Tūhura Otago Museum
Tūhura
One of New Zealand's oldest museums, with rich Māori and Pacific collections, plus an attached tropical butterfly house and planetarium.
The Otago Museum was founded in 1868 beside the University of Otago campus, and its main galleries are free. Key galleries include Tangata Whenua, which covers Māori culture and features finely carved meeting-house elements and canoes; the Pacific Cultures gallery; Southern Land, Southern People, which explores Otago's natural and immigration history and displays skeletons of the extinct moa; the Natural Life gallery; and the Seafaring gallery. The paid area houses Tūhura Science Centre. Its three-story tropical butterfly house is kept at about 28°C year-round, with over a thousand butterflies fluttering overhead, which is especially pleasant in winter. A full-dome planetarium also screens shows. Plan about 2 hours for the museum, or half a day if you're visiting with children. It is about a 15-minute walk from the Octagon. Nearby, the Clocktower Building of the University of Otago, with its Gothic Revival stonework and lawns beside a stream, is very photogenic and can be visited on the way.
Opening hours
10:00–17:00
Nearby sights
- University of Otago Clocktower
- Olveston Historic Home
- Dunedin Railway Station
- The Octagon & St Paul's Cathedral
- Dunedin Public Art Gallery
- First Church of Otago
- Toitū Otago Settlers Museum
- Dunedin Botanic Garden