Mount Maunganui

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Tauranga

Tauranga (pronounced 'toe-run-gah') has been booming since the 1990s and in 2017 it leapfrogged Dunedin to become NZ's fifth-biggest city. It's especially popular with retirees cashing up from Auckland's hyperkinetic real-estate market, along with young families who can no longer afford to buy there.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Tauranga Art Gallery

    Tauranga Art Gallery

    Tauranga

    The city's pre-eminent gallery stages challenging exhibitions of thought-provoking contemporary work. The building itself is a former bank, though you’d…

  • The Elms

    The Elms

    Tauranga

    Surrounded by mature trees and lovely gardens, Tauranga's original mission station incorporates the Bay of Plenty's earliest buildings, along with one of…

  • Hūria Marae

    Hūria Marae

    Tauranga

    Located on a nondescript suburban street, this marae (traditional meeting place) has a sensationally carved wharenui (meeting house). This is the private…

  • Hairy Maclary & Friends

    Hairy Maclary & Friends

    Tauranga

    Hairy Maclary author Lynley Dodd lived in Tauranga for years, and NZ’s favourite literary animals were immortalised in bronze on Tauranga’s wharf in 2015…

  • Mission Cemetery

    Mission Cemetery

    Tauranga

    This shady little cemetery, overlooking the bridge, has some interesting memorials relating to battles fought between local Māori and government forces in…

  • Monmouth Redoubt

    Monmouth Redoubt

    Tauranga

    Shaded by huge pohutukawa trees, spooky Monmouth Redoubt was originally a Māori pā (fortified village), then taken over and adapted by British soldiers…

  • Minden Lookout

    Minden Lookout

    Tauranga

    On clear days this lofty wooden viewing platform, located about 13km west of the city centre, provides a panorama of nearly the entire Bay of Plenty – see…

  • Mills Reef Winery

    Mills Reef Winery

    Tauranga

    Country-club-like Mills Reef, 7km southwest of the city centre at Bethlehem, has tastings of its award-winning wines. This isn't grape-growing country, so…

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Plan with a local

Articles

Latest stories from Tauranga

Beaches

Coasting on the North Island: exploring the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

Sep 26, 2019 • 5 min read

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