With epic nationwide parks and gorgeous landscapes, inspiring Māori tradition and hospitable Kiwis, your New Zealand journey will likely be filled with wonderful adventures.
From mountain climbing via the wilderness on Stewart Island to absorbing Auckland’s dwell music scene, there’s a lot to expertise in this stunning little nation that you’ll be wanting to maintain coming again. Listed here are some of the best things to do in New Zealand.
1. Get to know Māori tradition
New Zealand’s indigenous Māori tradition is accessible and fascinating: be part of in a haka (warfare dance); chow down at a conventional hāngi (Māori feast cooked in the floor); carve a pendant from bone or pounamu (jade); be taught some Māori language; or take a look at an genuine cultural efficiency with track, dance, legends, arts and crafts.
Planning tip: Huge-city and regional museums round NZ are filled with Māori artifacts and historic gadgets, however that is really a dwelling tradition: vibrant, potent and up to date. Becoming a member of in with a Māori occasion is the best means to expertise this half of New Zealand’s id.
2. Expertise the variety of Auckland
Held in the embrace of two harbors and constructed on the remnants of long-extinct volcanoes, Auckland isn’t your common metropolis. It’s frequently rated one of the world’s most habitable cities, blessed with good seashores, wine areas, implausible museums and a thriving eating, ingesting and live-music scene, not to point out sub-tropical climate. Nevertheless, it’s the wealthy tradition of this ethnically various place that makes Auckland stand out on the international stage.
Planning tip: Time your go to for any main cultural occasion, from Pasifika to Diwali. That is once you’ll actually see the metropolis at its best.
3. Hike one of New Zealand’s Nice Walks
Climbing, or tramping, as the Kiwis name it, is one of New Zealand’s nice pastimes. North and South Islands alike supply boundless alternatives to scramble up scree, spot wildlife and lose your self in some open air really deserving of the epithet “nice.” Whether or not it’s the rainforest-shaded shores of Lake Waikaremoana or the unspoiled wilderness of the Paparoa Observe, hikers will at all times discover their completely satisfied place.
At the middle of the North Island, Tongariro Nationwide Park presents an awe-inspiring panorama of alpine desert punctuated by three smoldering volcanoes. Typically rated as one of the world’s best single-day wilderness walks, the difficult Tongariro Alpine Crossing skirts the base of two of the mountains and offers views of craters, brightly coloured lakes and the huge Central Plateau.
Planning tip: As the recognition of the Nice Walks has skyrocketed, New Zealand’s Division of Conservation (DOC) has restricted customer numbers per day. E book your chosen route on-line forward of time.
4. Search for kiwis in the wilderness of Stewart Island
Birdwatching, kayaking, tramping and biking are some of the methods you’ll be able to discover New Zealand’s third island, one the place solely 400 individuals dwell and 85% of the land is protected by Rakiura Nationwide Park. It’s additionally your best alternative to view kiwis in the wild. Seeing these small indigenous birds whereas strolling alongside the seaside in the darkish underneath the dazzling Milky Manner is an expertise to be savored. In case you’re fortunate, you may even glimpse the Southern Lights.
Planning tip: Ferries run to Stewart Island from Bluff or take a flight from Invercargill.
5. Journey the scenic TranzAlpine Railway from Christchurch to Greymouth
Amongst the world’s most scenic practice journeys, the TranzAlpine cuts clear throughout New Zealand from the Pacific Ocean to the Tasman Sea in lower than 5 hours. Sure, there’s an enormous mountain vary in the means – that’s the scenic half. Leaving the Canterbury Plains, a cavalcade of tunnels and viaducts climb up the Southern Alps to Arthur’s Move, the place the 8.5km (5-mile) Otira tunnel burrows via the bedrock of NZ’s alpine backbone. Then it’s down the different facet to Greymouth… a jumping-off level to adventures aplenty.
Planning tip: The TranzAlpine is operated by Nice Journeys New Zealand. Examine on-line for particular provides.
6. Take a highway journey alongside the West Coast
A distant, end-of-the-road vibe defines the West Coast. Street journeys alongside the SH6, from remoted wildlife haven Haast to mountain climbing outpost Karamea, thread collectively an alluring mixture of sights: Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, Hokitika’s greenstone galleries, and geological wonders like Pancake Rocks. There are numerous detours to mountain biking and mountain climbing trails, many of which comply with the footsteps of early pioneers. Primeval wilderness is usually solely a brief journey away by foot – or helicopter, or jetboat…
7. Hang around in NZ’s cool capital, Wellington
One of the coolest little capitals in the world, windy Wellington can be synonymous with cinema, thanks to native boy Peter Jackson. Residents are additionally proud of its vibrant arts and music scene and particular occasions schedule (from Fringe to WOW), plus eating decisions that vary from modern meals vans to high-end gastronomy. However for guests to the capital, the proximity to mountain biking and strolling trails, not to point out a glistening harbor, scores simply as extremely. Don’t miss it.
8. Discover Waiheke Island and the Hauraki Gulf
A yachtie’s paradise, the island-studded Hauraki Gulf is Auckland’s aquatic playground, sheltering its harbor and east-coast bays and, regardless of the heavy maritime visitors, its resident whales and dolphins. Rangitoto Island is an icon of the metropolis, its near-perfect volcanic cone offering the backdrop for a lot of a vacationer snapshot. But it’s Waiheke, with its stunning seashores, acclaimed wineries and glorious eating spots, that’s Auckland’s hottest island escape.
Planning tip: Waiheke might be visited as a day journey from Auckland, however to actually make the most of the island’s quirky galleries, many tasting rooms and its heat, dry microclimate, you may most likely need to stick round longer than a day.
9. Go whale watching in Kaikōura
First settled by Maōri, who demonstrated their style for seafood by naming it Kaikōura (which means “to eat crayfish”), that is NZ’s best spot for each consuming and communing with marine life. Feast on crayfish, go on a fishing tour, or take a ship tour or flight to see whales, dolphins, seals and marine birds. Following a extreme earthquake in November 2016, Kaikōura has rebounded and is now an interesting spot to observe the profound affect of seismic exercise alongside the coast.