Culture, history on display
Imagine Nelson with the sun shining, it usually is! Which makes it a great place to explore and there’s plenty of art, culture and history on display.
Over the years artists have flocked to the Nelson region. Wooed by the strong light from which to paint by, they’ve settled in and spread out. You’ll find art studios and galleries dotted across Nelson Tasman as well as works from local potters, sculptors, jewellers and painters in main centre art galleries, popup collectives and bohemian gift shops.
A walkable mural trail in the city is one highlight where you’ll see the iconic Aotearoa mural on Wakefield Quay and the tui perched on a harakeke tree at Neale Park among others. The Nelson City Council website has walk details.
Founders Heritage Park is an interesting place for the family to spend an afternoon walking through a village of character buildings which are set in beautiful well established gardens.
It’s a short drive to the Nelson Classic Car Museum in Stoke which houses a worldclass collection boasting 150 cars spanning more than 100 years of motoring. The museum has enough leather seats, walnut dashboards and polished chrome to spark a thousand nostalgic trips without starting a single engine.
If you’re heading into the Abel Tasman National Park, a stop in at Motueka District Museum will provide opportunity for a richer travel experience as it’s a place to discover the his
Clockwise from top left: tory of the area you are there to explore - from early Maori and European settlement to the origins of the horticultural and tourism sectors that have since flourished.