Queenstown & Wanaka
Enter past the fence of bras (Bra-drona!) and you'll find the beautiful cellar door of this fledgling single-malt distillery inside a building made of…
Must-see attractions in New Zealand
Christchurch
A must-visit for anyone interested in understanding the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes, this compact museum tells stories through photography, video…
Whanganui
Spend an hour or two in one of NZ’s better natural history museums. Te Atihaunui-a-Pāpārange Māori exhibits include an amazing waka (canoe), …
Hamilton
The excellent Waikato Museum has several main areas: an art gallery; interactive science galleries; a Waikato River exhibition; and Tainui galleries…
Wellington
The city's most impressive viewpoint is atop 196m-high Mt Victoria (Matairangi), east of the city centre. You can take bus 20 most of the way up, but the…
Bay of Islands & Northland
Mangawhai's main claim to fame is the surf beach and its large hilltop car park fills up quickly in peak season. To the south a narrow spit of sand…
Coromandel Peninsula
Waihi’s superb Gold Discovery Centre tells of the area’s gold-mining past, present and future through interactive displays, focusing on personal and…
Blenheim
Zero-carbon winemaking on a grand scale at this space-age winery out by itself near Seddon, 30km southeast of Blenheim. A 7km self-drive vineyard tour…
Napier
The Daily Telegraph is one of the stars of Napier's art-deco show, with superb zigzags, fountain shapes and a symmetrically patterned facade. If the front…
Otago Peninsula
What makes the improbably beautiful beaches of this coastal sheep farm different from other important wildlife habitats is that (apart from pest…
Auckland
Housed in a gorgeous 1879 mansion with views to One Tree Hill and the Manukau Harbour, this arts centre is endowed with contemporary NZ art from an…
Taupo
This small but fascinating museum has an excellent Māori gallery and quirky displays, which include a 1960s caravan set up as if the occupants have just…
Bay of Islands & Northland
The giant cross-sections of trees at this superb museum are astounding in themselves, but the entire industry is animated through life-sized reproductions…
East Cape
If you haven't yet made it into a marae (meeting house), you’ll get a fair idea of what you’re missing out on by visiting the extraordinary St Mary’s…
Banks Peninsula
An ongoing labour of love by local artist Josie Martin, this whimsical garden is really one giant artwork, a combination of sculpture and mosaics that…
Timaru
One of the South Island’s largest public galleries, this 1908 mansion houses a notable collection of NZ and European art across various eras, alongside…
Waiheke Island
Settle in with a tapas platter and a glass of Man O' War's Valhalla chardonnay at Waiheke's only beachfront tasting room. If the weather is good, go for a…
Buller Region
Every gold-rush town needs a still, and Reefton's got a goodie in the form of this operation that makes use of foraged botanicals and spring water sourced…
Taranaki & Whanganui
Elvis lives! At least he does at Kevin D Wasley's astonishing museum, which houses more than 10,000 of the King’s records and a mind-blowing collection of…
Hawke's Bay
The excellent Wairoa Museum has an Italianate facade from its former life as a bank. Inside you'll find passionately curated, creative displays on local…
Christchurch & Canterbury
It's fitting that Waipara Valley's premier winery should have the loveliest setting and one of Canterbury's best restaurants (mains $36 to $43). Verdant…
Hamilton
Spread over 50 hectares southeast of the city centre, Hamilton Gardens incorporates a large park, a cafe, a restaurant, and extravagant themed and…
Wellington
New Zealand's national museum is hard to miss, taking up a sizeable chunk of the Wellington waterfront. ‘Te Papa Tongarewa’ loosely translates as …
New Plymouth
Lush Pukekura has 49 hectares of gardens, playgrounds, trails, streams, waterfalls, ponds and display houses. In summer, rowboats (per half-hour $15)…
Gisborne
The Tairāwhiti Museum, with its fab gallery extension, focuses on East Coast Māori and colonial history. This is Gisborne’s arts hub, with rotating…
The Far North
A large chunk of the land around Cape Reinga is part of the Te Paki Recreation Reserves managed by DOC. It’s public land with free access; leave the gates…
New Plymouth
Translating as ‘Hill of Chiefs’, Puke Ariki was once a pā (fortified village) site, and is now home to the i-SITE, a fab regional museum, a library, a…
Palmerston North
Fans of the oval ball holler about the New Zealand Rugby Museum, an amazing space overflowing with rugby paraphernalia, from a 1905 All Blacks jumper to a…
Fiordland & Southland
Oh, that all small-town museums could be this good! The riveting Riverton museum starts with a 16-minute film about Pākehā sealer Jack Price and his Māori…
Fiordland & Southland
Fashioned from remaindered bits and bobs, artist and 'organic mechanic' Blair Somerville's intricately crafted automata are wonderfully irreverent. The…
Palmerston North
Palmerston's North's iconic new landmark is this elegant 194m-long bridge over the Manawatu River – a critical link in a 9km network of cycling and…
Waikato & the Coromandel Peninsula
Te Awamutu Museum has a superb collection of Māori taonga (treasures) and an excellent display on the Waikato War. The highlight is the revered Te Uenuku …
Whanganui
The elegant old neoclassical Sarjeant Gallery building in Queens Park is closed for earthquake-proofing. In the interim, the gallery's estimable art…
National Tobacco Company Building
Napier
Around the shore at Ahuriri, the National Tobacco Company Building (1932) is arguably the region’s deco masterpiece, combining art-deco forms with the…
Bay of Islands & Northland
One of regional NZ's best museums, this spectacular building shaped like a stingray is on the main road linking Mangawhai village to Mangawhai Heads…
Banks Peninsula
An arduous post-quake revamp has rewarded Akaroa with a smart, contemporary regional museum. Learn about the various phases of the peninsula's settlement,…
Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park Visitor Centre
Christchurch & Canterbury
Arguably the best DOC visitor centre in NZ. It not only dispatches all necessary information and advice on hiking routes and weather conditions, it also…
Fiordland & Southland
If you only see one waterfall in the Catlins, make it this magnificent cascade down three tiers of jet-black rock. It's an easy 10-minute clamber to reach…
Whanganui
The pick of Whanganui's many glass studios. Watch glass-blowers working, check out the gallery, take a one-day glass-blowing course ($290, four people max…
Coromandel Peninsula
Walk through a mine tunnel, watch a stamper battery crush rock, learn about the history of the Cornish miners and try your hand at panning for gold…
