🌿 You have a short time in New Zealand – two or three weeks – and you want to make the best out of it.
🌿 You live in New Zealand and you want to fully enjoy this beautiful land; exploring places off the beaten tracks.
🌿 You are a traveller and you want to live the country fully.
Whenever you are on your journey, this short guide with the most remarkable road trips in the North Island of Aotearoa is here to help you.
We drove all these routes, so we are sharing the best hidden gems and our best tips so that you can truly experience this incredible country!
Best Trips in the North Island, New Zealand
- Auckland – Wellington – Taranaki – Forgotten Highway – Auckland (6 days)
- Auckland – Rotorua (3 or 4 days)
- Auckland – Tongariro National Park – Taupo – Rotorua – Tauranga – Auckland (5 to 7 days)
- Do I need to book accommodations?
You may be also interested in Best Road Trips in the South Island, New Zealand
Do you need help to plan your trip? Contact us!
Best Trips in the North Island, New Zealand
If you decide to drive from Auckland to Wellington there are many things that you can do and many directions you can take. Here we’re going to recommend some routes that we drove in 2022-2023.
Please feel free to take what you need and re-adapt your route according to your time and interests!
1. Auckland – Wellington – Taranaki – Forgotten Highway – Auckland (6 days)
This route will give you the opportunity to explore Wellington as well as different landscapes in the North Island passing from farmlands to native forests just in a couple of turns.
- Auckland to Wellington. Drive down highway 1 and than take the 32 to drive through some beautiful hills and native forest. Stop in Bulls and you’ll be rewarded by some funny signs such as the one on the street bins: response-a-bull – you’ll find it funny if you’re a language nerd like me 😀
- Spend three nights in Wellington. Visit Victoria Park, Te Papa and/or Zealandia depending on the weather and drive around Miramar Peninsula to see some bunkers and great views at Fort Dorset.
- Wellington to Okato (or any other villages around Mt Taranaki). This part of the trip is a bit dull in terms of landscapes but, if you’re lucky enough, you’ll enjoy the view of Taranaki at the end of it – we weren’t… we didn’t see it.
Forgotten Highway (State Highway 43).
- Before starting the Forgotten Highway we actually went for a walk to see the Dawson Falls and then we stopped in Stratford and enjoyed the Shakespearean performance at the Glockenspiel Clock Tower – it’s free and it happens four times a day at 10am, 1pm, 3pm and 7pm; just make sure you stand on the opposite site of the street under the speakers, otherwise you’ll miss the whole narration!
- From Stratford you can take the State Highway 43, also called the Forgotten World Highway, and drive to Taumarunui.
- This is a must-do in New Zealand! Not only because it’s a scenic route, but also because you will visit the Republic of Whangamomona – you can even get a stamp on your passport if you happen to be there between Wednesdays and Sundays!
- Mind the weather, tough, as the road is subject to flooding – check the local sign or the gov website.
- If you want to live a real NZ experience, go to sleep at Grandad’s Cottage Home Stay 298 in Manunui and drink a pint in the Manunui Club. We had some very nice conversation with local people about how the area has changed through the years.
Mananui to Auckland. We went back to Auckland as our time was over, but if you have some spare days you can stop in Raglan or at the Waitomo Caves on the way back.
2. Auckland – Rotorua (3 or 4 days)
Rotorua is a must when you visit New Zealand! It’s very unique and different from anything you’ve see around the world. Not only you can walk around a free geothermal park in town – Kairau Park, but you can also live a true Maori Experience at Mitai Village. We talk more about what to do in Rotorua here.
You can visit Rotorua as a return trip from Auckland or you can include it in a longer trip, see below.
3. Auckland – Tongariro National Park – Taupo – Rotorua – Tauranga – Auckland (5 to 7 days)
Note: We didn’t walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing due to a heavy tropical storm. Shuttle busses were canceled and the mountain wasn’t accessible. So, we improvised and changed our itinerary. If you do manage to walk Tongariro, please allow 2 nights and 1 full day to do so.
Here are our journey with the our best tips to eat, sleep, and explore! We travelled with other two people, so there were 4 of us.
Day 1: From Auckland to Tongariro National Park. We stayed at Discovery Lodge and we camped for one night (we booked for two but left due to the tropical storm). On the way there, we stopped at Tamarunui for dinner – make sure you don’t get there after 7.30pm otherwise you won’t find anything to eat.
Day 2: New plans! We went to Ohakune for a short walk, a good coffee, and a giant carrot! Ohakune is a small village, but it can be lots of fun! Walk the Mangawhero Forest Walk and then stop for a pic-nic or some food in town, check out the shops and then walk to Ohakune Carrot Adventure Park to see a giant carrot and take some fun pictures. We walked along the main road and then came back following a nice paths into town.
We managed to find a last-minute accommodation at the Roadside Motel in Waiouru – such a great stay! It doesn’t look good from the outside, but it’s great in the inside. You can read our honest review on google maps and on their website under the name of Giulia 🙂
For dinner, we booked a table at at the Rustic Steak House in Taihape. Okay, to be honest we thought we had booked the Steak House in Waiouru next to the motel, but we then realised it was closed and we had booked the one in Taihape, so we drove there for dining. It’s a 20/30-minute drive and it’s totally worth it because you’ll have the most delicious steak you’ll ever had!
Day 3: We drove to Taupo and visit Taupo Museum, a nice stop to learn more about the local history and its industries. After lunch we went to the Huka Falls: stunning! If you want to do the walk to Otumeheke Stream and its natural hot pools, make sure you’re back to the car park before 6:30pm, otherwise the gate will be closed and you’ll have to pay someone to open it for you… we negotiated $30, but it can be more expensive.
There are lots of accommodations in Taupo, we booked a random one last minute.
Day 4: We left town and stop to visit the Craters of the Moon, a geothermal area where you can stroll around large and small steam vents and bubbling crates. Definitely recommended!
Then, we drove to Rotorua and we spent there 3 days (2 nights at Capri on Fenton). We talked about it before, so click here for more info.
Last day: We drove from Rotorua to Auckland stopping in Tauranga for a walk around Mauao / Mount Maunganui and a huge ice-cream!
Do I need to book accommodations?
The general answer is YES.
Kiwis (people from New Zealand) love booking everything in advance, so you better do the same if you are travelling during peak seasons – that is, December and January for summer, and August for winter.
However, if you are travelling in other months of the year – for example, in February – you can leave some spots open and find a last-minute accommodation everywhere you go (we did that for Twizel and Lake Tekapo). Check on Google Maps for availability as well as on booking websites.
Booking your accommodations in advance means that you don’t have to worry about finding one last minute, but it also reduces you road trip flexibility. So, it’s up to you and your travelling style 🙂
Are you thinking to go camping? Read our short answer about booking campsites here.
Do you need help to plan your trip? Contact us!
