Things to do in  Rotorua

Te Puia, located in the Te Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley at the edge of Rotorua features Pohutu Geyser and is home to the impressive New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. Visitors can tour the bubbling mud pools with a local Maori guide and choose from among myriad activities.

Visit Te Pā Tū, previously known as Tamaki Māori Village, to experience Maori culture and society as it existed in pre-European New Zealand. Through performing arts, you’ll see, hear, and feel the Tamaki brothers’ vision for an immersive tour into the traditional Maori way of life. Live the stories, travels, battles, and rituals of the Maori as New Zealand was settled.

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland showcases New Zealand’s geothermal topography at its most dramatic and colorful. Located along the Reporoa Caldera within the Taupo Volcanic Zone, the park’s lava-sculpted landscapes are punctuated by hissing geysers, swirling sulfur lakes, and bubbling mud pools.

The Government Gardens in central Rotorua are so bountiful, they resemble an old picture postcard from the English countryside. If not for the telltale scent of sulfur from the nearby thermal springs at Sulphur Point, visitors might forget where they’re standing, given the Edwardian architecture and dignified landscape.

The Redwoods Forest Whakarewarewa is a popular mountain biking, horseback riding, and walking area close to central Rotorua. As well as native New Zealand trees and flora, it contains a stand of spectacular Californian Coast Redwoods in a 13,800 acre (5,600 hectare) forest.

The Rotorua area boasts dozens of lakes, but Lake Rotorua is larger, deeper, and older than its neighbors. Geologists believe that Rotorua, the second-largest lake on the North Island, dates back more than 200,000 years, while most of the region’s other waterways were created by the Tarawera eruption of 1886.

The Mitai Maori Village—just outside Rotorua—offers Maori cultural performances and interactions, such as waka (canoe tours, a traditional hangi meal, song and dance shows, four-wheel-drive adventures, and more. The Rotorua area is rich in Maori culture and history, and visiting the Mitai Maori Village is a convenient way of learning more about this while enjoying some entertainment and activities.

Experience Rotorua’s indigenous history and culture at Whakarewarewa, the Living Maori Village. Built around Te Whakarewarewa Valley’s geysers and hot pools, the Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao tribe have welcomed visitors for more than 200 years. Enjoy hangi, a meal cooked in the valley’s thermal vents, and traditional song and dance (waiata and haka).

The Waimangu Volcanic Valley, on the North Island of New Zealand, offers one of Rotorua’s largest zones for exploring geothermal phenomena. Called “the world’s youngest geothermal valley,” Waimangu features boiling lakes, bubbling mud pools, and mountains bathed in steam. The surrounding beauty of the native bushland is just a bonus.

Treat yourself to a day at the luxurious, award-winning Polynesian Spa in the North Island town of Rotorua, known for its bubbling mud pools and spurting geysers. With more than 20 pools fed by natural springs, the spa offers a menu of treatments designed to address various health and wellness needs.

Mt. Tarawera’s claim to fame is its historic 1866 eruption that destroyed the recognizable Pink and White Terraces. Today, it's the center of a geothermal wonderland and a compelling attraction in its own right—take a guided tour to the mountain’s peak, or visit the many valleys and lakes carved out and altered by the 19th-century eruption.

There are plenty of places in Rotorua to find bubbling mud and steam vents, but the geothermal activity at Hell's Gate Geothermal Park is the most pronounced. Explore the landscape in this valley and you’ll notice that the steam is a bit thicker; the mud gurgles, a bit louder. The earth here is powerfully raw, which is precisely what makes the attraction so alluring.

The first thing you notice when you arrive in Rotorua isn’t the natural beauty; it’s the smell. A note of Sulphur is evident all across town, and it is strongest at the sands of Sulphur Point. This constantly shifting geothermal wetland is home to 60 species of birds, which somehow survive the warm waters and boiling, earthy minerals.

Every morning, a rocky grey vent called the Lady Knox Geyser spews water for a captive audience. Far from a strange local ritual, the geyser is one of the star geothermal attractions at Rotorua’s Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. It erupts without fail—after being induced with soap—to heights of 30 to 65 feet (9 to 20 meters).

The Rotorua region is steeped in New Zealand's history, from the days of the Maori settlers to the advent of European explorers. At the Rotorua Museum(Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa), you'll get an in-depth view of the city's past, seen through cinema, galleries and historic locales. Spend some time in the Te Arawa and Tarawera galleries, the former of which houses an extensive collection of ancient Maori art and artifacts, as well as treasured antique photographs from the European colonial era. The latter is dedicated to the eruption of Mt. Tarawera and the destruction wreaked in 1886. After you've explored the galleries, check out the Bath House, an architectural icon of yesteryear known for its supposed curative therapies. Guests were once encourage to bathe here in various types of mineral waters during the health craze of the early 20th century. Please note: The Rotorua Museum is currently closed for earthquake assessment.