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Heritage Highlights Walk

5.017 reviewsThe Octagon

  • 1 hour
  • Free cancellation up to 24h before
  • Guided in English
  • Instant confirmation

Highlights

Dunedin is a great wee city and is best explored on foot. Once New Zealand's largest city, and now a university town, Dunedin boasts picturesque streetscapes and some standout Victorian and Edwardian (and Art Deco!) buildings. This small-group tour is fun and interesting - and a great introduction to Dunedin. See our reviews!

Inclusions

What's included

  • In-person guide, access to key sites and buildings.

What's not

  • Snacks
  • There are no additional in-destination costs on this tour.

Itinerary

  1. Long the centre of Dunedin, The Octagon is a vibrant and attractive public space. Walkers will learn how the space has evolved, and how Dunedin has evolved. A comprehensive introduction here outlines Dunedin's pre-Colonial period, the Scots Free Church settlement of 1848 and the heady gold-rush years of the 1860s when Dunedin became New Zealand's first city. Guests will also learn of the challenges and opportunities the city faces now. Dunedin's fortunes have always waxed and waned: we learn how this has been reflected in standout Octagon buildings including St. Paul's Cathedral and Dunedin's Municipal Chambers.

    15 min

  2. Learn why the Cathedral occupies such a prominent site in what was a staunchly Presbyterian town. View the surprising contrast between the Cathedral's elegant neo-Gothic nave and brutalist chancel. Study the figures in the 'Dunedin window', a striking 21C design crafted in the traditional manner but with a contemporary Dunedin feel, and consider changes made and proposed to the building in the wake of the Cathedral's 2020 fire. From here we walk to Dunedin Railway Station, via streetscapes featuring fine Victorian, Edwardian and Art Deco buildings plus some of Dunedin's most-adored Street art.

    10 min

  3. Many consider the grandiose Dunedin Railway Station (1906) to be New Zealand's finest building. We'll view it inside and out, and discuss what the building is - and could be - used for now. The tour finishes here, so walkers are invited to linger and take photographs.

    10 min

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

5.0

  • 517
  • 40
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  • 10

Ratings come from 17 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

Meeting point
Meet me in front of the Dunedin i-SITE Visitor Centre.
Pickup
Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
Ticket type
Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Operated by
City Walks
  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
  • Service animals allowed
  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels

How it compares in Dunedin

  • Its from-price is 76% below the median of the 95 experiences we list in Dunedin.
  • It is shorter than most of them.
  • By number of reviews it ranks 38 of 95.
  • The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Dunedin

Dunedin is a Scottish-founded university city on New Zealand's South Island, beside the Otago Peninsula and its albatrosses, penguins and seals.

Dunedin was founded in 1848 by Scottish settlers, and its name is the Gaelic form of Edinburgh. The Octagon, an eight-sided plaza at the centre, is ringed by St Paul's Cathedral and the town hall and holds a statue of Robert Burns. Victorian and Edwardian buildings of dark stone fill the streets, among them the Flemish-style railway station and the Gothic First Church. The University of Otago, the country's oldest, gives the city a student character.

Top-ranked sights in Dunedin: Dunedin Railway Station , Baldwin Street, Larnach Castle.

See all 95 experiences in Dunedin

Special offers in Dunedin

Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.

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