Rotorua

It is the main place to see geothermal sights and to experience Māori culture, and it has grown into a mountain-biking centre as well.

The geothermal sights are the headline: bubbling mud pools, steaming hot springs and geysers, set in fenced parks where boardwalks keep you safe from the ground. The colours, the heat and the smell make it unlike anywhere else in the country.

Things to do

• See the geysers and the carving and weaving schools at Te Puia, just south of town.
• Walk the coloured pools of Wai-O-Tapu, including the bright Champagne Pool, about 30 minutes south.
• Go to a Māori cultural evening with a hangi meal cooked in the ground and a performance.
• Soak in the Polynesian Spa's hot mineral pools on the lakefront.

Where to go nearby

• The Redwoods (Whakarewarewa Forest), with walking trails, a treetop walkway and some of the best mountain biking in the country.
• The lakes around the city for kayaking and swimming in summer.
• The buried village of Te Wairoa and the Blue and Green Lakes, a short drive out.

Good to know

The geothermal parks each charge admission, usually NZ$40 to NZ$60, and a cultural evening with a hangi runs around NZ$130, so two or three paid attractions add up. The Redwoods forest trails are free to walk, with a fee only for the treetop walkway. The lakefront, the Government Gardens and the public steam vents around town cost nothing. Book the cultural evenings ahead in summer, as the popular ones fill.

Honest note: the sulphur smell is real and constant, strong near the parks and milder in town; most people stop noticing it within a day. The geothermal parks and cultural shows all charge admission, so budget for a couple of paid attractions.

Rotorua has a mild inland climate, and the geothermal parks work year round, which makes it a flexible stop. Summer, December to March, is warm and the best time for the lakes, the mountain biking and the longer walks, often 22 to 26 degrees, though it is also the busiest and steam is less visible in the heat. Winter is the quirky favourite for the steam: cold morning air around 4 to 12 degrees makes the geysers and hot pools billow dramatically, and the hot mineral soaks are at their most welcome. Autumn and spring are mild and quieter. It can rain in any season here, so the parks, which are mostly outdoors on boardwalks, are best enjoyed with a rain jacket on hand.

The lakefront, the central park and the Government Gardens are walkable, but the main geothermal parks and the Redwoods sit a short drive out of town, so a car is the easiest way to get around; distances are small, with Te Puia, Wai-O-Tapu and the forest all within 30 minutes. Local Cityride buses cover the town and some of the nearer attractions but are limited, and many visitors join a tour or self-drive for the parks and the cultural evenings, several of which include pickups. Parking is plentiful and cheap. Rotorua has its own small airport about 10 kilometres northeast with domestic flights from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch; most travellers, though, arrive by road, roughly three hours from Auckland or an hour from Tauranga via SH36, the Tauranga Direct Road.