Wellington · Thorndon
Cafés in Thorndon
Parliament's neighborhood: Molesworth Street espresso, Tinakori Road shops and Thorndon Quay.
Photo: 飞 谢, Pexels License
Most of Wellington's first settlers moved from Petone to Thorndon, which later became the center of government.1 Before them, Ngāti Mutunga had established Pipitea Pā on the Haukawakawa flats in 1824, and the New Zealand Company named the area after the estate of W. H. F. Petre, one of its directors.2
Parliament and the Beehive anchor its southern end, with Cellar Vate Kitchen & Espresso at 34 Molesworth Street and Fuel Espresso at 45 Pipitea Street close by. Uphill, Tinakori Road has a short row of cafés between numbers 310 and 342, and Thorndon Quay has a string of them along its length, from Sipriana at 34 to Le Marché Francais at 268.
Local tip: Pair a free Parliament tour with coffee on Molesworth Street, then walk up Tinakori Road past Mansfield's birthplace at number 25 to the cafés around number 320.
At a glance
16Cafés listed
3With opening hours
07:30Earliest opening
16:00Latest closing
- Opens earliest: Goods, from 07:30 (Tue–Fri 07:30–15:00 · Sat–Sun 08:00–14:00).
- Closes latest: Gar-Fare Cafe, until 16:00 (Mon–Fri 08:00–16:00).
- Most listed streets: Thorndon Quay (4), Tinakori Road (2), Tinakori Rd (2).
Goods
The Wadestown Kitchen
Cafe Classic
Cafe Vanilla
Coffee & Toast Eatery
Home
Le Maquis
Le Marché Francais
Leafee
Siji Coffee
Single File
T Q Cafe
Word Of Mouth Cafe and Catering
Cellar Vate Kitchen & Espresso
Sipriana Cafe
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Coffee chains in Thorndon
Chain
Mojo Coffee
Chain
Fuel Espresso
Getting to and through Thorndon
Wellington railway station opened in 1937, the year Thorndon's own station and Lambton station were demolished.2 From the top of the cable car, a path runs downhill through the Botanic Garden for about 40 minutes and ends near Bolton Street Cemetery, by Parliament.3
The motorway built in the 1960s changed the suburb. Katherine Mansfield Memorial Park was created alongside it, and the house at 133 Tinakori Road where her family lived after 1898 was destroyed to make way for the road.2
Parliament, Old St Paul's and Mansfield's birthplace
Free tours of the Beehive and Parliament start at the ground-floor visitor center, and as of 2024 more than 90,000 people visited each year.4 Old St Paul's at 34 Mulgrave Street, consecrated on 6 June 1866, is built of native timbers, with rimu trusses and kauri roof sarking, and is now used for weddings, funerals and visitors.5
Katherine Mansfield was born on 14 October 1888 at 25 Tinakori Road, in a house built that year. It is a Category 1 Historic Place, restored by the Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Society in the late 1980s.6 The Thistle Inn at 3 Mulgrave Street, from 1840, is described as the country's oldest surviving tavern.7
Cafés around Molesworth Street and Tinakori Road
Near Parliament, Word of Mouth is at 100 Molesworth Street, Single File at 10 Mulgrave Street and Home on William Colenso Square. Tinakori Road's cafés sit further north: Siji Coffee at 310, Leafee at 320, Coffee & Toast Eatery at 328 and Goods at 342A, which opens 07:30–15:00 from Tuesday to Friday and 08:00–14:00 at weekends.
On Thorndon Quay, Gar-Fare Cafe at 241 opens 08:00–16:00 on weekdays and closes at weekends, and T Q Cafe is at 127. Tinakori Road also passes number 260, where the prime minister has lived.2 Above the suburb, The Wadestown Kitchen at 104 Wadestown Road opens on Sunday mornings until 12:00.
Thorndon Fair and the neighborhood
The Thorndon Fair has been held almost every year since 1977, usually on the first Sunday of December, to raise money for Thorndon School.2 The suburb had 3,909 residents at the 2023 census.2 The Botanic Garden's lower gates are only a few minutes' walk from Parliament.8
Sources
- Wellington, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Thorndon, New Zealand, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Things to do, Wellington Cable Car, accessed October 2026
- Beehive (building), Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Old St Paul's, Wellington, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Katherine Mansfield House and Garden, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Capital classics: long-lasting restaurants, WellingtonNZ, accessed October 2026
- Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā, WellingtonNZ, accessed October 2026
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FAQ
Thorndon cafés: questions
Where can you get coffee near Parliament in Thorndon, Wellington?
Cellar Vate Kitchen & Espresso is at 34 Molesworth Street and Word of Mouth at 100 Molesworth Street, both near Parliament and the Beehive. Fuel Espresso is at 45 Pipitea Street and Single File at 10 Mulgrave Street. Free tours of the Beehive and Parliament start from the ground-floor visitor center.
Where was Katherine Mansfield born in Thorndon, Wellington?
Katherine Mansfield was born on 14 October 1888 at 25 Tinakori Road, Thorndon, in a house built that year. It is a Category 1 Historic Place, restored in the late 1980s by the Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Society. Her family's later home at 133 Tinakori Road was destroyed for the motorway in the 1960s.
When is the Thorndon Fair in Wellington?
The Thorndon Fair is usually held on the first Sunday of December and has run almost every year since 1977, raising money for Thorndon School. On ordinary weekends, Goods at 342A Tinakori Road opens 08:00–14:00, and The Wadestown Kitchen opens on Sunday mornings until 12:00.
For café owners
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