Dunedin is the world’s fifth largest city, in geographical size, offering lots of leisure and recreational opportunities.

• Dunedin is the Celtic name for Edinburgh.
• The only mainland breeding colony of the Northern Royal Albatross, large majestic seabirds with a wingspan of three metres, is at the Otago Peninsula.
• Dunedin, and its surrounds, is home to some interesting locals, including the world’s rarest penguin – the yellow-eyed penguin, New Zealand sea lions, New Zealand fur seals and little blue penguins.
• Dunedin’s Baldwin Street is the steepest street in the world.
• Larnach Castle located on the Otago Peninsula is New Zealand’s only castle.
• Dunedin Railway Station is the most photographed building in New Zealand.
• University of Otago, New Zealand’s oldest university was the first in the country to admit women to all its classes. It is also the South Island’s largest employer.
• Otago Girls’ High School was one of the first state run secondary schools for girls in the world.
• New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is, in effect, New Zealand’s national sports museum, the only one of its kind in the country.
• New Zealand’s first authentic Chinese Garden – only the third outside of China and the first in the Southern Hemisphere – is found in Dunedin.
• The Otago Daily Times is New Zealand’s first daily and oldest surviving independent newspaper.
• The Dunedin Public Art Gallery is New Zealand’s first public art gallery.
• The Dunedin (1876–82) was the first ship to successfully transport refrigerated meat. In its capacity, it helped set the stage for New Zealand’s success as a major provider of agricultural exports, notwithstanding its extreme remoteness from most markets
• Dunedin’s Ice Stadium has the biggest curling rink in the Southern Hemisphere. Curling is a game unique to only a few regions.