up through the town belt from Oriental Bay or Majoribanks Street in about forty minutes on bush tracks. Those tracks are also a well-used mountain bike network. The Byrd Memorial near the summit commemorates Richard Byrd's Antarctic expeditions, which were staged through Wellington. The catch is wind: the lookout is fully exposed and Wellington's southerlies can make standing there genuinely unpleasant, so it is worth checking before driving up.

What you actually see

• The harbour panorama - city, both harbour arms and the airport runway.
• The bush tracks - forty minutes up through the town belt.
• The Byrd Memorial - marking the Antarctic expeditions staged from here.
• The South Island - across Cook Strait on a clear day.

When to go

Any season; sunset is the popular hour. Check the wind - the lookout is fully exposed and a strong southerly makes it miserable.

Honest expectations

It is exposed and often very windy. Parking at the top is limited and fills at sunset. The walking tracks are shared with mountain bikes.

Nearby

Oriental Bay is below; the Weta Workshop and Miramar are east.