New Zealand Parliament tours, Wellington

Free guided tours of New Zealand's Parliament run every hour, every day, from the visitor centre in the foyer of Parliament House. The hour-long tour takes you through Parliament House, the debating chamber, the neo-Gothic Parliamentary Library and the Beehive, the round executive wing that is Wellington's best-known building.

For engineering fans, the tour goes down to the basement to see the base isolation system: the old building sits on rubber-and-lead bearings that let it move during an earthquake. When the House is sitting (usually Tuesday to Thursday afternoons) you can watch debates, including Question Time, from the public gallery.

Book online, especially for groups, and arrive 15 minutes early for security screening.