Dunedin Railway Station Photos
Recommended Reviews - Dunedin Railway Station
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The station was high on my list to see. Yet I was a little disappointed. It was as large as it looked in pictures, and there was scaffolding covering 2/3rds of the front for renovations. In its hay day the station was the country's busiest, seeing up to 100 trains a day. Today only a handful of trains use the station. Now it caters to the Dunedin Railways tourist trains mainly. The ground floor has a restaurant, and the upper floor is home to both the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and the Otago Art Society. I did wander through the Society's section and purchased a beautiful painting of the Sounds by a local artist. A produce market is held on the grounds on Saturday mornings. In March, the station hosts the South Island's main fashion show, with the main platform becoming the world's longest catwalk. The interior mosaic work is very detailed. Almost 750,000 tiles of Royal Doulton porcelain. But is mostly focused in the small main lobby where tickets were once sold and passengers rushed with bags to catch their train. Built in 1906, the station is a Flemish Renaissance-style that features white Oamaru limestone facings on black basalt rock. Thus people call it the 'Gingerbread House'. It is a must see, but didn't take more than an hour.
The station was designed by George Troup in 1906 & & is the most photographed in New Zealand. It's described as a cathedral to the power of steam. This massive bluestone building is in the Flemish Renaissance style decreed with heraldic beasts, scrolls, nymphs, stained glass windows & a mosaic floor. It's one of the busiest stations in the country with about 100 trains daily. The station is covered because it is being made earthquake proof. Inside is the Sports Hall of Fame a sports museum celebrating rugby, cricket & New Zealand Sports. There was an art display as well. In front were beautiful garden & lots of seating.
A fun way to spend the day! The train was parked right off the dock in Port Chalmers which allowed us to walk off the ship, clear a brief "customs" inquiry and jump on the nifty little train. When we left it was blue skies and while not Hawaii weather by any means it was a lovely crisp morning. All on board at 9:30 we began our journey from the port to the station in Dunedin marking the first stop and picking up others wanting to experience the ride into the countryside and hear the marvels of the building of this historical railway. All the people attending to the visitors and tourists were volunteering their time and knowledge and so willing to share to make us understand what drew them to the area and what keeps them here. As we traversed through the little towns the hills and valleys opened to farms filled with sheep and lambs, bred for slaughter with no compunction or thought of making pets....as my mom said....don't name them! Rolling up the hillside we saw the race track, the local arena, beautiful flowers and green everywhere. We were offered Tea or coffee and a train shaped gingerbread cookie to nibble on as we moved higher into the hills. The tracks were cut through the rocks and in some places you are literally inches from those rocks on either side of the train. Other times you will be plunged into total darkness entering a tunnel which could be mere seconds or a minute of pitch black. Startling at first but you soon get used to it. As you meander thru the hillside and up the hills you follow a river formed at higher elevations from snow and rain runoff. Apparently it's the summer fun for families and fishermen alike....brown trout is a specialty in the area. The Taieri Gorge Railway was the way to get to the Otago gold fields where a Chinese miner found gold in the creek on Christmas morning, the creek was then aptly named Christmas Creek. There was no mention on how profitable the mining was but it doesn't appear any boom town was forthcoming from the discovery. At the top of the ridge the locomotive was moved from the front to the rear of the train, passengers exchanged seats side to side, lunch was served and we went back down thru the same countryside with wine, beer or sodas. All said it was fun. The approximate 6 hour ride with box lunch and liquid refreshment was $250 as this was a tour thru our cruise ship.
The Dunedin Railway Station has been named one the most beautiful railway stations in the world .The much-photographed station was one of only two in the southern hemisphere to be named in the 16-station list by a United States travel magazine. The station has a very distinct European feel and garden outside the building is beautifully maintained . You will see more photographers and tourists here than the passengers n staff :)
After sailing from Hobart, Tasmania, to New Zealand's South Island to enjoy the extraordinary beauty of Milford Sound and the island's majestic Fiordland National Park, we continued sailing for another day to beautiful Port Chalmers, located on this country's southeastern coast. Our cruise ship docked at 8 am, and by 9 am, we, along with most of our fellow passengers, excitedly boarded a train to spend our day exploring the scenic and historic Taieri Gorge, browsing, shopping, and having lunch in its delightful town of Dunedin. We understood that the round-trip (port to Pukerangi to train station) scenic train ride would take 5.5 hours, and the train timetable was accurate because we arrived at the train station exactly at 2:30 pm. On the way out to the Taieri Gorge, we passed the railway station, and our guide reminded us that we could be let off there or continue back to the port where our cruise ship was docked after the scenic tour ended. Some people stayed on the train while we decided to wander around the railway station and town. From the boarding platform, we started to admire the stunning architectural features and were almost overwhelmed by its ornate interior. Three female docents, dressed in early 20th-century attire, greeted everyone who entered from the boarding platform. They offered some historical information about the landmark's architect, George Troup, AKA "Gingerbread George"; the building's revived Flemish Renaissance "gingerbread house" architectural features; and its main mosaic flooring, which is made up of 750,000 pieces of Royal Doulton porcelain. In contrast, its striking black-and-white exterior is made from local black basalt rock blocks from Kokonga, lighter or white limestone facings from Oamaru, pink granite supporting pillars on its front side, and terracotta shingles from Marseille roof over the boarding platform. The docents also led us to their museum, museum shop, and art gallery on the second floor. Immediately outside the station is Anzac Square, where a formal "knot garden" was created. We admired the knot garden and sat for a few minutes to soak in the grandeur of this landmark before crossing the street to walk up Lower Stuart Street, where we scarfed down made-to-order, delicious, hot fish and chips and fresh and sweet Bluff oysters. We met with fellow passengers at the designated cruise ship bus stop and returned on board well before the ship's 5:30 pm departure. read more
1 year ago
We visited this iconic train station while in Dudedin for the day. It's beautiful both outside and inside. They're were plenty of people taking pictures everywhere so it's hard to get the perfect shot, but apparently this is one of the most famous buildings in all of NZ, so it's kind of a must for tourists. They have bathrooms inside and you can walk around inside for free. There is also a cafe that has pretty good reviews but we went elsewhere for lunch and didn't have time to stop. It's a quick stop, and within the asking distance from plenty of other things to see in dudedin. Don't miss it! read more
Wow, most of the pictures I uploaded are gone... Sorry. It's so hard to Yelp while traveling. Quality/Quantity - Cool overall architecture. We only came here to check out the exterior and interior architecture. So the review is NOT based on the railroad station. Atmosphere - Cool beautiful architecture both inside and outside. Service - N/A. Price - Free. Please donate. Owner Comment - None, thank you. read more
The station was high on my list to see. Yet I was a little disappointed. It was as large as it looked in pictures, and there was scaffolding covering 2/3rds of the front for renovations. In its hay day the station was the country's busiest, seeing up to 100 trains a day. Today only a handful of trains use the station. Now it caters to the Dunedin Railways tourist trains mainly. The ground floor has a restaurant, and the upper floor is home to both the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and the Otago Art Society. I did wander through the Society's section and purchased a beautiful painting of the Sounds by a local artist. A produce market is held on the grounds on Saturday mornings. In March, the station hosts the South Island's main fashion show, with the main platform becoming the world's longest catwalk. The interior mosaic work is very detailed. Almost 750,000 tiles of Royal Doulton porcelain. But is mostly focused in the small main lobby where tickets were once sold and passengers rushed with bags to catch their train. Built in 1906, the station is a Flemish Renaissance-style that features white Oamaru limestone facings on black basalt rock. Thus people call it the 'Gingerbread House'. It is a must see, but didn't take more than an hour. read more
The station was designed by George Troup in 1906 & & is the most photographed in New Zealand. It's described as a cathedral to the power of steam. This massive bluestone building is in the Flemish Renaissance style decreed with heraldic beasts, scrolls, nymphs, stained glass windows & a mosaic floor. It's one of the busiest stations in the country with about 100 trains daily. The station is covered because it is being made earthquake proof. Inside is the Sports Hall of Fame a sports museum celebrating rugby, cricket & New Zealand Sports. There was an art display as well. In front were beautiful garden & lots of seating. read more
A fun way to spend the day! The train was parked right off the dock in Port Chalmers which allowed us to walk off the ship, clear a brief "customs" inquiry and jump on the nifty little train. When we left it was blue skies and while not Hawaii weather by any means it was a lovely crisp morning. All on board at 9:30 we began our journey from the port to the station in Dunedin marking the first stop and picking up others wanting to experience the ride into the countryside and hear the marvels of the building of this historical railway. All the people attending to the visitors and tourists were volunteering their time and knowledge and so willing to share to make us understand what drew them to the area and what keeps them here. As we traversed through the little towns the hills and valleys opened to farms filled with sheep and lambs, bred for slaughter with no compunction or thought of making pets....as my mom said....don't name them! Rolling up the hillside we saw the race track, the local arena, beautiful flowers and green everywhere. We were offered Tea or coffee and a train shaped gingerbread cookie to nibble on as we moved higher into the hills. The tracks were cut through the rocks and in some places you are literally inches from those rocks on either side of the train. Other times you will be plunged into total darkness entering a tunnel which could be mere seconds or a minute of pitch black. Startling at first but you soon get used to it. As you meander thru the hillside and up the hills you follow a river formed at higher elevations from snow and rain runoff. Apparently it's the summer fun for families and fishermen alike....brown trout is a specialty in the area. The Taieri Gorge Railway was the way to get to the Otago gold fields where a Chinese miner found gold in the creek on Christmas morning, the creek was then aptly named Christmas Creek. There was no mention on how profitable the mining was but it doesn't appear any boom town was forthcoming from the discovery. At the top of the ridge the locomotive was moved from the front to the rear of the train, passengers exchanged seats side to side, lunch was served and we went back down thru the same countryside with wine, beer or sodas. All said it was fun. The approximate 6 hour ride with box lunch and liquid refreshment was $250 as this was a tour thru our cruise ship. read more
3 years ago
The Dunedin Railway Station has been named one the most beautiful railway stations in the world .The much-photographed station was one of only two in the southern hemisphere to be named in the 16-station list by a United States travel magazine. The station has a very distinct European feel and garden outside the building is beautifully maintained . You will see more photographers and tourists here than the passengers n staff :) read more
9 years ago
15 years ago
This is one of the most beautiful landmarks in the Southern Hemisphere. This railway station has quite abit of character - the architecture is fascinating throughout. The interior is also beautiful. The garden outside the railway station is immaculate. Worth checking it out! read more
More info about Dunedin Railway Station
Dunedin Central
Dunedin 9016
New Zealand
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