Cuba Street Wellington From the Bucket Fountain Up

Cuba Street starts at Civic Square and climbs about 900 metres up through Te Aro towards Mount Cook, and it is the street most Wellingtonians would send a visitor to first. This is the Cuba Street Wellington actually uses: coffee in the morning, vintage racks in the afternoon, buskers all day and bars late, on a street named not after the country but after the settler ship Cuba that arrived in 1840.

This is the street walked from the bottom up, with what is where, what is worth stopping for, and what changes after dark. It is also honest about the bits that are tired, because some guidebooks call Cuba Street overrated, and they are not entirely wrong about the lower end on a wet Tuesday.

Where Cuba Street is and how it is laid out

The street divides into three stretches. Lower Cuba runs from Civic Square and Wakefield Street up to Manners Street, with a mix of cafes, bars and chain shops. The pedestrian mall runs from Manners Street up to Ghuznee Street, closed to traffic, paved in brick, and home to the Bucket Fountain. Upper Cuba, above Ghuznee and on past Vivian Street, is where most of the best restaurants, vintage shops and bars sit, with a slightly more grown-up feel.

Laneways run off both sides. Left Bank, Leeds Street, Eva Street and Hannahs Laneway hold some of the best food and drink in the area, and are easy to walk past without noticing.

Is it worth it? Yes, especially from Ghuznee Street upwards and in the evening. Treat the lower end as the approach rather than the destination.

A short history of the street

Cuba Street was laid out in the earliest years of the settlement and named after the Cuba, one of the New Zealand Company's first ships, which arrived in 1840. For much of the twentieth century it was a working shopping street, with trams running up the middle and department stores, milk bars and hardware shops along both sides.

The central section was closed to traffic and turned into a pedestrian mall in the 1960s, and the Bucket Fountain arrived in 1969. By the late twentieth century the rents were cheap enough to attract artists, musicians and second-hand dealers, and the street's reputation for doing things differently was set. Many of the buildings are early twentieth-century, with shop fronts at street level and offices, flats and bars above, which is why so much of Cuba Street happens up a staircase.

Some of the old cafes are part of the city's history in their own right. The Matterhorn at 106 Cuba Street has been there in one form or another since the 1960s, and the long-running coffee houses of the 1980s, Midnight Espresso among them, are the reason Wellington coffee has the reputation it does.

The mall and the Bucket Fountain

The pedestrian mall is the part of Cuba Street on the postcards. Buskers work it most days, the cafes put tables out when the weather allows, and people-watching is the main activity.

The Bucket Fountain has been clanking and splashing here since 1969. It is a kinetic sculpture of brightly coloured buckets that fill, tip and pour into each other, and it reliably soaks anyone who stands on the wrong side on a windy day. It is ugly, loved and entirely Wellington. The Rainbow Crossing nearby marks the street's long place at the centre of the city's queer life.

The brick paving is uneven in places, which matters if you are pushing a pram or using a wheelchair. The mall itself is level, but take care near the fountain, where the ground stays wet.

Coffee and breakfast on Cuba

Cuba Street has a claim to be the centre of Wellington's coffee culture, and the cafes along it have been pouring flat whites since long before the rest of the world discovered them.

Fidel's at 234 Cuba Street is the other long-standing institution, retro and cosy, with Cuban-leaning breakfasts, big portions and coffee that regulars swear by. It is busy at weekends from mid-morning, so get there early or be prepared to wait. Level Up by Axl Coffee at 116 Cuba Street is a smaller specialty coffee stop, good for a takeaway on the walk up. Black Lion Bakery at 156 Cuba does bakery breakfast and cabinet food. Loretta at 181 Cuba is a bigger room with 120 seats, a wood-fired oven, waffles and brunch plates, good for groups.

Just off the street, the Left Bank sourdough bakery bakes bread and pastries that end up in cafes across the city. A takeaway coffee and a loaf under your arm is a very local way to start a Saturday.

Wellington's wider cafe scene goes well beyond Cuba Street, and the city's cafes from Te Aro to Lyall Bay reward a few mornings of exploring.

Lunch and dinner on Cuba

Cuba Street has more places to eat than any other street in the city. The upper half is where most of the good ones cluster.

Kisa at 195 Cuba does Middle Eastern food with a Turkish lean, built for sharing. Ombra, next door at 199, is a Venetian-style bacaro with small plates and wine. Liberty at 227 cooks relaxed dishes from seasonal New Zealand produce with flavours from everywhere. Aunty Mena's at 167 Cuba is fully vegetarian and vegan, with noodle dishes and laksa at student prices. San Fran at 171 is a music venue that also feeds its crowd. At the bottom of the street, the taqueria at 50 Cuba does New Mexican tacos and burritos with more than twenty beers on tap.

For the rest of the city's restaurants, the restaurants beyond Cuba range from Queens Wharf seafood to cheap Vietnamese on Dixon Street.

Sweet things

Cuba Street takes ice cream seriously, whatever the weather.

A few doors down, Kaffee Eis at 146 Cuba does gelato in the mall. Zelati at 179 is a dessert cafe with gelato and cakes.

Ben and Jerry's at 106b is the familiar option for the less adventurous.

Round the corner on Eva Street, the Wellington Chocolate Factory makes bean-to-bar chocolate on site and runs tastings and chocolate-making sessions. The smell reaches the street before you see the door.

Vintage and op shops

Cuba Street and the streets around it are the centre of Wellington's second-hand fashion, and a good afternoon can be spent working through them.

Spacesuit at 164 Cuba is vintage clothing with a sharper edit. Paper Bag Princess at 209 Cuba is an institution for women's vintage and is open on Sundays. The Mary Potter Hospice Shop at 264 Cuba is a charity op shop with low prices and a quick turnover.

Around the corner on Vivian Street, Recycle Boutique is the city's biggest pre-loved fashion store, selling designer and current labels on consignment. Honour, also on Vivian Street, curates vintage and designer second-hand.

Dirty Laundry and Add+Vintage round out the circuit.

The full loop of charity shops and vintage stores, including Newtown's, is laid out in Wellington's op shops, which reward a dedicated afternoon.

Records, books and gifts

Vintage clothing gets the attention, but Cuba Street has always been a street for browsing more broadly. Record shops, second-hand bookshops, small galleries and gift shops sit between the cafes, and the mix changes as leases turn over. Iko Iko, a long-running gift shop, stocks handcrafted jewellery, homewares and art with a strong New Zealand flavour, and Ziggurat on Cuba Street does vintage homewares and oddities.

Look up, not just along. Many of the shops and studios are on the first floor, reached by narrow staircases between the ground-floor frontages, and the signs are easy to miss. The street art is worth watching for too: murals appear on side walls and in the laneways, and some of the best are only visible if you turn off the main street.

Drinks and gigs after dark

Cuba Street changes character at night. The cafes close, the bars fill, and the upper end becomes one of the busiest night-time streets in the city.

J J Murphy and Co at 119 Cuba is an Irish-style pub. Ivy Bar at 63 Cuba is inclusive and eclectic, with drag shows, comedy and themed nights. Scotty and Mal's at 176 Cuba is a cocktail lounge upstairs with dancing downstairs on weekends. Dee's Place, down the stairs at 126 Cuba beneath the stag's head, has the finest whisky selection in town. The Ram at 103 Cuba has negroni on tap and a sunny spot for an after-work drink. Design Distillery is up a flight of stairs at 170 Cuba. San Fran at 171 is one of the city's key live music venues, with free gigs for emerging acts midweek and ticketed shows at weekends.

Just off Cuba on Leeds Street and Hannahs Laneway, Golding's, the laneway dive bar, has a rotating tap list, and pizza can be ordered in from across the laneway.

The wider picture of the city's bars and the craft beer taprooms spreads out from here in every direction.

The laneways just off Cuba

Some of the best stops near Cuba Street are not on it. The laneways reward anyone who turns off the main drag.

Left Bank, an arcade off the mall, has Wellington Sourdough and a few small shops and bars. Leeds Street, running parallel to upper Cuba, has Shelly Bay Baker, Golding's and the Garage Project bar. Eva Street, off Dixon Street, has the Wellington Chocolate Factory and Mr Go's. Hannahs Laneway, between Leeds and Eva Streets, was once promoted as the world's tastiest laneway, and still has a strong claim to it.

The night market

A night market has been part of Cuba Street life for years, with food stalls, crafts and buskers on Friday and Saturday evenings.

It runs on Friday evenings from 5pm to 10pm and on Saturdays from 3pm to 9pm. Older guides still place the market on lower Cuba Street, where it ran for years before closing around 2021, so ignore those and check the market's own pages if you are planning dinner around it. The city's other markets each keep their own days.

Sleeping on Cuba

Two hotels put you right on the street. Naumi Studio at 213 Cuba occupies a restored landmark building at the top end with design-led rooms. The Intrepid on Ghuznee Street, just off Cuba, is consistently one of the best-reviewed hotels in the city, with the Puffin wine bar downstairs.

Both suit couples and anyone who wants the street on the doorstep. Neither is silent on a Saturday night. Staying in Te Aro more generally puts Cuba Street a few minutes' walk away while giving you a quieter night's sleep.

A Cuba Street afternoon, step by step

On a first trip, this route takes three or four unhurried hours and covers the best of it.

Start at the bottom, at Civic Square, and walk up to Manners Street. Stop at the mall for the Bucket Fountain and whoever is busking. Head up past Ghuznee Street and duck into Left Bank for Wellington Sourdough, then carry on up to Hunters and Collectors and Spacesuit. Cross to Vivian Street for Recycle Boutique and Honour, then come back to Cuba for an ice cream at Duck Island.

As the afternoon turns, head down Leeds Street to Golding's or up to Heyday for a first drink. Book dinner somewhere on upper Cuba, Logan Brown, Kisa or Ombra, and finish with a late coffee at Midnight Espresso or a gig at San Fran.

Festivals on Cuba Street

CubaDupa takes over the street each year, usually in March, with music stages, street performance, dancers and food running from one end to the other. It is free and draws big crowds, and it is the best way to see the street at its loudest. Accommodation nearby books out that weekend.

The Pride festival, the Newtown Festival just to the south, and Wellington On a Plate in August all spill onto Cuba Street too, and the street's bars and restaurants tend to be at the centre of whatever is happening in the city.

Cuba Street with children

Cuba Street is friendlier to families during the day than at night. The mall is traffic-free, the Bucket Fountain is a guaranteed hit with small children, as long as someone brings a change of clothes, and the ice cream shops do the rest. Loretta has space for groups and prams, and Heyday is child-friendly in the afternoon and early evening.

By 9pm on a Friday or Saturday the street belongs to adults. If you are staying on Cuba with children, ask for a room at the back.

Getting there, parking and accessibility

Cuba Street is about a ten-minute walk from Lambton Quay and five minutes from Courtenay Place. Most city buses stop within a block, on Manners Street, Dixon Street or Courtenay Place.

Do not drive onto Cuba Street itself. Much of it is pedestrian, and street parking nearby is scarce, especially at weekends. There are paid car parks on and around Cuba Street and Te Aro if you need one, and the closer to the mall, the more you pay.

The mall and most of upper Cuba are flat, though the brick paving is uneven in places. Most shops have step-free access, but some of the older buildings and the upstairs and basement bars do not.

When to go

Cuba Street works at almost any hour, but different hours give you a different street. Weekday mornings belong to coffee and the office crowd walking to work. Saturday late morning is peak brunch and vintage shopping, with buskers out in force. Friday and Saturday evenings are when the bars and restaurants fill and the upper end comes alive. Sunday is slower, and some of the smaller shops are closed.

Cuba Street is the obvious centre point for exploring the rest of the city: Te Papa and the waterfront are ten minutes down the hill, and Mount Victoria's lookout is a short climb from Courtenay Place.