PictonNZWaitohi · Marlborough Sounds
Picton township and harbour viewed from an arriving ferry

Orientation in ten minutes

Just off the ferry

Where you are, where the town is, where the coach and the train are, and the first thing to do.

Photo: Krzysztof Golik / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Published · Updated

  • Foot passengers
  • Drivers wondering whether to stop

You have arrived somewhere small and walkable. The Interislander foot-passenger terminal is at 1 Auckland Street, on the foreshore; Bluebridge's terminal is at 1 Lagoon Road, under a kilometre from the centre, with a free shuttle to the i-SITE for walk-on passengers.

The plan

  1. 1

    Walk to the foreshore

    The waterfront reserve is the middle of everything. The i-SITE is on it. London Quay, the cafe strip, is the road behind it; High Street, with the everyday shops and the Four Square supermarket, crosses London Quay a block on.

    Picton Foreshore's palm-lined lawn beside the harbour, with benches, marina boats and a ferry in view.

    Picton Foreshore

    The lawn, the palms, the marina and the war memorial — where the town meets the water, and where everything starts.

    15 min – 2 hrsWalk from townFree
  2. 2

    Onward transport is all here

    The railway station and the InterCity coach stop are beside the Interislander terminal on Auckland Street. Water taxis and cruises leave from the foreshore.

    Northbound Coastal Pacific train approaching its Picton terminus at the Dublin Street level crossing.

    The Coastal Pacific train

    The seasonal scenic train between Picton, Blenheim, Kaikōura and Christchurch.

    Half a dayWalk from town
  3. 3

    The first walk

    Over the Coathanger Bridge to Shelly Beach, ten minutes, Easy. It is the way into every other track on this side of the harbour.

    Picton's Coathanger pedestrian bridge crossing the marina inlet, a central part of the walk to Shelly Beach.

    Foreshore to Shelly Beach

    Ten minutes from the waterfront, over the Coathanger Bridge, to a small beach.

    10–25 minEasyFree
  4. 4

Worth knowing

  • Parking: most inner-town street parking is one-hour free; long-term parking is in the Dublin Street and Coathanger car parks. See Parking.
  • Terminal layout may change while the Waitohi ferry redevelopment is under way — follow the signs on the day. About the terminals.

Track distances and times: Marlborough District Council's Picton by Foot or Bike brochure and track pages; Queen Charlotte Track figures from DOC. Ferry check-in guidance from the operators' own sites; museum hours from the museums' own sites (checked 29 September 2026) — confirm before travelling. Full list on the sources page.