NZ Travel: How to explore Napier Prison, one of NZ's spookiest spots

Opened in 1862 and operational until 1993, Napier Prison is the country's oldest correctional facility. Photo / Getty Images

Eshan Jayawardena from Napier Prison Tours talks about former inmates, escape rooms and ghost hunters at one of the country's most fascinating historic places.

Napier Prison is the oldest prison in New Zealand. It opened in 1862, and over the years it housed male and female prisoners, and also served as an asylum and a place for executions. It operated until 1993. After sitting abandoned until 2002, it was restored and initially used as a backpackers hostel. Later that year, we started providing tours.

These days we now have escape room experiences and self-guided tours that are available in 15 languages. Visitors can choose between the historical tour, the ghost tour and the kids tour, and all are equally popular. Usually, when a historian or a sociologist visits they do the historical tour, while people with an interest in the paranormal prefer the ghost tour, as we're ranked among the top six haunted places in New Zealand.

Visitors can explore the spooky prison grounds, take self guided audio tours, and try their hand at the escape rooms. Photo / supplied

We have four escape rooms for groups of up to six people, with options for beginners as well as escape experts. Two of the rooms are identical and can be used at the same time, so you can test your skills against friends or colleagues. The experiences usually last about an hour, or however long it takes!

We still get former inmates coming in. One told us about how prisoners would "escape" in the night to go and have a drink at the staff bar. Then the prison guard would come past and say "what are you doing here, I locked you in!" The inmates would promise to go back after they finished their drinks, and sure enough, they always went back to their rooms.

The historic prison's shadowy halls are believed to be haunted. Photo / supplied

We are open throughout the year from 9am-5pm. Summertime is the busiest, with lots of visitors in town. But for people who prefer things a bit quieter, winter is ideal, and it makes the environment feel spookier as well. The self-guided tours usually take around an hour.

When it comes to other attractions in the area, the Napier Aquarium and MTG Museum are top picks, while Mission Estate, Church Road and Craggy Range are all great spots for wine lovers. Napier is easy to walk around, and has lots of good eateries and shops to explore.

For more, see napierprison.com, and hawkesbaynz.com