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    // bars · top 10

    🍸Top 10 Bars in Wellington

    Last updated: September 2026

    Craft beer, cocktails and the best of Courtenay & Cuba.

    1. #1
      Editor's Pick
      Hawthorn Lounge — Bars in Wellington

      Hawthorn Lounge

      Tory Street prohibition-era cocktail bar — leather, tableside service and serious classics. Long the city's best bar.

      82 Tory Street, Te Aro· Daily 5pm–3am
      CocktailsSpeakeasyEditor's pick
      Maps Reviews
    2. #2
      Goldings Free Dive — Bars in Wellington

      Goldings Free Dive

      Pastel-pink Leeds Street craft beer pioneer — 18 taps, pizza next door and the city's most photographed neon.

      14 Leeds Street, Te Aro· Daily from 3pm
      Craft beerHannahsIconic
      Maps Reviews
    3. #3
      Husk — Bars in Wellington

      Husk

      Edward Street basement cocktail bar — long marble bar, perfect spritzes and one of Wellington's best wine-by-the-glass programs.

      Edward Street, Te Aro· Wed–Sat from 4pm
      CocktailsWineBasement
      Maps Reviews
    4. #4
      Rogue & Vagabond — Bars in Wellington

      Rogue & Vagabond

      Garrett Street pub with the city's best beer garden — live music every weekend, woodfire pizza and 12 rotating taps.

      18 Garrett Street, Te Aro· Daily 11am–late
      Live musicBeer gardenPizza
      Maps Reviews
    5. #5
      The Library — Bars in Wellington

      The Library

      Courtenay Place upstairs cocktail bar with bookshelf walls — long the late-date go-to for cocktails and dessert.

      53 Courtenay Place, Te Aro· Daily from 5pm
      CocktailsDessertDate night
      Maps Reviews
    6. #6
      Fortune Favours Brewery — Bars in Wellington

      Fortune Favours Brewery

      Leeds Street brewpub — the brewery is in the basement, four floors of taps and rooftop above.

      7 Leeds Street, Te Aro· Daily from 12pm
      BreweryRooftopHannahs
      Maps Reviews
    7. #7
      Library Bar at Hippopotamus — Bars in Wellington

      Library Bar at Hippopotamus

      QT hotel's 3rd-floor cocktail room with an eight-metre champagne wall and a harbour view that beats most rooftops.

      QT Hotel, 90 Cable Street· Daily 4pm–late
      Hotel barChampagneView
      Maps Reviews
    8. #8
      Garage Project Wine Cellar — Bars in Wellington

      Garage Project Wine Cellar

      Aro Valley's tasting room from NZ's most adventurous brewery — 30 taps and the rarest small-batch beers in the country.

      68 Aro Street, Aro Valley· Wed–Sun 12pm–10pm
      Craft beerBreweryAro Valley
      Maps Reviews
    9. #9
      Dirty Little Secret — Bars in Wellington

      Dirty Little Secret

      Hannahs Laneway rooftop — open-air, palm-tree-flanked and the best summer drinks spot in town.

      7 Eva Street, Te Aro· Daily from 4pm
      RooftopSummerHannahs
      Maps Reviews
    10. #10
      Foxglove — Bars in Wellington

      Foxglove

      Queens Wharf two-floor bar/restaurant — harbour-side balcony, late-night dancing upstairs and one of the biggest crowds in town on Fridays.

      Queens Wharf, CBD· Daily 11:30am–late
      WaterfrontLate nightDJ
      Maps Reviews
    11. #11
      Noble Rot Wine Bar — Bars in Wellington

      Noble Rot Wine Bar

      Swan Lane red-brick bakehouse turned wine bar — nearly 1,000 wines, 100 by the glass and a kitchen to match. A serious oenophile's room.

      Swan Lane, Te Aro· Tue–Sat 4pm–late
      Wine barSommelierSmall plates
      Maps ReviewsWebsite
    12. #12
      Flamingo Joe's — Bars in Wellington

      Flamingo Joe's

      Bright waterfront bar and eatery on the wharf — pink-hued, sun-soaked and one of the best spots in town for a harbourside afternoon drink.

      Queens Wharf, CBD· Daily from 11:30am
      WaterfrontDaytimeEatery
      Maps ReviewsWebsite
    13. #13
      The Bresolin — Bars in Wellington

      The Bresolin

      Restored Edwardian villa on Willis Street — bar, restaurant and leafy courtyard with a relaxed all-day vibe and a strong cocktail and wine list.

      278 Willis Street, Te Aro· Daily from 8am
      CourtyardAll-dayCocktails
      Maps ReviewsWebsite

    More bars in Wellington — open data

    These 14 listings are not ranked and not reviewed by us. Each one is reproduced verbatim from OpenStreetMap on 2026-08-07, with a link to the exact map entry so you can check it or correct it yourself. Opening hours are shown in OpenStreetMap's own notation.

    Business details from OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 — licence. Something wrong or out of date? Edit it at the source and it flows back here on the next refresh. Prefer our hand-checked picks? Read the Wellington guide.

    ~/guide/barsLive · 2026

    Craft beer, cocktails and the best of Courtenay & Cuba.

    Wellington's small-bar laws and concentrated CBD give it one of the densest, most exciting bar scenes in Australasia. Our top 10 covers the cocktail dens, craft-beer institutions and laneway hideaways that locals actually love.

    This Wellington shortlist starts with Hawthorn Lounge, Goldings Free Dive, Husk. The leading picks cover Te Aro, with strengths including cocktails, speakeasy, editor's pick, craft beer; compare the addresses, hours and local tips below before choosing.

    Rankings are editorial; read our ranking method and corrections policy.

    • best bars Wellington
    • Wellington cocktail bar
    • Wellington craft beer
    • Cuba Street bars

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    // Same list, other cities

    Best bars in Auckland, Rotorua & Queenstown

    Ranked to the same editorial standard as this page, by the same team.

    Every bars in "Wellington" — the full directoryTable & Trail lists them all, with hours and addresses from open data. Our Top 10 above is the hand-picked shortlist.

    Good to know

    Bars in Wellington — FAQ

    Our current #1 pick is Hawthorn Lounge (82 Tory Street, Te Aro). Tory Street prohibition-era cocktail bar — leather, tableside service and serious classics. Long the city's best bar.

    Editorially — a ranking position is never sold, and no business can pay to move up this list. (BestWellington does sell advertising: sponsor banners and partner cards are labelled "Sponsored", and any advertiser appearing in a list is labelled too — see our Advertise page.) We shortlist from each venue's public standing (its Google reviews and local press at the time we check it), then order the list on local knowledge and confirm every entry is still trading. We do not hold our own review scores, so we publish no star ratings; each entry links straight out to its real Google reviews so you can judge for yourself.

    This guide ranks 13 bars in Wellington, with the top 10 featured first. You can search and shortlist any of them, then open Google Maps, reviews or the business website directly.