What a great, educational experience! When learning about NZ wildlife, this is a great experience to get up close and learn from the great tour guides! We did the night time tour and although we weren't able to 'see' everything that you see during the day, it was interesting as we got to see the kiwi bird several times in their natural habitat, which is the whole reason we did this tour. The tour guide was great - she kept us informed throughout the tour and educated us on the NZ wildlife. Great family or couple experience.

I went there early in the morning till the afternoon and it was awesome. I saw so many different birds and could hear even more of them. No matter where you walk/ hike, it‘s a sound experience in and of itself when you take into account all of the different bird sounds that you literally hear all the time. The tracks themselves are organized and it‘s hard to get lost if you take a good look at the map beforehand, but even if you don‘t, there are many maps with „you are here“ indicators along the way as well. The rainforest like forest that you walk through is also incredible, large ferns, palm trees and various other cool plants surround you at all times. If you are in Wellington, then you definitely have to check it out. I just bought the general admission ticket, which is valid for 48 hours, so I could hike where I wanted to but you can also book a tour. Overall, I definitely recommend visiting the ecosanctuary and just see it for yourself.

Your part of the exhibit view rare New Zealand birds and reptiles face to face on the trails or onboard the cute boat. An amazing story of restoration and also prehistory larger than life on the screen.

The birds were literally by their signs! This was such a great way to experience nature in an urban setting. I loved it, and there is so much to learn. The free shuttle was very helpful (be careful to check the timetables because only one of the lines keeps going later in the afternoon). If you're looking to see kiwis, I would recommend coming for a night tour. We missed it unfortunately, but it sounded like they have the gear and experience to be able to find them.

A superb experience giving an incredible insight into the native flora and fauna of New Zealand. The trees are filled with birds singing which made for fantastic photos and videos. Highly recommend travelling up towards and beyond the upper valley as the paths were so quiet.

We had an absolutely fantastic night tour in Zealandia and I would say it was the highlight of the month I spent in New Zealand. Staff were very accommodating and communicative from the time of booking. We arrived fairly early for the tour and it was a little bit confusing to figure out where to go for entry, but it was really neat just waiting in the parking lot and hearing all the bird calls. There was a guide taking us through the park as well as a Zealandia volunteer that went ahead to try and find wildlife for the group to see. If you have any interest in New Zealand wildlife or conservation I think this is an absolute must-do, and if you do the night tour you can come back in the day for free (which we did, futher solidifying Zealandia as the best thing I did in New Zealand - it's a very different place in the daytime but just as full of life as it is at night). My only two frustrations were that our guide made a couple of anti-zoo comments which stung since zoos are absolutely on the front lines of animal conservation and share the same goals as Zealandia. The other frustration was the behavior of the group, which I realize can be difficult for the guide to control, but it might be helpful if the guides repeatedly emphasized that everyone will have better wildlife viewing if everyone stays as quiet as possible. That said, the guide coincidentally spoke Hindi and was able to provide a bilingual tour for some guests who otherwise seemed to be struggling a bit with the information and instructions, and I was extremely impressed by that. Overall, I couldn't have enjoyed the tour much more. At Zealandia I was able to check off nearly every NZ critter I wanted to see, all in one place. It's truly magical there.

Go, just go on the night tour! We had a fantastic night tour experience recently with Caitlin (sp?) and Louise. We learned so much about the facility and the wildlife residents. We did the night tour and returned the next day to explore on our own and this was a great way to do it. Our night tour group was very fortunate to see a kiwi and takahae. Loved this experience, a highlight.

Thank you for the shuttle to enable visitors and locals to come up here. The habitat had walks for all types of fitness or families. Very busy cafe with nice, but disorganized young people trying to manage it the day we were there. We did the self guided daytime and saw several birds. The movie was started by a guide who was taking a walking tour through or we couldn't have seen it. The short films on exhibit were very helpful. Enjoy!

Truly a highlight of our trip! Two guides and the two of us walking Zealandia for 2.5 hours. What a tremendous undertaking Zealandia is, and what a success it seems to be. Starting at dusk, we first got to witness the birds, many of which were endangered, coming back to the preserve to roost. Nico led the way, accompanied by Ruth, and identified species by appearance, flight patterns and call. At dark the adventure truly started. Aided by infrared lighting Nico showed us birds, lizards, insects and, best of all, 5(!) separate kiwi sightings! We can’t recommend this highly enough and the private tour added to the experience.

One of our favourite days in NZ. The reserve was incredible and we saw so many birds and tuatara! I wish we could have gone on one of the guided tours at night. It was great!

Beautiful reserve in the centre of Wellington. We saw tuataras, tuis, north island robins, saddle backs etc. We were able to find quiet spaces to listen to the bird song and enjoy a number of different trails.

Our guide, Amanda, and volunteer scout Anthony made sure we had the most amazing visit. Amanda was very knowledgeable and Anthony scouted ahead so that we were able to have encounters with the wonderful wildlife. We were fortunate to see three Kiwi - sigh! Zealandia is a fabulous place and we were glad to be able to visit and support the protection of the various species that reside there. Going at twilight was extra special - I'm so glad we chose this tour.

We had a pre-arranged night visit to Zealandia, which was very interesting. Our guide was obviously passionate about the sanctuary, and we were lucky to see Tuatara, roaming free, as well as a kiwi, which made the night visit very special. We discovered that our night visit allowed us entry for a few days, so the next day we also made a (free of charge) daytime visit, which was also very enjoyable. This time, we went without a guide, and just 'wandered', but we saw many different birds we had not seen during the night tour. The sanctuary is doing great ecological work, and is definitely worth visiting both during the day, and at night, if you have the chance.

We met our guide Sara, who provided us with flashlights and headsets. It was a nice walk with the owls calling and the glow worms the highlights for me. 12 people were way too many - you could hear through the headset but, if you were at the back of the group, it was easy to miss what the guide was seeing.

We had a night tour booked, which gives access all day. We started with lunch at the cafe - delicious, creative food! We walked about two hours on well-maintained trails and saw lots of bird life, including takahe. You could walk around for hours, with trails ranging from easy to difficult.