Guided tours
Get even more out of your visit to Te Papa by letting our guides bring the stories of Aotearoa New Zealand’s people and landscapes to life.
Private Tours
For those seeking a more personalised experience, Te Papa offers a range of private and VIP tours. Private tours let you see the things you want to see, and ask all your burning questions. All of our tours include international visitor admission for two days.
Like the look of our one-hour daily tours but the timings don't work, or you'd prefer your own guide? Any of our daily tours can be scheduled as private on request, with a minimum charge of 7 pax ($77pp).
Choices include: Introducing Te Papa, Māori Highlights, Art Narratives, Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War, and Te Papa Highlights in Mandarin.
Manaaki Tour – Front of House (2 hours)
This small group tour allows visitors to learn about Aotearoa New Zealand’s cultural history from a guide who has their own connection to te ao Māori. Your guide will share stories and connections from their own iwi on the tour, with the experience culminating in some shared kai.
Duration: 2 hours
Inclusions: Small group tour for 1–7 people, tasting of traditionally inspired kai, and 48-hour general admission to the museum.
Rate: $1,365 group rate
Back of House Tours
The ultimate VIP experience at Te Papa, this exclusive tour takes your clients behind the scenes of New Zealand’s national museum. With your personal tour guide, head behind the scenes to our research labs and collection rooms. Here visitors will discover how Te Papa preserves, researches, and protects Aotearoa New Zealand’s taonga, and gain an insight into the parts of the museum that are usually off limits to the public.
Choose between Art, Botany, or Taonga Māori.
Inclusions: Small group experience for 1–7 people, expert-guided behind-the-scenes access, 48-hour general admission to the museum.
Rate: $2,200 group rate (Taonga Māori $2,600, 2.5 hours, includes kai tasting)
Te Tipu a Tāne: Museum to Sanctuary
Explore Aotearoa New Zealand’s natural heritage with a back-of-house botany tour before discovering a vision of our ecological future at Zealandia.
This premium full-day package includes private e-vehicle transfers, a botany back-of-house tour, morning tea at Te Papa, a two-course lunch at Zealandia, and a private tour of Zealandia.
Duration: 6 hours
Inclusions: Transfers, guided tours at Te Papa and Zealandia, morning tea and lunch.
Rate: $4,900 group rate
To book, email tours@tepapa.govt.nz.
For trade enquiries, please email trade@tepapa.govt.nz.
Te Papa Tours, 2025. Photo by Jeff McEwan. Te Papa (272434)
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