Waikato Museum
Waikato Museum
4.5
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Haere mai! Welcome to Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato. Perched above the mighty Waikato River, this world-class museum and art gallery is the artistic and cultural heart of the Waikato. Visit us to experience visual stories and guided activities that bring our art, history, culture and science to life through an inspirational programme that aims to challenge and inspire you. Open daily 10am-5pm.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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  • Ace_Traveller_NZ
    Auckland, New Zealand239 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    More of an art gallery
    This is not a museum in the traditional sense of the word. It is more of an art gallery, showcasing local and out of town talents. I think it is important to highlight this because if you visited expecting a regular museum, you would be disappointed. But if your intention was to visit an art gallery, then you would be pleased. However, of the non-art exhibits, the highlight for me was to see the waka (Maori war canoe), Te Winika. The other highlight was an exhibit on museum exhibits, ie. on how exhibits are curated and maintained.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 20 November 2023
  • Aaron W
    Hamilton, New Zealand85 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Whare Harikoa Exhibition
    Amazing exhibition of Whare Harikoa. Tino attahua. Thankyou to the amazing creators and the hours of work that went into this. The experience was amazing and reenergised our wairua. Nga mihi aroha kia koe
    Visited January 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 6 January 2024
  • Henry T
    21 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beautiful artwork in a relaxed setting
    awesome! what an excellent attraction, I could have walked around here all day. lovely selection of art and installations, they had a section on how they preserve art which I found fascinating. there was also a traditional Maori house made entirely out of crochet, which was very cool to see. partner and I had a lovely walk around, great spot to go for a relaxing afternoon
    Visited December 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 11 February 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles377 reviews
Excellent
176
Very good
146
Average
40
Poor
10
Terrible
5

davey
3 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2020 • Family
The only place i have ever visited where the entry fee is dearer for children than for adults.
When we enquired about why it is dearer for children than for adults we were told that it tends to be just 1 adult that turns up with quite a few children in tow.
The display was more for children than for adults so charging more for children is just blatantly cashing in.
OBVIOUSLY not a child friendly place if they think children should pay more than adults.
Written 17 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Elaine Yeoh
Auckland, New Zealand594 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2020
A nice museum to visit whilst in Hamilton because whilst we were there the entry was free except for one section which was for kids.

Good insight into Maori culture, traditions and their interactions with the pakeha that lead to the events post signing of the treaty. Also interesting art and sculptural exhibits featuring iconic local NZ artists.
Written 10 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ace_Traveller_NZ
Auckland, New Zealand239 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Family
This is not a museum in the traditional sense of the word. It is more of an art gallery, showcasing local and out of town talents. I think it is important to highlight this because if you visited expecting a regular museum, you would be disappointed. But if your intention was to visit an art gallery, then you would be pleased.

However, of the non-art exhibits, the highlight for me was to see the waka (Maori war canoe), Te Winika. The other highlight was an exhibit on museum exhibits, ie. on how exhibits are curated and maintained.
Written 21 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Henry T
21 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2023 • Couples
awesome!

what an excellent attraction, I could have walked around here all day. lovely selection of art and installations, they had a section on how they preserve art which I found fascinating. there was also a traditional Maori house made entirely out of crochet, which was very cool to see.

partner and I had a lovely walk around, great spot to go for a relaxing afternoon
Written 12 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Aaron W
Hamilton, New Zealand85 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Couples
Amazing exhibition of Whare Harikoa. Tino attahua. Thankyou to the amazing creators and the hours of work that went into this. The experience was amazing and reenergised our wairua. Nga mihi aroha kia koe
Written 6 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ellemay 🍹🐠🐳
Sydney, Australia47,306 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2022 • Solo
Excellent museum located overlooking the Waikato River on Grantham Street. It’s very informative with local history , cultural traditions and artefacts.
Written 20 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you so much for your kind words and taking the time to leave a review! We hope you'll visit again in the future 😊✨
Written 27 September 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Mark Begbie
Tauranga, New Zealand172 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2020 • Family
The section on the development of Hamilton was especially good. We can't to it last and added an hour onto the visit so we could do it justice. Support friendly and helpful staff.
Written 6 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

YvonnePapamoa
Mount Maunganui, New Zealand382 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020
lovely 2 hours in here, some good exhibitions, plenty on the local history including coal - not everything in Hamilton is about cows!. only the special dinosaur exhibition was paid entry.
Written 26 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

handbagtraveller
Gold Coast, Australia269 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2019 • Solo
Small museum, but some very interesting exhibits, loved the weaving and seeing the Maauri canoe and history. The Anne Frank wasmoving and the art intersting. Helpful friendly staff and it's free
Written 2 September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you so much taking the time to review us. We're very proud of our collections, cultural history and art exhibitions. We are a smaller museum but we provide a diverse, quality experience and it is wonderful that you enjoyed your time here.
Written 3 September 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

vivricho
Auckland Central, New Zealand265 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2019 • Family
It was a rainy day so we decided to give the museum a go.

As expected, it is small and has a good number of free entry exhibits and a small number of more interesting exhibits which required an admission fee.

We participated the kids activity of mosaic making. My kids enjoyed that very much. The next most interesting exhibit was Anna Frank. My kids were interested to learn about this sad history and humanity. My husband and I had been to the Amsterdam Anne Frank museum. This reminded us of our travel very much!

It surprised us also this was more like an art gallery (with art exhibits) than a museum.

Nevertheless, it’s a good rainy day option. We enjoyed walking through a small number of exhibits.
Written 17 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for taking the trouble to make a comment. As well as hosting international exhibitions, like the LIfe Story of Anne Frank, we draw on our collection of more than 30,000 taonga, historical objects and artworks to run a programme of 30 exhibitions and nearly 200 free public events a year, including interactive exhibits, supported by our expertise in Art, History, Science and Tangata Whenua. Keep an eye on what's coming up on our website and facebook - I'm sure you'll find something else you'll want to check out soon!
Written 25 July 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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WAIKATO MUSEUM (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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