Leafy lakes, red bridges and winding paths - Pukekura Park is New Plymouth’s green heart and an easy win on any Maui campervan itinerary. Across 52 hectares of gardens, lakes and lawn, this award-winning space blends serene nature with lively events, heritage features with playful family moments. Wander from the Tea House to the Fernery & Display Houses, then loop past the Bowl of Brooklands and lakeside lawns that glow during the TSB Festival of Lights each summer.

Whether you are chasing quiet corners or headline concerts, Pukekura Park feels like a complete day out, right in the city.

In the heart of Ngāmotu New Plymouth’s West End precinct, a mirror-bright colonnade catches the light and pulls you in. Behind that gleam are two linked cultural spaces under one roof: the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and the Len Lye Centre. 

Here, contemporary art from New Zealand and the world meets the life and legacy of pioneering kinetic artist and filmmaker Len Lye. Whether you are an architecture admirer, a film lover, or an art-curious traveller, this is a place that rewards slow looking, listening, and a little bit of wonder.

Forgotten World Adventures offers one of the most unusual ways to explore New Zealand’s landscapes – by rail cart. Based in Taumarunui, these guided self-drive rail cart tours follow the old Stratford–Okahukura Line, taking travellers through historic tunnels, over bridges, and into parts of the country that are otherwise unreachable by road. 

Rolling green hills, hedgerows, and round doors tucked into the earth greet you the moment you arrive at Hobbiton Movie Set near Matamata in New Zealand’s Waikato region. Built across a working sheep and beef farm, this is the real-world Shire brought to life for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. 

Today it is one of the country’s most beloved attractions, with guided tours that carry you through a cinematic landscape of Hobbit holes, stone bridges, and orchard-lined lanes. Whether you know every line of dialogue or simply love beautiful countryside, Hobbiton makes a memorable day out in the Central North Island.

This is the “short walk, big atmosphere” you can fit between drives. Wilkies Pools threads through the famed goblin forest to reach smooth, volcanic basins on the Kapuni Stream - a perfect taste of Egmont National Park in under two hours.

Set beside the Waikato River in Hamilton East, Hamilton Gardens invites you to step through time and across continents without leaving the city. Set within about 50 hectares of lawns, lakes, sculptures and walking paths, its signature Enclosed Gardens offer a unique museum of garden design. It is one of New Zealand’s most visited and awarded garden attractions, popular with families, culture seekers and road trippers for its creativity and accessibility.