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Tauranga

Tauranga (pronounced 'toe-run-gah') has been booming since the 1990s and in 2017 it leapfrogged Dunedin to become NZ's fifth-biggest city. It's especially popular with retirees cashing up from Auckland's hyperkinetic real-estate market, along with young families who can no longer afford to buy there.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Tauranga Art Gallery
Tauranga
The city's pre-eminent gallery stages challenging exhibitions of thought-provoking contemporary work. The building itself is a former bank, though you’d…
The Elms
Tauranga
Surrounded by mature trees and lovely gardens, Tauranga's original mission station incorporates the Bay of Plenty's earliest buildings, along with one of…
Hairy Maclary & Friends
Tauranga
Hairy Maclary author Lynley Dodd lived in Tauranga for years, and NZ’s favourite literary animals were immortalised in bronze on Tauranga’s wharf in 2015…
Mills Reef Winery
Tauranga
Country-club-like Mills Reef, 7km southwest of the city centre at Bethlehem, has tastings of its award-winning wines. This isn't grape-growing country, so…
Mission Cemetery
Tauranga
This shady little cemetery, overlooking the bridge, has some interesting memorials relating to battles fought between local Māori and government forces in…
Monmouth Redoubt
Tauranga
Shaded by huge pohutukawa trees, spooky Monmouth Redoubt was originally a Māori pā (fortified village), then taken over and adapted by British soldiers…
Minden Lookout
Tauranga
On clear days this lofty wooden viewing platform, located about 13km west of the city centre, provides a panorama of nearly the entire Bay of Plenty – see…
Robbins Park
Tauranga
At its best in late spring and summer, this verdant pocket of roses sits behind an ivy-covered colonnade on a cliff overlooking the harbour, and is like a…