Porirua is twenty minutes north of central Wellington by car on State Highway 1 (the Transmission Gully motorway), or 25 minutes by Metlink commuter train on the Kapiti Line — services run every 15–20 minutes through the day. The train is the easier option for a day visit; the station is in the heart of the city centre, two minutes' walk from Pataka.
Coming from the Kapiti Coast or further north, Porirua is the first stop on the southern run into Wellington. Plimmerton and other coastal suburbs have their own stations on the same line.