City Guide: Dunedin

Dunedin is the second largest city on the South Island. Its name stems from the Scottish Gaelic language. Due to its Scottish heritage you can still find some traits from this past. The Scottish for example built some of the church in the city.

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While it is a rather small city population wise, it has some nice historical architecture. Moreover, it hosts Otago University, the oldest in New Zealand, and about 20 per cent of its population is between 18 and 24 years old.

We flew over to the city from Christchurch and decided to check out Dunedin before starting our trip along the Southern Scenic Route. As we only had a short amount of time (our parking time was limited to two hours), we had a stroll around the most interesting buildings such as the Cathedral and the train station. Before our final departure we also quickly drove up to the Signal Hill Lookout.

Dunedin Cathedral and Town Hall

The cathedral also known as St. Paul’s Cathedral was built between 1915 and 1919. Next to it you can find Dunedin’s town hall. This is the seat of the city council.

Its construction was split into two phases. The first phase being initiated by the population growth after the Otago Gold rush. However, first only a few offices were build, which were later complemented by two auditoriums.

Dunedin Railway Station

The Railway Station is located by Anzac Square.

It was designed by George Troup and in its early years provided a link between Christchurch and Invercargill as well as some suburban connections. Its dark and light pattern is quite common both in Dunedin and Christchurch.

Dunedin Bank of New Zealand

This is the first branch of the biggest bank in New Zealand which was first opened up in Auckland.

It started operating in 1861 and is thus unsurprisingly located in a historic building.

Dunedin First Church of Otago

The First Church of Otago is located quite prominently in the centre of Moray Place.

It is Dunedin’s primary Presbyterian Church and was built during the nineteenth century.

Dunedin Signal Hill Lookout

The Signal Hill Lookout is known as being one of the best spots to enjoy great views of the city.

Apart from that it is also a memorial site, which serves as a reminder of the hard work of the pioneers.

Dunedin – Other interesting buildings

Apart from the architectural highlights mentioned above, there are more interesting sites to explore in Dunedin. Here are some of our impressions of walking through the city centre.

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Our overall impressions of Dunedin

Overall we were positively surprised by the city. Although it is quite small, it has some beautiful buildings to offer. Especially the Railway Station looks very impressive.

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