Napier Prison/ Citywalksz, Napier, NZ Review

Had always wanted to visit here and wasn't disappointed - $20 pp - for what you get totally worth it.

Lots of fun for the family. Interesting history even kids enjoyed it. Highly recommend

We did the Prisoners Dilemma Escape Room and didn't manage to get out so we are heading up to their new room next weekend as it is for first time escapers - let's hope we get out this time!!

Not many places you can go where they cater for foreign language speakers so this was a good find!!

Wow definitely haunted and just amazing to do the tour. Well worth it and cute little cat.

This was really good fun. They provide individual audio systems so you can listen to the history of the prison. I felt disrespectful standing where they used to hang people.

Absolutely love this place!! So much fun and a light hearted atmosphere. I would recommend booking at least a day ahead. The staff members here really made the day enjoyable and memorable. They didn't push too hard or give any clues away and had a great amount or history and knowledge about the place. Teo thumbs up! Loved it!

There were so many people that we ended up sitting down and having an ice-cream till it quietened down.
Good tour but I couldn't get the ink off my fingers for the rest of the day from the fingerprint station.

Staff made our visit super cool. Was nervous to visit but was put completely at ease. Good times.

It was nice seeing the buildinh, but the history is completely lost. It had been damaged by backbackers, etc.

Interesting but I think they could have made more of the place. More stories of past inmates and a general clean would be good

I had the best time. So interesting! The history then and now is amazing

Interesting bit of history, bit not sure it's worth $20.

Depends on your choice. Site is not very attractive. You can hear the history on a walky talky they offer you. If you like hearing about history rather than visiting an interesting old historic site than you should visit the place.

The scape room was absolutely outstanding, was fun and bit hard to make it but we really enjoyed, 100% recommended.
The tour was ok, I mean not bad but not much to see.

Not much to do in napier so 1 of the places to visit

Escape Rooms rock - we have done 3 now and I hear there is a new one coming mwah ha ha!

Wonderful experience though a bit creepy and we talked to an old inmate who had come up for a visit with his new partner to show her his previous cell. Bizarre - we thought.

Not everyone's cup of tea as it is old and has some creaks and groans but I liked the authenticity!!

I asked if I could leave my 7 year old mischief maker - but no takers - but it gave him an idea of where he might end up if he continues to be naughty. We liked it and so did our little man.

I was kinda disappointed with the prison. Maybe I expected too much but I assumed the place to be a lot larger than it was, very tiny for a prison. It was kind of boring in my opinion and a bit over priced.

Just the best time here - a group of us did a combo Escape Room and Tour and for what you get the price was affordable as we were up there for about 3 hours all up.

Excellent place to visit Tried to leave the kids there but they wouldn't take them

Love this place! The staff are amazing and friendly. The history and paranormal experiences are amazing. Definitely a must see!

Friends recommended and we had a blast - enjoyed dressing up and doing the mug shots and we could see that the staff were very pro-active in cleaning the maps and audio wands after use.

Great place to visit, some bits missing from last visit which was a shame.

They have good historic audio information and nice staff. The facility is good and you see the real cells and so but environment can be more tidy and organized. I saw some dumped stuff at unused areas.

We did the historical self guided tour. Not much to look at but glad we visited.

Was interesting to visit but the audio recording pronounced Maori place names poorly which I thought was disrespectful.

Can't wait to revisit and do the Ghost Tour - my friends said it was brilliant - but the wife wasn't keen and I had to do the history tour with her to keep her company. It was also good.

the Napier Prison, tour was good and i learn stuff.

The guys in the office let me charge my dead phone battery while we did the tour which was a bonus and the free lollies for the kids if they behaved certainly made a difference.

Highly recommended on TripAdvisor we agree - it is a must-see when in Napier.

Sorry was not impress. Do not understand how this place has got such good reviews. $20 to much money does not look authentic. Was temporarily used as a backpackers hostel and still looks like one. The audio goes on for too long on any one section and got boring there is however plenty to read some of it was interesting. Only took 20 mins to wonder round the prison and read posters.waste of money and time will not recommend

Did the audio tour and very informative. You can look at your own pace. Well worth the price paid.

Cool History lesson...kids loved it. Make sure you have a few creepy sounds downloaded on your phone to play when you're in the darker areas....haha

Dont bother wasting your time or money. Very poor displays and prison itself has not been maintained or kept up to a reasonable standard. The only thing kept to a good standard is the office area where you pay. It's a shame that whoever owns it doesn't invest back into the place instead of taking the profits. Not worth the visit to be honest.

Easy walk from town but the hill is fairly steep - worth the climb though.

This place projects an eerie feel and you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up at times. Good experience.

Really creepy vibes here - the tour had us freaked out with the ghost stories - enjoyable but freaky.

A good day out - we did both tours and an Escape Room.

No doubt about it - this is a must-see while in Napier or HB in general. Raw and real with nothing glossed over.

This place is far from educational. I'm surprised no one is mentioning how problematic it is to have a jail opened for "educational" purposes where you also have a scape room (yes...a scape room) and way too much hype around paranormal stuff. I get it, you want to make money, but please do not say this is intended for educational purposes. This was a great opportunity to revisit the horrors of death penalty, having the criminal justice system treating minors as adults, the racial issues in the context of jail, colonialism, etc. But no, let's make a dark room and tell people there is a demon there because someone used a ouija board in there. Unbelievable. It just feels wrong an disrespectful.

Great place. Very informative well worth the money.

Sad and tragic but essential to keep people informed about days gone by.

Had the most laughs I've had for ages trying to break out of this prison !!

Great audio self guided tour. Was very interesting. They are also starting to do escape rooms for those that needs intellectual stimulation.

A hidden gem in Napier. Glad I visited the place and it's a heritage building. It has so much of history and lots to learn about New Zealand. The place is well preserved as it was built in 1850s and it functioned till 1993 December. Had a chat with the staff and realized the struggle the management has to keep up to maintain the place as it's not a government entity and does not have any funding. Kudos to the friendly staff and the management for the superb work.

Took mug shots and dressed in Prison garb - great keepsake pictures

Very dark yet enjoyable experience. The place is nicely laid out. The audio tours provided are very informative and interesting. You can go at your own pace and explore the place as much as you d like.

Oh and you can take some really cool mug shots without an extra cost .

Wonderful history well told by a great audio speaker. I think she is a local actress from what I was told.

The visit felt a little eerie but nonetheless very informative. Helps visitors learn about the crimes in the past and the life in prison, how they were managed, fed and eventually punished. Very interesting information about last meal requests, though the information was for convicts outside of NZ. Very friendly and helpful owner who shared with us her own share of ghostly encounters within the prison premise. Mind you she still lives within the premise today. Impressive and brave lady!

Great history and well presented by the electronic guide.

Love this place! No frills, excellent staff and good information.

An excellent experience. Some of the rooms were genuinely spooky and the voice over was professional and informative. One of the highlights of our trip to Napier.

Great experience, though glad it is no longer in operation. I'd only want to stay there once. Apparently not hugely secure

Lots of information provided. Scary when walking through the prison halls as there were ghostly encounters experienced by visitors before! The earthquake many years ago, caused the building to be tilted in many areas. Quite a sight.

Nice place, worth a visit. Though the entrance was quite invisible. Looked pretty closed when we visited. There are quite a few very interesting information about the life of the prisoners given.

Creepy but amazing, we took our own tour taking our time around. Step foot into a cell and the light switched off.. So cool and intresting. Want to come back for the escape room part as well!

Spooky and scary but heaps of fun - dress-ups and mugshot pictures were on point. Most places charge a fortune for your "proof of visit" type photo but you just use your own phone here and it is free.

Keen on trying their new Escape Room as have done the others which we all loved.

Wonderful staff made us feel so welcome. Great tour.

Fantastic place to visit. Amazing history and stories about the prison and it's inmates. We also did one of the three escape rooms as a group. Didn't escape but had a lot of fun. The staff are fantastic and are pleased to help, getting into the act and having a but of a joke. Highly recommended.

We escaped the Prison - well the Escape Room and only just - but so much fun. We were in the Therapy Unit and was not expecting the handcuffs and blindfolds! 29s to go

Loved the interactive dress up props - the language option for the tours is good too as my partner is from
the Czech Republic and even though their English is great it was nice for them to hear in their own language.

Nice walking tour. The history is amazing. Basil the resident cat made an appearance and walked us through. Lovely staff.

Good place a short walk from centre of Napier. Full of history and great stories. Has an audio tour as well. Needs a bit of TLC around the grounds and a small upgrade of some of the exhibits. Great place still.

Very friendly staff. Interesting audio tour. Also the escape room looked fun (even though we didn't have time to do it, there was a group just finishing).

Very interesting historical place to learn about the past of Napier. Bit creepy even when you came in the daytime. :P

We buy vouchers for the tours for our family and friends - makes sense to give them an experience rather than something to sit on a shelf. Only because we love the place.