Willis Street, Wellington

Willis Street is one of Wellington’s most prominent central streets, running between the Lambton Quay area in the north and the higher ground toward Brooklyn Road and Nairn Street in the south. The street is named after Arthur Willis, a director of the New Zealand Company.

For visitors, Willis Street offers a clear view of Wellington as a working, walkable capital. Start near the northern end, where Willis Street meets Lambton Quay and Customhouse Quay, and look for the Aon Center at 1 Willis Street, rising above the street as one of the city’s major commercial towers. Continue south along Willis Street; as you approach 100 Willis Street, the Majestic Center becomes the next strong vertical landmark. At the corner of Willis and Boulcott streets, look for Dr Henry Pollen’s House, a small historic building moved here in 1988 to make way for the Majestic Center. Keep walking uphill along Willis Street, and you will soon reach St John’s Church at 166–176 Willis Street, a timber Gothic landmark.

Willis Street is best understood less as a single attraction and more as a lively city-center corridor. Visitors walking here will find retail stores, second-hand shops, cafés, restaurants, art spaces, small parks, and side streets leading toward Cuba Street, Lambton Quay, and the waterfront. Its mix of business, shopping, heritage, and everyday movement makes it a useful place to experience Wellington’s compact downtown rhythm.