National Park Backpackers

Taupo & the Ruapehu Region


This big, old board-and-batten YHA hostel has a large garden for lounging, a well-equipped kitchen and standard rooms. It's a good one-stop shop for booking activities in the area, and the rooms wrap around a climbing wall – handy when the weather turns bad. Small shop on-site. Ask about rooms with views of the volcanoes.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Taupo & the Ruapehu Region attractions

1. Raurimu Spiral

3.74 MILES

The Raurimu Spiral, 30km south of town, is a unique feat of railway engineering that was completed in 1908 after 10 years of work. Rail buffs can…

2. Mt Ruapehu

11.42 MILES

Mt Ruapehu (2797m) is the North Island's highest mountain and one of the world’s most active volcanoes. One year-long eruption began in March 1945,…

3. Mt Ngauruhoe

12.57 MILES

Northeast of Ruapehu, Mt Ngauruhoe (2287m) is the national park's youngest volcano and the most classically perfect in its conical shape. Its first…

4. Mt Tongariro

12.96 MILES

Ongoing rumbles are reminders that all the volcanoes in this area are very much in the land of the living. In 2012 Te Maari, a crater on Mt Tongariro …