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New Zealand
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Must-include attractions sorted by popularity
Most popular attractions in New Zealand
1. Sky Tower
Auckland
Quick facts: Soaring 328 meters above the skyline, the structure dominates the panorama and features a rotating restaurant that completes a full revolution every hour. Glass-floor panels on the main observation level deliver a stomach-dropping view straight down, while binoculars and interpretive plaques point out distant ships and runways on clear days.
Highlights: Adrenaline seekers can take a 192-meter controlled jump from an external platform, the wind roaring in your ears as the city drops away beneath you. Diners enjoy a slow-motion panorama as the revolving restaurant completes a full 60-minute circuit, letting a single meal sweep across harbor, skyline, and distant ranges.
2. Waitomo Glowworm Caves
Waitomo
Quick facts: A slow, candlelit boat ride takes you under a ceiling studded with thousands of blue-green lights, making the chamber feel like a living night sky. Guides point out that the tiny beacons are glowworm larvae that dangle silk threads to trap prey, and the cave's humidity and silence help them shine brilliantly.
Highlights: Beneath velvet darkness, hundreds to thousands of bioluminescent threads hang like luminous chandeliers, each glow produced by a larva called Arachnocampa luminosa. You'll be asked to keep nearly silent and avoid camera flashes, because even a small light or loud noise can dim the spectacle, so the boat drifts through a hushed universe of blue pinpricks.
3. Hobbiton Movie Set
Matamata
Quick facts: Walkers often spend about 90 minutes wandering the set, and you can spot over 40 handcrafted round doors scattered across the landscape. Steam from on-site props and carefully manicured gardens give a lived-in feel, with real vegetables and herbs tended to keep the kitchens looking authentic.
Highlights: Step off the path into the pub's low-ceilinged room where woodsmoke and hops fill the air, and bar staff pour ginger beer or local ale into pewter mugs so the scene looks exactly like the films. Guides often point out 44 round doors dotted across the hills and invite you to lean close to smell the lavender and thyme growing in the gardens, a tiny detail kept to make the kitchens look lived-in.
Book a FREE walking tour in New Zealand
The best way to experience a city with a local tour guide.
Tip: We strongly recommend a free walking tour on your first day to get to know the city with a local guide. They usually cover all main attractions and you can ask for personal recommendations based on your interests for the next days. Book early as spaces fill up fast!
4. Te Puia / Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley
Rotorua
Quick facts: Steam hisses from bubbling mud pools and the ground hums with geothermal heat, so you feel warm wafts underfoot as you follow the boardwalks. Vivid mineral terraces stained orange, white, and rust trace the flow of hot water, and Māori carvers and weavers often work beside the vents where steam rises.
Highlights: Pōhutu Geyser can blast boiling water up to 30 meters and erupts multiple times a day, turning the valley into a theatre of steaming plumes. Local guides demonstrate geothermal cooking by lowering baskets of kumara and fish into steam vents and serving the food after about 45 minutes, the result a smoky, earthy sweetness you can taste.
5. Tongariro Alpine Crossing (Tongariro National Park)
National Park Village
Quick facts: The route stretches about 19.4 km through sharply contrasting volcanic landscapes, from low tussock fields to steaming fumaroles. Hikers often encounter moon-like lava flows, vivid emerald crater lakes, and dramatic ash ridges, plus crowds that can reach into the thousands on peak days.
Highlights: At the high volcanic saddle the trail climbs to roughly 1,886 meters, where sulfurous steam accents a sky of unbelievable clarity and wind bites through layers of clothing. A quirky local habit is to pause at the emerald lakes for five to ten minutes of silence to absorb the color and smell, leaving cameras on tripods and swapping whispered tips about the best light for photos.
6. Milford Sound / Piopiotahi
Milford Sound
Quick facts: Towering cliffs plunge straight into a deep fiord, with waterfalls rushing from rainforest to sea and glaciers left a dramatic U-shaped valley. Rainfall on the surrounding peaks can exceed 6,400 millimeters a year, and rare black coral and dense seabird colonies live in the cold, clear waters.
Highlights: Starlit nights bring bioluminescent streaks from Noctiluca scintillans, where kayak paddles trace glowing blue-green lines that fade after a few heartbeats. Experienced guides often stop beneath a thunderous 162-meter waterfall named Bowen Falls so visitors can taste the mineral spray and watch sudden rainbows form in the narrow gorge.
7. Skyline Gondola & Bob's Peak
Queenstown
Quick facts: Strap in for a steep gondola lift that climbs roughly 450 meters, unfolding sweeping lake-and-mountain panoramas as you rise. At the summit an alpine-style complex packs a viewpoint deck, a compact luge attraction and a restaurant where people swap photo tips while the light keeps changing.
Highlights: Step onto the glass-fronted viewing platform perched about 450 meters above the town, feel wind that carries sharp alpine chill while the lake below flashes turquoise and the peaks cut the horizon into dramatic silhouettes. After dark a quiet ritual unfolds as visitors pass around hot chocolate and binoculars, watching the town come alive with hundreds of tiny lights that mirror the stars above.
8. Franz Josef Glacier
Franz Josef
Quick facts: A tongue of blue ice stretches roughly 12 kilometers from high alpine névé down into temperate rainforest, so you can stand among ferns and be staring at glacier ice within a short walk. The glacier can surge or retreat noticeably, with some sections shifting by several metres in weeks and cracking into thunderous icefalls that echo through the valley.
Highlights: A dramatic drop from about 3,000 meters to roughly 300 meters means you can move from icy wind to damp, fern-scented rainforest in under an hour, feeling a sharp change in temperature and the scent of wet earth. Helicopter-guided walks let you stand on glassy blue ice, hear the crunch beneath your boots and peer into crevasses as narrow as a metre across, a surreal mix of alpine silence and rainforest birdsong.
9. Abel Tasman National Park — Marahau/Kaiteriteri (Abel Tasman)
Marahau
Quick facts: Golden sand beaches stretch along roughly 60 kilometres of coastline, so many short walks feel like hopping from one postcard bay to the next. Quiet bays often host fur seals sunbathing on polished granite and small pods of dolphins that sometimes bow-ride sea kayaks, so keep binoculars handy.
Highlights: At some sheltered bays the tide can swing more than two metres in a few hours, revealing tide pools teeming with colourful sea stars, bright orange crays and neon-green kina for hands-on discovery. Local water-taxi skippers have an informal code of route tips and weather lore, you’ll often hear nicknames and quick warnings passed between trips while stepping onto sun-warmed sand scented with seagrass.
10. Aoraki / Mount Cook (Aoraki/Mount Cook Village)
Aoraki / Mount Cook Village
Quick facts: Jagged granite faces tower over a patchwork of blue-tinged glaciers, and the highest summit tops out at 3,724 meters. Early climbers such as Tom Fyfe and George Graham made first ascents in 1894, and weather can flip from glassy calm to whiteout in under an hour.
Highlights: At night the sky here is ridiculously vivid, dark-sky protection lets the Milky Way flood the horizon so you can pick out the Magellanic Clouds with the naked eye. Along glacial lakes odd, car-sized icebergs calf with a low, sonorous boom that you can feel in your ribs from 200 to 500 meters away.
Traditional Sweet Dishes
Pavlova
Pavlova was named for the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, and its crisp meringue shell with a marshmallow-soft interior was created to mimic her lightness.
Hokey pokey
Hokey pokey is New Zealand's iconic vanilla ice cream studded with crunchy honeycomb toffee, pairing creamy and brittle textures in every spoonful. The whimsical name likely comes from old street-seller cries, and the treat is a national favorite.
Anzac biscuits
Anzac biscuits were baked by families during World War I to send to soldiers, because their ingredients and long shelf life survived long sea journeys. They remain a powerful symbol of wartime remembrance and homefront ingenuity.
Traditional Savory Dishes
Hangi
Hangi is a traditional Maori earth oven method where food is steamed and smoked on hot stones buried in a pit, producing deeply flavored, tender meat and vegetables. The method is as much about community and ceremony as it is about cooking.
Fish and chips
Fish and chips are a beloved New Zealand takeaway, often enjoyed by the sea wrapped in paper, and they showcase the country's access to fresh local fish and a love of casual outdoor dining. Eating them at the beach is an almost ritualistic pastime.
Roast lamb
Roast lamb is so central to New Zealand food culture that the country is famous worldwide for its pasture-raised lamb, and Sunday roasts are an enduring expression of hospitality. A perfect roast often signals family gatherings and celebratory meals.
Traditional Beverages
Flat white
The flat white is a South Pacific coffee creation featuring silky microfoam poured over espresso, creating a stronger but smoother drink than a standard latte. Australia and New Zealand both claim its invention, which fuels friendly coffee debates.
L&P
Lemon & Paeroa, commonly called L&P, started when lemon juice was blended with the natural mineral water from Paeroa, creating a uniquely Kiwi soft drink loved for its sweet, citrusy fizz. A giant L&P bottle in Paeroa now draws tourists who want a photo with the national icon.
Manuka tea
Manuka tea, brewed from the leaves of the native manuka shrub, has earthy, honeyed notes and was traditionally used by Maori for its soothing medicinal properties. It shares a chemical kinship with manuka honey, which is prized for similar healing qualities.
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Day trips
Waiheke Island
Nearby island with beaches, wineries, and art galleries.
Google MapsMilford Sound
Dramatic fiord with boat cruises and waterfalls.
Google MapsComments (8)
South Island views blew my mind, North Island has culture and easy hikes. Two weeks felt rushed, three weeks is nicer.
Shop groceries in bigger towns, roadside cafes charge tourist prices. Bring a small cooler for snacks on long drives between spots.
Not as cheap as travel blogs made it sound, hostels book out quick in summer. Kiwis are friendly and it felt very safe solo.
Rent a car if you can, but add gravel insurance and check ferry schedules. Some high-country roads close quickly after rain.
Download offline maps and the MetService app, mobile gaps are common. Fill up petrol whenever you see a station, not later.
Getting there
Airports
Train stations
Auckland suburban rail; Northern Explorer long-distance
North Island Main Trunk; Northern Explorer; Wairarapa Line
TranzAlpine to Greymouth; Coastal Pacific to Picton (services vary)
Use airport express buses or shared shuttles to reach city centers; book ahead during peak season.
Click to get eSim for New Zealand
The easiest and most affordable way to get mobile internet wherever you travel.
Visa & entry
Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, EU Schengen countries, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Brazil, Argentina, Chile
Many African countries, some South Asian and Middle Eastern nationals; check the NZ Immigration website for specifics
Check if you need an NZeTA and apply online well before travel.