Napier: The Art Deco City

Napier calls itself the Art Deco City, and it is fair to do so.  An earthquake and fire devastated the city in 1931.  When it was rebuilt, it was done so mostly in the style of the day: Art Deco.  To the delight of architecture buffs, and Art Deco fans, around the world, it has mostly kept those buildings.  It has not only kept them, it has maintained them.  Which makes for a great visit.

The Art Deco Trust offers a number of guided tour options.  We took the two-hour afternoon tour, which was by far the best value.  It was also a great way to see the city.

In addition to the guided tour, be sure to go the Ahuriri area of Napier to see the National Tobacco Company building.  The building and the name have been restored to their original condition, and it is beautiful.  It almost literally screams Louis Sullivan.  And even better, the current owners leave two rooms open for the public to see.  (What is amazing for a tourist from the United States is that the rooms are just open.  There is nobody guarding them or watching.  They just trust us to go in and look.)

While you are in Ahuriri, consider Ahuriri Café for a quick lunch.  We found it quite good.

Two other things to do in Napier.  First, of course, there are the wineries of Hawke’s Bay.  There are lots of them.  We had dinner at two and lunch at another.  Most picturesque, perhaps, is Craggy Range.

The second thing is the Otatara Pa.  This was an older pa.  It was used as a pa from about 1500 to 1550 and was then abandoned.  It was attacked a number of times during the early 1500s, and while the defender was never defeated, they couldn’t beat the attacker either.  Therefore, the defender had to negotiate.  It then gave up the site; it was “tapu.”  Now it is mostly worth the visit for the view of the surrounding area.