It lies approximately 8.1 km north of the city centre and to the east of its nearest neighbour Johnsonville.

The area that modern Newlands occupies was originally known as Papararangi[3] which is te reo Māori for "cluster of hills".

[4] A 40 ha area was sold during the 1840–41 land ballots run by the New Zealand Company.

The first is that it was named after Thomas Newland,[5] who arrived in New Zealand from London in 1875 aboard the ship Avalanche and ran a business making glue and oil in neighbouring Johnsonville before becoming manager of the manure department of the Wellington Meat Export Company's works in 1892.

[3] The area was mostly used as a pig and dairy farm, providing Wellington most of their town milk supply from the 1920s to the 1950s.

[13] Newlands is approximately 138 m[16] above sea level, with its highest point being Brandon's Rock, which lies along the Paparangi Ridge.

Gilberd Bush Reserve lies to the east of Newlands, towards State Highway 2,[17] and is located where the topography is too steep and hilly for use.

Newlands is situated not far from the Wellington Fault,[18] which is capable of producing earthquakes of magnitude 8.

Newlands has a number of parks and reserves, including: Newlands is connected to Ngauranga, and further Wellington via the Ngauranga Gorge towards the South, and through Stewart Drive and Johnsonville to Porirua to the North via State Highway 1, constructed in the 1960s.

Newlands Coach Services operates a bus depot next to the State Highway 1 overbridge.