From award-winning collections and science centres to the niche collections of museums covering topics from maritime and mysteries to sport and gasworks, there’s almost a museum for every interest in Dunedin.
Tūhura Otago Museum
Make a beeline for the impressive Tūhura Otago Community Trust Science Centre, which features all manner of interactive activities and displays for kids of all ages. After you’ve finished channelling your inner Newton or Einstein, follow the signs to the Tūhura's Tropical Forest to frolic amongst 1000 beautiful live butterflies and giant stick insects and then galactic enthusiasts can head over to the Perpetual Guardian Planetarium for an exciting journey through the stars in the 360° immersive dome theatre.
The museum also houses a fascinating collection of local and international artefacts which now includes over 1.5 million objects.
Toitū Otago Settlers Museum
A museum, but not as you know it. Toitū expertly mingles the early history of Dunedin’s settler population with installations from more recent times, complete with trolleybuses and vintage caravans. The interactive exhibits include a recreated settler’s house and ships cabin, which offer a fascinating insight into the conditions faced by many in the early years of the Dunedin settlement.
New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
New Zealand's greatest sports performers, their most memorable moments, the trophies and the tools of their trades - all come dramatically alive when you visit the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in the Dunedin Railway Station.
Olveston Historic Home
Olveston has a world class Japanese ceramics and weaponry collection, English and Chinese ceramics, textiles and furniture collections, all on permanent display. Knowledgeable guides take you through this authentic and original historic home, which reflects the life of a wealthy merchant family in the early part of the twentieth century.
Opened as a historic house museum in 1967, Olveston is a time capsule where little has changed inside the house since it was occupied as a family home, from its completion in 1906 to 1966 when it was gifted to the city.
Dunedin Gasworks Museum
The Dunedin Gasworks Museum is part of the now closed Dunedin Gasworks which was New Zealand’s first and last gasworks, operating from 1863 until 1987. It is one of only three known preserved gasworks museums in the world. This is a significant local and world heritage site.
Museum of Natural Mystery
Museum of Natural Mystery is spread over several rooms of an old central city villa.
The museum contains a collection of skulls, bones, biological curiosities, ethnological art and unusual cultural items which the artist has collected over a life-time. The long-time dream of artist and illustrator Bruce Mahalski, this is a museum and gallery with just the right amount of weird.
Port Chalmers Maritime Museum
Reopened in 2024 after a large refurbishment, the 1877 Heritage Category 1 listed building is now filled with light – thanks to the refurbished clerestory windows, a new glass extension and a wide internal laneway linking the museum to the Port Otago Annex.
The interior walls are covered in story-filled panels and there are countless artefacts - big and small - on display. Within the laneway is a wonderful ABCedarium, which is a series of photos, artefacts and information, built around each letter of the alphabet. There's also the show-stopping 5-metre-high and 10-metre-wide Wall of Ships, which is housed in the glass extension.
Waikouaiti Coast Heritage Centre
The Waikouaiti Coast Heritage Centre completed a major redevelopment in 2021 aimed at developing the centre into a vibrant and bustling heritage precinct with retail gallery, information and research, and guided tours of the historic BNZ Bank building.
The collections contain over 19,000 items that span eight principal areas including Johnny Jones, family histories, WWI memorabilia, Seacliff Hospital ephemera, maritime history miscellany, industrial and agricultural implements, domestic equipment and furnishings, and archaic and classic Māori artefacts.
Otago Peninsula Museum
This museum contains treasures from the local community including the old Cape Saunders lighthouse lantern room, the old local jail, a restored cannon found at Harington Point and photos & genealogy relating to families on the Otago Peninsula.
Taieri Historical Society and Museum
The society operates a historical park complex displaying how life used to be on the Taieri. Historic buildings include a courthouse, jail, school, church and steam engine shed.
Middlemarch Museum
A fantastic little museum with a lot to offer. A recent addition is a restored railway wagon detailing the significant contribution the Otago Central Railway made to the local community. But best known for its most intriguing item - New Zealand's first submarine!