Picton Foreshore
The lawn, the palms, the marina and the war memorial — where the town meets the water, and where everything starts.
Things to do
Things to do in Picton
Every place and activity we could verify, grouped by kind. Use the filters to cut it down to the time you have, what you are after, and whether you have a car.
Photo: Sid Mosdell / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
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In town
On foot from the ferry terminals.
Edwin Fox Maritime Museum
An 1853 teak sailing ship in dry dock on the waterfront — one of the oldest surviving merchant hulls anywhere.
Picton Heritage & Whaling Museum
Two thousand items of Māori, whaling and maritime history, on the site of the original Waitohi pā.
Foreshore to Shelly Beach
Ten minutes from the waterfront, over the Coathanger Bridge, to a small beach.
Picton Library
Waitohi Whare Mātauranga
The town's library and service centre, a block back from the foreshore.
Picton i-SITE Visitor Centre
The visitor information and booking centre on the foreshore.
Picton Maritime Festival
An annual festival on the Picton foreshore in January.
Cruise ships in Picton
Two cruise berths, October to April: Waimahara Wharf for the big ships, Waitohi Wharf in town for the smaller ones.
On the water
Cruises, kayaks, water taxis and charters.
Scenic and wildlife cruises
Out into Queen Charlotte Sound by boat — the mail run, Motuara Island, dolphins and seals.
Dolphin watching and swimming
Small-boat dolphin trips from the Picton waterfront, including one operator's dolphin swim tour.
Sea kayaking
Guided half-days to multi-day trips, or hire a kayak and go, from the London Quay waterfront.
Water taxis
Everyday transport in the Sounds — to the track, to the lodges, to bays with no road.
Fishing charters
Skippered fishing trips out of Picton and Waikawa, gear supplied.
Sailing charters
Bareboat or skippered yachts from Waikawa Marina into the Sounds.
Diving and the Mikhail Lermontov
The largest diveable cruise-ship wreck in New Zealand waters lies in Port Gore, off the outer Sounds.
Walks and lookouts
From the headland behind the marina to the hills above town.
The Snout Track
Te Ihu Moeone
The classic Picton walk: along the headland between the two marinas to a lookout, then on to the point.
Tirohanga Track
The climb from the edge of town to a hilltop lookout over Picton.
Lower Bob's Bay Track
Half an hour along the cliffs from Shelly Beach to a bush-fringed bay.
Picton to Waikawa Track
The easy, dog-friendly walk between Picton and the next bay.
Victoria Domain
200 hectares of bush between Picton and Waikawa, with over 20 km of walking and mountain-bike tracks.
Queen Charlotte Drive
The slow, scenic road from Picton toward Havelock and Nelson, with lookouts over the Grove Arm.
Wildlife and nature
Predator-free islands and a peninsula ten minutes across the bay.
Motuara Island
A predator-free bird sanctuary in the outer sound — saddleback, robin and kākāriki — with a lookout tower on its 128 m summit.
Kaipūpū Sanctuary
A fenced, predator-controlled peninsula ten minutes from the foreshore by water taxi, with a 2.7 km loop track.
Lochmara Lodge
A lodge, café and wildlife recovery centre in Lochmara Bay, reached by its own water transfer from Picton.
Meretoto / Ship Cove
Cook's anchorage on all three voyages, New Zealand's first historic reserve, and the start of the Queen Charlotte Track.
Karaka Point Historic Reserve
A headland lookout beyond the Snout on the road to Whatamango Bay.
Beaches and bays
Small bays reached on foot or along Queen Charlotte Drive.
Shelly Beach
The small beach ten minutes' walk from the foreshore, at the edge of Victoria Domain.
Bob's Bay
A bush-fringed bay you can only walk to — half an hour from Shelly Beach.
Waikawa Bay
The next bay north of Picton, home to Waikawa Marina and the Te Ātiawa community that moved here in 1850.
Ngakuta Bay
A calm, bush-fringed bay with a beach on Queen Charlotte Drive, on the Link Pathway.
Momorangi Bay
A fully serviced DOC campsite on Queen Charlotte Drive, 25 minutes from Picton, with a playground on the reserve.
Whatamango Bay
A DOC campsite bay 10 km east of Picton on Port Underwood Road — about 15 minutes from the ferry.
Further afield
The track, the bikes, the wine, the flights.
Queen Charlotte Track
73.5 km of ridgeline and bay from Meretoto / Ship Cove to Anakiwa — walked in 3–5 days, ridden in 2–3, or sampled in a day by water taxi.
The Link Pathway
Te Ara Tuhono
A 42 km walk-or-bike pathway from Picton to Havelock through the inner Sounds — or just its easy first section.
Mountain biking
A 13-trail network in Victoria Domain a few minutes from town, and the Queen Charlotte Track Great Ride beyond it.
Wine tours from Picton
Guided minivan tours to the Wairau Valley cellar doors, with pick-up in Picton.
Blenheim and the Marlborough wine region
New Zealand's largest wine region — nearly 31,000 hectares of vines — starts half an hour south of Picton.
Scenic flights
The Sounds from above — fixed-wing from Picton Aerodrome at Koromiko, helicopters from Blenheim.
Anakiwa
The road-accessible southern end of the Queen Charlotte Track, with a car park, shelter and toilets.
Havelock
The small town at the head of Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere, at the far end of the Link Pathway.
Cullen Point tracks
Two short DOC walks near Havelock with views over Pelorus and Mahau Sounds.
Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve
River-flat forest beside the Pelorus River on SH6, midway between Blenheim and Nelson.
Kaikōura
The whale-watching coast, about two hours south — on the Coastal Pacific line and the InterCity route.
Common questions
What is there to do in Picton?
We don't rank, but the experiences that define the place are: the Snout Track along the headland to a lookout over the sound; a cruise or water taxi out into Queen Charlotte Sound — to Motuara Island's bird sanctuary, on the mail-boat run, or to a section of the Queen Charlotte Track; the Edwin Fox, an 1853 ship in dry dock beside the ferry terminal; and Kaipūpū Sanctuary, a predator-controlled peninsula ten minutes across the bay by water taxi.
What can I do in Picton for free?
All of the council walking tracks (the foreshore to Shelly Beach, Bob's Bay, the Snout, Tirohanga, Essons Valley, Picton–Waikawa), the foreshore reserve, the beaches and bays, Queen Charlotte Drive's lookouts and the library. See the free things to do page.
What can I do in Picton if I only have a few hours?
On foot from the terminal: the foreshore and Shelly Beach (about 20 minutes return), a museum, and — with three hours — the cliff track to Bob's Bay and back. The itineraries page has a plan for each length of gap.
Is EcoWorld Aquarium still open?
No. EcoWorld Aquarium on the Picton foreshore closed in 2021 after its lease with Port Marlborough ended and a High Court bid to stay failed (RNZ). Some older guides and booking sites still list it. For wildlife, see Motuara Island, Kaipūpū Sanctuary and the dolphin and wildlife cruises.
What is there to do in Picton on a rainy day?
The Edwin Fox and the Heritage & Whaling Museum (both indoors on the foreshore), the library on Dublin Street, the cafes, a wine tour by minivan, and in season the Coastal Pacific train.