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

  • 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.

    Palms and lawn on the Picton foreshore, with a ferry and moored yachts on the water beyond

    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.

    A Coastal Pacific train crossing a street in Picton

    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 waterfront foreshore reserve with the marina and moored yachts

    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: the council manages short-term free and longer-term pay parking around the foreshore and terminal; rates change, so check its parking page.

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 — confirm before travelling. Full list on the sources page.