North Island
Taranaki
A perfect volcano, a surf coast, and gardens that surprise everyone.
North Island · Nature lovers · Culture & history · Active travellers
Mount Taranaki rises from the Taranaki coast with an almost implausible symmetry, a near-perfect volcanic cone, snow-capped for much of the year, ringed by an ancient forest that clings to its flanks like a cloak. The mountain is sacred to Taranaki Māori and dominates every view from the city of New Plymouth, which sits on the coast below.
New Plymouth itself surprises. The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery is among the finest contemporary art institutions in Australasia. Pukekura Park is extraordinary, a garden of subtropical plants and illuminated lily ponds. And Len Lye, the kinetic sculptor, left his life's work to this gallery; it spins and shimmers in the Len Lye Centre next door. The surf coast from Ōākura to Ōpunake is world-class; the ring road around the mountain is one of New Zealand's great drives. Taranaki rewards those who stray from the well-trodden path.
Among its moments
- Mount Taranaki summit hike or helicopter scenic flight
- The Pouākai tarns, the mountain reflected at dawn
- Len Lye Centre and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
- Puke Ariki, Taranaki's museum and library on the waterfront
- Surf Highway 45, world-class breaks
- Taranaki gardens, New Plymouth in bloom
Taranaki in photographs
Near here
All thirty regions, on the map