Cat-Friendly Places in New Zealand: 8 Top Picks

Wellington's beloved cat café, on Cuba Street, New Zealand's most vibrant café strip. Meow has ten rescue cats and has been operating since 2013, making it one of New Zealand's oldest. The café serves New Zealand's renowned flat whites, hokey pokey ice cream, and locally baked manuka honey cake. All cats are SPCA-certified and receive twice-yearly vet checks.

Auckland's leading cat café in the Ponsonby neighbourhood, widely regarded as New Zealand's coolest suburb. Twelve cats, mostly Burmese and rescue moggies, share a beautifully restored villa with floor-to-ceiling windows. The café is famous for its long weekday opening hours, catering to Auckland's remote-working crowd. New Zealand's first cat café to achieve Zero Waste certification.

The Alexander sheep farm in Matamata, site of the iconic Hobbiton movie set, has resident farm cats that roam freely among the hobbit holes. Visitors on the Hobbiton tour regularly encounter them between Green Dragon Inn visits and the Party Tree. Lord of the Rings fans who are also cat lovers consider this New Zealand's most magical combination experience.

Christchurch's revitalised post-earthquake city centre has this cat café in the innovative Restart Cardboard Cathedral precinct. Nine cats and a menu of South Island dairy specialties, Whitestone cheese platters and Lewis Road Creamery hot chocolates, make this one of the South Island's most distinctive café experiences. The café was partly crowdfunded by the Christchurch cat-loving community after the 2011 earthquakes.

Dunedin's Scottish-heritage city centre has this aptly named cat café on the Octagon. Eight cats and a menu heavy on Scottish-influenced baking, shortbread, tablet, and Dunedin's famous vanilla slice, make this a very local experience. The café is affiliated with the Otago SPCA and runs highly attended adoption events.

Hamilton's quirky cat café name (penguins don't purr, but the name stuck) has six resident cats and is a favourite of Waikato University students. The café is an easy 90-minute day trip from Auckland and often combined with a visit to the Hamilton Gardens. The cats are internationally eclectic, including a Turkish Van and two Abyssinians donated by a local breeder.

The Bay of Plenty's fastest-growing city has a cat café near Tauranga's waterfront with six cats. Opened in 2022, Whiskers is already rated one of the Bay of Plenty's top experiences on TripAdvisor. The Kiwi fusion menu, feijoa smoothies, hokey pokey brownies, sets it apart from more conventional cat café offerings.

Nelson, New Zealand's sunniest city at the top of the South Island, has this cat café in its arts district. Five cats and an extensive New Zealand craft beer and wine list (Nelson is a major hop-growing region) make this a uniquely adult-oriented cat café experience. The resident Himalayan cat, Tasman, has a dedicated fan following.