The New Zealand Museum Te Papa Tongarewa, located in Wellington, is New Zealand's national museum. The National Museum of New Zealand and the National Art Gallery merged to become Te Papa, which opened in 1998. More than 1.5 million people attend the 17th-most-visited art gallery in the world each year.

Te Papa Tongarewa, sometimes known as the "Te Papa Museum" by locals, is easily New Zealand's most renowned museum and a location where you may get lost for hours. The museum houses a vast collection of artifacts and interactive exhibitions in the areas of art, history, taonga Maori, Pacific cultures, and natural history.

Location: 55 Cable St, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

Website: tepapa.govt.nz

The Otago Museum is in the heart of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located in Dunedin North, 1,500 meters northeast of the city center, next to the University of Otago campus. It is one of the city's main attractions and boasts one of New Zealand's greatest museum collections. Long-term gallery exhibits are built around natural science specimens and humanities artifacts from Otago, New Zealand, and throughout the world. The Museum's interactive science center offers a vast, realistic tropical butterfly rainforest experience. Local rnanga bestowed the name Thura, which means "to find, research, and explore", on the museum in February 2022, altering the official name to Thura Otago Museum.

The huge Special Exhibitions Gallery on Level 1 is the Museum's major display place for temporary exhibitions on a variety of topics. Temporary exhibitions are also presented in various areas of the Museum, including the People of the World gallery's Atrium end. Some shows are created in-house, while others travel from other parts of New Zealand or the world. Associations and partnerships with foreign museums have brought world-class exhibitions to Otago and expanded the reach of Otago Museum displays.

Location: 419 Great King Street, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand

Website: otagomuseum.nz

The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tmaki Paenga Hira (or simply the Auckland Museum) is one of the most significant museums and war monuments in New Zealand. Its holdings are focused on New Zealand history (particularly the history of the Auckland Region), natural history, and military history. The current museum was built in the 1920s in the neo-classicist style and rests on a grassed plinth (the remnants of a dormant volcano) in the Auckland Domain, a huge public park near the Auckland CBD.

The holdings of the Auckland Museum are divided into three categories: documentation heritage (manuscripts, letters, and other historical records in archives, as well as visual art); important disciplines of natural science; and human history (broadly, material culture). Since its founding, the Museum has maintained a high level of regional collaboration and complementing collection with other organizations around Auckland (including Auckland Libraries and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tmaki). Manuscripts, ephemera, maps, charts, and plans, newspapers and periodicals, rare and contemporary books and pamphlets, photographs, and works of art in the form of paintings, bookplates, sketches, and drawings comprise the Museum's nationally and internationally significant Documentary Heritage collections.

Location: Domain Drive, Auckland, North Island 1010

Website: aucklandmuseum.com

The Toitu Otago Settlers Museum in Dunedin, New Zealand, is a regional history museum. Its scope includes the former Otago Province, or New Zealand from the Waitaki River south, albeit its primary concentration is the city of Dunedin. It is the country's first history museum.

The museum underwent substantial renovations in 2011 and 2012, reopening to the public in December 2012 under the new name Toit Otago Settlers Museum. The Holmes family suggested and submitted the name Toitu as a suitable complimentary name for the new building in a community competition. This name, which means "to remain unchanged", represents the area's water, land, and sky, and was the name of a former stream that ran near where the museum now stands.

The original entry link between this area and the former bus station has been converted into a study center and monument to First and Second World War veterans from Otago. This positions it next to the Dunedin Cenotaph, which is located in the center of Queen's Gardens, directly outside the museum. Artifacts from the twentieth century may be found at the former bus depot. This features a transport hall with vintage vehicles ranging from drays to a trolley bus, as well as a digital technology area with some of the city's early computer equipment, including an ICT 1301 mainframe.

Location: 31 Queens Gdns, Dunedin, Otago 9016, New Zealand

Website: toituosm.com

The Canterbury Museum is a museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, located in the city's Cultural Precinct. The museum was founded in 1867 by Julius von Haast, whose collection served as its foundation. The Canterbury Museum is a free museum located on the outskirts of Christchurch's famed Botanic Gardens. Learn about the Canterbury region's history and discover artifacts from the early Maori to the local flora and animals. The Antarctic exhibition, which showcases Christchurch as a launching location for Antarctic expeditions, and the bizarre "Paua House," where a local couple's legacy is their living room on display adorned with over 1,000 paua shells, are both amusing anomalies.

The Gothic Revival structure, designed by Benjamin Mountfort, was completed in 1870. The single-story structure was enlarged with an additional level in the Victorian Gothic style two years after it opened. Over the next decade, the museum expanded, with an expansion completed in 1876 and an internal courtyard roofed in 1882. A new wing was created adjacent to Christ's College in 1958, and another was added in 1977. The structure was reinforced in the mid-1990s, and a four-story block was built in 1995.

Location: 11 Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch, South Island 8013, New Zealand

Website: canterburymuseum.com

The Maritime Museum of New Zealand Hui Te Ananui A Tangaroa is an Auckland, New Zealand marine museum. It is situated on Hobson Wharf in downtown Auckland, next to the Viaduct Harbour. It features displays that cover New Zealand's maritime history, from the early Polynesian explorers and settlers to modern-day America's Cup successes. Its Maori name is 'Te Huiteanaui-A-Tangaroa', which means "keeper of Tangaroa's riches" (the Sea God). Rodney Wilson was the museum's founding director, leading fundraising efforts from 1989 to 1993, the year America's Cup competition was hosted in Auckland. The anticipated cost was NZ$11.1 million.

The New Zealand Maritime Museum is a must-see for any maritime enthusiast visiting the City of Sails (the local nickname for Auckland). It houses a treasure trove of nautical exhibits from the past and present, ranging from ancient Maori vessels to vintage warships and even America's Cup racing yachts. The museum also hosts frequent sailings in Waitemata Harbour, providing visitors with a unique perspective on the region's historic vessels and maritime history.

Location: Lower Hobson Street & Quay Street, Auckland, North Island 1010

Website: maritimemuseum.co.nz

Hamilton, New Zealand's Waikato Museum is a regional museum. ArtsPost, a retail and exhibition space for New Zealand art and design, is managed by the museum. The Hamilton City Council is in charge of both. The Tongue of the Dog, a sculpture by Michael Parekowhai located outside the museum, has contributed to enhancing visitor numbers. MESH Piece Trust in Hamilton commissioned the sculpture.

The Waikato Museum has a variety of exhibitions (both in-house and traveling), as well as a full complement of teaching and public programs. Education, collections and research, and public programs of the Waikato Museum are organized around four themes: art, social history, science, and Tangata Whenua. The institution's overarching goal is to represent the Waikato region's passions, history, tradition, and culture. The towering 200-year-old waka taua (war boat) Te Winika and associated explanation are highlights for visitors, as are Exscite and Milk Matters, interactive science exhibitions for youngsters, and Te Whanau Marama, a celebration of Maaori astronomy.

Location: 1 Grantham St, Hamilton, Waikato 3204, New Zealand

Website: waikatomuseum.co.nz

Invercargill, New Zealand's Southland Museum and Art Gallery Niho o te Taniwha is located on Gala Street. It is the Southland's largest cultural and heritage institution, with a diverse range of art, history, and natural history collections. It is renowned for its pyramid-shaped structure, which was built above the old 1942 museum in 1990. Due to seismic dangers, the museum was closed indefinitely in April 2018.

The Southland Museum, famous for its unusual Tuatara cage, is an excellent site to learn about New Zealand's fascinating wildlife. Henry, a 110-year-old reptile that holds the world record for living in captivity for more than 46 years, is the oldest member of the museum's Tuatarium (as it's been nicknamed). The Natural History Gallery, which extends beyond the tuatara displays, and the World's Fastest Indian area, which commemorates Invercargill's most renowned export, are two other ongoing exhibitions worth seeing.

Location: Gala St, Invercargill, Southland 9810, New Zealand

Website: southlandmuseum.co.nz

The World of WearableArt and Classic Cars Museum is a well-known Nelson tourist site that highlights two design-related obsessions. Wearable art from the annual WOW Awards Show is on exhibit with one of Australasia's greatest private collections of rare, historic vehicles. The Museum also has a Cafe known for its wonderful nutritious food and a retail store filled with New Zealand art and jewelry products. Every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Nelson's flagship museum's acclaimed World of Wearable Arts exhibit surely has a "wow" effect. Furthermore, it exhibits a fantastic collection of antique vehicles with globally famous clothes. Even the museum's gift store is worth a look for its unique items, which range from jewelry to books and locally manufactured pottery. Overall, this is a site of amazing contrasts that is sure to grab everyone's curiosity.

Location: 1 Cadillac Way, Annesbrook Nelson 7011, New Zealand

Website: worldofwearableart.com

Wellington Museum (previously the Museum of City & Sea) is a museum in Wellington, New Zealand, located on Queens Wharf. It is housed in the historic 1892 Bond Store on Jervois Quay on Wellington Harbour's waterfront. The Times named it one of the world's 50 finest museums in 2013.

The museum contains four levels dedicated to Wellington's history. The museum strives to tell Wellington's tales and how the city has grown throughout its 150 years as New Zealand's capital, celebrating the city's marine heritage, early Mori and European settlement, and regional expansion. A series of films about Wellington is shown on a massive cinema screen that spans the ground, first, and second levels. There are three theatrical areas: one relates Mori stories using a pepper's ghost, another is a tribute to the loss of the Wahine ferry in Wellington harbor, and the third is a Wellington Time Machine placed on the top level. The Attic, a new exhibition space, debuted in late 2015 following major repair and restoration of the upper level.

Location: 3 Jervois Quay, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

Website: museumswellington.org.nz