North Island of New Zealand is known for its amazing beaches, volcanoes, waterfalls, geothermal areas and beautiful nature. If you need inspirations and ideas for your next travel then read our post below on the Top 20 places to visit in New Zealand’s North Island.
Whether it’s your first trip to New Zealand or you are wondering what else to see in this beautiful country, you will surely find something new here to inspire your next visit to the North Island. It has a diverse landscape and you can find there snowy mountains as well as warm sunny beaches. Whether you’re looking for backpacking around the country or staying in hotels and taking guided tours – there is something for everybody.
Read also our post on Top 20 places to visit in New Zealand’s South Island.
1. Auckland
We’re starting with our favourite city in New Zealand and the place we call home – Auckland!
Auckland is the largest city in the country. It lies between two harbours – Hauraki Gulf to the east and Manukau Harbour to the south-west. Auckland is also known as City of Sails. Its Westhaven Marina with all the yachts and boats is the biggest marina in the Southern Hemisphere.
Stroll on long western beaches of the Auckland region covered in black volcanic sand. Sail in Auckland harbor. Enjoy the view from one of the volcanic cones or get down to the crater of a dormant volcano. Have a picnic in one of the many green parks or east coast beaches of the city. Go on a wine tasting tour. Jump from Sky Tower (seriously, I did!) if you dare. There is so much to see and do in this big and vibrant city, that it alone is reason enough to visit New Zealand’s North Island.
Read also our post on 15 Best One Day Trips from Auckland.
2. Matakana region and Omaha beach
Matakana region is famous for its wineries. There are many wineries in the region and some of them offer wine tasting and dining. Visit Matakana Farmers Market, or Matakana Country Park if travelling with kids, or book a wine tour.
Nearby, there are several beautiful beaches, such as Omaha beach and the beach of Tawharanui Regional Park. You can spend there whole day – visiting Farmers Market in the morning, then spending some time on the beach and finishing with a dinner in one of the Matakana’s wineries.
3. Waiheke Island
Technically, not a part of North Island, I’m still including Waiheke Island into the list of Top 20 places to visit in New Zealand’s North Island. Visit Waiheke Island for its beautiful beaches, landscapes and wineries! You can take a ferry regularly running between Auckland and Waiheke.
Rent a bike, scooter or a car to explore many wineries, scenic spots and many beautiful beaches of Waiheke Island.
4. Piha Beach and Muriwai Beach
Visiting at least one of Auckland’s West Coast Beaches is a must when travelling on the North Island. Piha and Muriwai, as well as less popular but nonetheless beautiful Te Henga (Bethells) and Karekare, are scenic black sand beaches of Tasman Sea on the west coast of Auckland. They are great for walking, nature, views and surfing.
Muriwai Beach is a favourite with surfers. It also has a gannet colony with a scenic lookout point above. Piha Beach is loved by surfers too. It features Lyon Rock with a walking track with panoramic views.
North Island has so many beautiful beaches – family friendly beaches, beaches with huge waves great for surfing, black sand beaches, white sand beaches, marine reserves great for snorkeling, crystal clear turquoise water beaches – anything you like! Whatever type of a beach you prefer – it’s there, on the North Island!
Love beautiful beaches and coastlines?
Read also our post on Holidays in Fiji – Where to stay and What to do
5. Bay of Islands
Besides two major islands – North and South Islands – New Zealand consists of many more small islands. You can visit them for nature, birds watching, bush walking, fishing, kayaking and so on.
Bay of Islands region is known for its many small islands with beautiful beaches and marine life. Start your visit to Bay of Islands with Paihia and take one of the many boat tours from there. Continue to the historical town of Russel – the first permanent European settlement in New Zealand. Make sure to also visit Kerikeri with its The Stone Store, Rainbow Waterfalls and boutique Chocolate Cafe.
6. Kauri Trees in Waipoua Forest
Waipoua Forest on North Island is the home of a giant 2000 years old kauri tree. Tane Mahuta (also called Lord of the Forest) is known not only for its age, but as the largest kauri tree known today.
Waipoua Forest has many well marked tracks, where you can have pleasant walks among New Zealand native forest and enjoy the nature.
7. Cape Reinga
Cape Reinga is the northernmost destination of New Zealand. Leave the car at the car park and walk to Cape Reinga Lighthouse for scenic views of the Tasman Sea colliding with the Pacific Ocean.
Drive to the nearby giant sand dunes to experience ‘sandboarding’ (ride the sand dunes on the bodyboard, which you can rent on the spot). And visit the 90-Mile Beach – the longest beach in New Zealand.
8. Coromandel Peninsula
Coromandel Peninsula is known for its stunning white sand beaches, scenery and gold-mining history. We would recommend to spend a couple of days exploring many beaches, tracks and beautiful scenery of Coromandel.
Some of the gorgeous beaches not to miss on Coromandel are Hahei Beach, Stingray Bay, Cathedral Cove beach, Cooks Beach and New Chum beach.
Read our dedicated post on Best of the Coromandel in two days.
9. Karangahake Gorge
Karangahake Gorge region offers some of the best historical trails, former gold mining sites, gorgeous waterfalls and scenic nature walks.
Historically, the Karangahake Gorge area was known for its gold mining. Nowadays, it conveniently combines its gold mining history with scenic nature that makes it a perfect site for some of the best walks and tracks.
Read our dedicated post on Karangahake Gorge – gold mining and scenic walks.
10. Hamilton
Hamilton is the third biggest city in the North Island of New Zealand. The city lies on the banks of Waikato river and has some nice views, green areas, museums and galleries, restaurants and bars.
Hamilton hosts an annual Balloons Over Waikato event where you can have a ride in an air balloon or simply enjoy watching them flying above.
Perhaps, the most popular place to visit in Hamilton is Hamilton Gardens. It’s a huge park with more than 20 enclosed gardens, each dedicated to a different civilization, historical era or other topic.
Hamilton is also a gateway to popular nearby attractions such as Waitomo Caves, Karangahake Gorge, Matamata (Hobbiton), Bridal Veil Falls and others.
11. Hobbiton Movie Set
Are you a fan of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies? Welcome to the Middle Earth! Many filming locations of Peter Jackson’s movies are located on the North Island. Among them are Matamata (home of the Hobbiton Movie Set), Wellington region (see below) and Tongariro National Park (see below).
Even if you’re not a big fan of the movies, we’d still recommend visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set as it’s quite a unique experience.
Read our dedicated post on Visiting The Hobbiton in Middle Earth.
12. Waitomo Caves
There are many caves in the North Island, some of them are free and others are accessible with guided tours only. One of the most popular caves on North Island are Waitomo caves. There you can see stalactites and stalagmites of bizarre shapes, famous glow worms (worms that literally glow in the dark) and even experience swimming in underground rivers with ‘black water rafting’ tours. At Waitomo Caves you can visit Ruakiri Cave, Aranui Cave or take a boat ride through Glowwarm Cave.
13. Wairere Falls and McLaren Falls
There are so many waterfalls in New Zealand and a lot of them are on the North Island.
Make sure to visit Wairere Falls – the tallest waterfall on the North Island. You will need to hike for about 40 minutes to reach the waterfall’s viewpoint and may be another 20-30 minutes if you want to get to the top of the waterfall.
If you’re in the area (or on your way to Tauranga), also visit McLaren Falls located at the entrance to McLaren Falls Park. Not a tall waterfalls, but still very nice falls with multiple cascades in a rocky landscape.
Read also our post on 5 Best Waterfalls near Auckland.
Looking for more waterfalls in New Zealand? Here is the site I recommend for comprehensive info on waterfalls in New Zealand (used it myself many times) – http://waterfalls.co.nz/
14. Tauranga and Mount Maunganui
Tauranga in Bay of Plenty is located on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. It’s known for its largest in the country port (which is of no interest to visitors), it’s sandy beaches and for being a home to Mount Maunganui – an extinct volcano with walking tracks and a scenic lookout at the summit.
15. Rotorua and Geothermal areas
Rotorua is a town in the geothermal area and, perhaps, one of the most popular destinations on the North Island of New Zealand. It is known as an adventure capital of the North Island – you can visit Skyline Rotorua for sweeping views and for luge rides, take a downhill ride in an inflatable ball at ZORB Rotorua or enjoy a tree walk on suspension bridges in Redwoods.
Make sure to visit one of the geothermal parks in the area, such as Waiotapu Thermal Park, Hell’s Gate Geothermal Reserve, or Orakei Korako Geothermal Park & Cave. For a free experience, head to to Waiotapu Mud Pool or to Kuirau Park – a public park in the city with geothermal areas and mud pools.
As you can see, in New Zealand you can find geysers, hot springs, geothermal parks, dormant and active volcanoes. Read also our post on 20+ Volcanoes to see in Auckland.
16. Taupo
Taupo is a town in the central part of the North Island of New Zealand. The town sits on the shores of the country’s largest lake of the same name – Lake Taupo.
We recommend staying in Taupo for a day or two to explore its water activities on the lake (such as finishing, kayaking and sailing), visiting nearby Huka Falls, taking a boat tour to the rock with Maori Carvings and taking a dip at free hot pools at Otumuheke Stream.
18. Egmont National Park / Mt Taranaki
Mount Taranaki is a dormant volcano, part of Egmont National Park. It’s a great place to visit if you like hiking, seeing waterfalls and scenic views.
Drive to the viewing platform for spectacular views of Mt Taranaki. Take a short walk to Dawson Falls. Hike the track to see Mt Taranaki reflection in Pouakai Circuit Reflective Tarn. Stay the night in the nearby city of New Plymouth.
17. Tongariro National Park
We have been to Tongariro National Park so many times and every time we find something new there or just want to return and re-visit the place again. From skiing resorts, to numerous walking tracks and waterfalls, and to well known Tongariro Alpine Crossing with its dramatic landscapes, Tongariro National Park is a must visit when travelling on the North Island.
19. Hawke’s Bay
Hawke’s Bay region on the east coast of the North Island is known for its pebble beaches, wineries and wildlife.
You can stay in either Napier or Hastings and explore nearby wineries, drive or hike to the Te Mata Peak, visit Maraetotara Falls, go to National Aquarium in Napier, have a walk at Napier’s or Haumoana’s pebble beach or take a Gannet Safari tour to Cape Kidnappers.
20. Wellington
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and its second biggest city (after Auckland). It’s located in the southernmost part of the North Island and surrounded by green lush hills. You can take a Cable Car from the downtown to the top of Botanical Gardens to admire scenic views over the city.
Home to Te Papa national museum, famous parliament building ‘The Beehive’ and with a very walkable and pleasant waterfront, Wellington is high on our list of Top 20 places to visit in New Zealand’s North Island.
You will also find New Zealand famous Weta workshop here. Last time we visited, we took a guided tour to the Weta Cave film studio to see and learn about some movie effects, props, costumes and behind the scenes.
That was our pick of Top 20 places to visit in New Zealand’s North Island. Time to plan your trip now! 🙂
Continue reading Top 20 places to visit in New Zealand’s South Island or see our other posts about New Zealand to read more about places to visit and things to experience.
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