The 10-day North Island road trip: Auckland to Wellington the fun way

Most international flights land at Auckland Airport, in the south of the city, which is handy: you can pick up a rental car or campervan and be on the motorway heading south-east without going through the centre. Jucy's Auckland depot, for example, is at 9 Richard Pearse Drive in Māngere, about 10 minutes from the airport, and opens 9 am to 4 pm.

The Coromandel Peninsula is a hilly, forested finger of land east of Auckland, with beaches on its eastern side that New Zealanders treat as their summer playground. Your base for two nights is Hahei, a small beach village near Cathedral Cove. Our routing estimate puts it at about 176 km and 2 h 25 min without stops, and DOC lists Whitianga as about 40 minutes from Hahei and Thames as about 1 h 15 min.

Today is deliberately light. You have just flown in, you are driving on the left, and the Coromandel roads are narrow and winding. Arrive with daylight to spare and, if the tide suits, finish the day at Hot Water Beach, about 10 minutes away, where hot water bubbles up through the sand.

Cathedral Cove/Mautohe is one of New Zealand's best-known beaches: a huge natural rock arch that joins two coves, with white sand and a rock stack offshore. Walking access reopened in December 2024 after storm damage (DOC).

You cannot park at the track entrance. DOC asks you to leave your car at the free Hahei Visitor Car Park on Hahei Beach Road, then catch the Cathedral Cove Park and Ride shuttle or walk about 30 minutes uphill to the start of the track. Paid private parking is also available at the Cathedral Cove Gateway Trail, 150 Lees Road.

Today has no long drives, so it is a chance to slow down after the flight. Walk to the cove in the morning, swim, and save Hot Water Beach for whichever low tide suits you.

Today you leave the coast for the green, rolling dairy country of the Waikato. The big stop is the Hobbiton Movie Set near Matamata, where the Shire was filmed for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Our routing estimate puts Hahei to Hobbiton at about 165 km and 2 h 25 min.

The Signature Tour leaves from The Shire's Rest and takes about 2.5 hours, including a 10-minute bus ride across the Alexander family farm. Hobbiton asks you to check in at least 20 minutes before your tour, and tours often sell out, so book a late-morning slot before you leave home.

After the tour, drive on to Waitomo, about 100 km and 1.5 hours (estimate). Waitomo is famous for limestone caves full of glowworms: tiny insects whose light turns cave ceilings into star fields. Tonight, a free DOC walk lets you see them for yourself.

Waitomo's most famous experience is the Waitomo Glowworm Caves tour: a 45-minute guided walk through limestone formations, ending with a boat ride through the Glowworm Grotto. Prices start at $85 per adult.

If you want more, the same operator runs Ruakuri Cave (from $122), the Aranui Cave, combos such as Ruakuri plus the Glowworm Caves (from $179), and Black Water Rafting (from $199), where you float through a glowworm cave on an inner tube. Our Waitomo glowworm caves guide helps you choose.

In the afternoon you drive east to Rotorua, about 140 km and 2 hours (estimate). Rotorua sits on an active geothermal field: steam rises from drains and parks, and the town smells faintly of sulphur. It is also a centre of Māori culture, and tonight is a good time to experience it.

Rotorua packs a lot into a small town, so today you stay put. Start with the geothermal valley at Whakarewarewa, on the southern edge of town, which you can see in two ways: on a guided tour of Whakarewarewa The Living Māori Village, where families still cook and bathe with geothermal heat, or at Te Puia, home of Pōhutu Geyser and a kiwi house.

In the afternoon, cross to Whakarewarewa Forest, known as the Redwoods. Entry and the walking and mountain bike tracks are free (Rotorua Lakes Council). For a different angle, the Redwoods Treewalk strings bridges and platforms high in the trees.

Our things to do in Rotorua guide has more options if you want to swap any of these.

A short driving day with three of the North Island's most photogenic stops. First is Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, 27 km (about 20 minutes) south of Rotorua on State Highway 5. Turn left opposite the Waiotapu Tavern and drive 2 km. Its walking tracks pass bubbling mud, steaming craters and the orange-rimmed Champagne Pool.

Wai-O-Tapu runs the Lady Knox Geyser presentation at 10.15 am daily and asks visitors to arrive by 9.45 am. The park is open 8.30 am to 4.30 pm, with last entry at 3 pm.

Then continue south to Huka Falls, five minutes' drive north of Taupō (DOC), where the Waikato River squeezes through a narrow rock channel and shoots out as a wall of bright blue water. You finish in Taupō, on the shore of Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, with time for a soak in a free natural hot stream.

Tongariro National Park, established in 1894, was New Zealand's first national park (DOC). The Tongariro Alpine Crossing walks right through it: 19.4 km one way, from the Mangatepōpō Valley up past Red Crater, the highest point at 1,868 m, and down past the Emerald Lakes to Ketetahi Road. DOC says it takes 7 to 8 hours from November to April, and 9 hours in winter.

This is a serious alpine walk, not a stroll. DOC warns that cold, strong wind, heavy rain and poor visibility are common even in summer, and snow can fall at any time of year. In summer, DOC adds a Not Recommended Today advisory when the forecast is hazardous. If it is issued, do not go: take one of the alternatives below instead.

Because it is one way, you need transport. DOC says the best way is a shuttle, and in summer there is no parking at Mangatepōpō for crossing walkers. Book a free DOC track booking first (shuttles need it), then book a shuttle through the Taupō i-SITE. Our Tongariro Alpine Crossing guide covers it in more depth.

After yesterday's big walk, today is gentle. State Highway 5 crosses forested hills to Hawke's Bay on the east coast, a sunny region of vineyards, orchards and beaches. Our routing estimate puts Taupō to Napier at about 141 km and just over 2 hours.

Napier has a remarkable story. The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake struck on 3 February 1931 and raised about 4,000 hectares of seabed within the city. The town centre was rebuilt in the 1930s, which is why Napier is now famous for its Art Deco buildings (Art Deco Trust).

The best way to understand it is on a guided walk with the Art Deco Trust. In the evening, drive about 30 minutes south to Te Mata Peak, a 399 m summit above Havelock North with views across the whole bay.

Today is the big drive: about 335 km south on State Highway 2 to the capital. Our routing estimate is between 5 and 5.5 hours without stops, so start early and break it up.

The best break is Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre at Mount Bruce, on the border of the Wairarapa and Tararua districts. It is a restored forest and captive breeding site for endangered species, including brown kiwi, whio (blue duck), takahē, kōkako and kākā. It is open daily 9.30 am to 4 pm, with a café.

You reach Wellington in the late afternoon. New Zealand's capital is compact, hilly and windy, squeezed between the harbour and steep green hills. Tomorrow is for exploring it on foot.

Wellington is small enough to see on foot. Start at Te Papa, the national museum, on the waterfront. It is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm (except Christmas Day). Entry is free for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand; international visitors aged 16 and over pay NZ$35.

Then walk to Lambton Quay and take the Wellington Cable Car: a 609 m ride up the hill to Kelburn that takes 3 to 5 minutes and leaves every 10 minutes. At the top, the Wellington Botanic Garden covers 25 hectares of collections and native forest, and you can walk downhill back to the city.

End with the view from Mount Victoria, where the summit gives 360 degree views of the city, the harbour and the hills (Wellington City Council). If you are carrying on to the South Island, the Cook Strait ferry leaves from Wellington.