Aro Valley, Wellington: A Local's Guide

Aro Valley is a tight little valley suburb that runs west from the top of Te Aro, squeezed between the University on Kelburn to the north and the climb up to Brooklyn to the south. It is one of the oldest, most walkable and most characterful suburbs in Wellington City: two lanes of traffic, a single village strip, a community hall that runs the place, and a population of artists, students, public servants and long-time locals who are fiercely protective of how it feels.

The Vibe

Aro Valley is genuinely bohemian, and it means it. Brightly painted workers' cottages sit cheek-to-cheek on Aro Street. Vegetable gardens spill out of front yards. The community notice board outside the community centre is covered in gig posters, childcare swaps, yoga classes and mutual-aid offers. It is the only Wellington suburb where the Halloween street party, the candle-lit tour and the annual fair are all genuine local traditions that outsiders travel across town to attend.

The population is an unusual blend. Victoria University students flat in the cottages at the eastern end, younger professionals renovate in the middle, and long-time owner-occupiers (many there since the 1970s) hold the upper valley. The politics lean green and progressive, the cycling lane on Aro Street is well-used and the conversation at the Aro Street Cafe tends to be louder than the coffee machine.

A Quick History

The name Aro comes from Te Aro Pa, the large Maori settlement that sat at the edge of the original shoreline near what is now Taranaki Street. Aro Valley was settled from the 1840s onwards as Wellington's population outgrew Lambton. The narrow valley was ideal for small, cheap worker housing, and by the late 1800s it was dense with cottages serving the port, the railway and the breweries.

The defining moment in Aro Valley's modern history was the 1960s and 1970s fight against a proposed motorway extension that would have bulldozed most of the valley. A determined residents' campaign saved the suburb, and the organising muscle it built became the Aro Valley Community Council, which still runs a lot of what happens here today. Much of the current character stock was then slowly and lovingly restored by the generation that fought for it.

The Community Centre

The Aro Valley Community Centre on Aro Street is the beating heart of the suburb. It is one of the best-run community centres in the country, with a year-round programme of classes, playgroups, film nights, meetings, craft groups, concerts and dances. It is also the venue for the famous Aro Valley Fair each November and the Aro Valley Candlelit Tour around Halloween, which has been running for decades as a sprawling open-house-and-performance trail through the cottages.

Next door, Aro Park has one of the most loved playgrounds in the inner city, with a big flying fox, sandpits and plenty of shade. It is the unofficial back garden of half the suburb.

Things to Do in Aro Valley

The outdoor headline is Polhill Reserve at the western end of the valley, where a proper network of mountain bike and walking tracks climbs up onto the ridge. Polhill is one of the best urban riding and running spots in the city, with links into the Zealandia fenceline, Brooklyn and the Wind Turbine lookout. You genuinely can be on a bush singletrack five minutes from Lambton Quay.

The suburb is also a short walk from the Wellington Botanic Garden via the upper tracks, and Te Papa and the waterfront are fifteen minutes on foot. The Wellington Zoo and Zealandia are each about ten minutes by car.

For more inspiration, our things to do in Wellington page and the weekly Wellington events calendar are the easiest starting points.

Food & Drink

The Aro Street Cafe is a Wellington institution: over 30 years old, still family-run, still baking its own bread, still turning out one of the best vegetarian-leaning brunch menus in town. Nell's on Aro adds a second reliable neighbourhood brunch spot, and a rotating run of takeaways, a tiny grocer and the legendary Aro Bakery round out the Aro Street strip.

For dinner, Aro Valley is a five-minute walk from Cuba Street and all of the Te Aro food scene, so locals treat the whole of central Wellington as their extended dining room. See our Wellington restaurants, Wellington cafes and Wellington bars pages for current picks.

Living in Aro Valley

Aro Valley housing is dominated by late 1800s and early 1900s workers' cottages, often two to three bedrooms on small sections, many joined at the wall and most with tiny front yards. A second layer of 1920s bungalows sits on the slightly wider side streets, and a small but growing group of modern architect builds tucks into the steeper upper valley. It is the classic Wellington trade-off: a walkable inner-city character address, in exchange for a small footprint and a close relationship with your neighbours' cat.

There is no primary school inside Aro Valley itself, but kids are zoned for Te Aro School or Clyde Quay School depending on address, with Wellington College and Wellington Girls' College as the local state secondary zones. Victoria University's Kelburn campus is a ten-minute walk up the hill, which is why so many students flat in Aro Valley.

Transport is mostly on foot. The CBD is a flat 15-minute walk, and Metlink route 18 runs directly through the valley. Cycling is common and well-catered for. Car ownership here is genuinely optional, which is rare for a Wellington suburb.

One Last Thing

Aro Valley is the kind of suburb that most cities lose. A tight inner-city community that fought a motorway, kept its cottages, built its own community centre, grew a cafe into a 30-year institution and still throws a street fair that the whole of Wellington turns up to. It is a small place with a big personality. For the bigger city picture, head back to our Wellington City guide, check the Wellington weather and flick through this weekend's Wellington events.

Know an Aro Valley spot we have missed? Flick it to us at [email protected] and we will add it to the next update. Steve and Kirstie, WellyBuzz.