Islands & Beaches

The Ultimate Road Trip through New Zealand's Underrated North Island

For beaches, vineyards, and volcanoes, take the long way from the top to the bottom of New Zealand’s North Island.
Bay of Plenty  Mount Maunganui
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Let me be clear: so long as you are in a car, there’s no wrong way to see New Zealand. Every route is the scenic route here. But—but—it has irked me for years that so many visitors default to spending the majority of their time in the South Island. The country’s more populated, less popular North Island has landscapes in a spectrum of colors like nowhere else on earth—think Northern California on steroids. The exceptionally pretty State Highway One slices through the island’s center, connecting Auckland up north to artsy Wellington at the southern tip in a straight eight-hour drive. Slow it down to five full days, detouring to coastal towns where Kiwis holiday, past Maori rock face carvings (you won’t find them in the South Island), and countryside patched with vineyards for a more local take.

The trip: Five days, 568 miles

What to drive

New Zealand’s weather is inconsistent and can change within minutes, so your only caveat when renting a car is no convertibles. As long as it has good windows and tires for the often gravel-covered back roads, you’re fine.

When to go

The water is too chilly to appreciate in winter and the beach towns slow down, so plan your trip during Kiwi late spring or summer, between October and March.

Cathedral Cove, in the Coromandel.

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Day 1

Don’t linger in Auckland. It’s a perfectly functional city, but the least exciting part of this drive. Book it southeast down State Highway One first thing and hang a left on SH 27 to reach the Coromandel Peninsula early. This area is popular with Kiwis during summer; many have tiny holiday houses, called baches, on the spectacular beaches backed by hills the color of emeralds. From the surf beaches to the cafés serving hot chips and smoothies, it’s laid back and friendly—the kind of place to go barefoot. (Kiwis love to be shoeless in summer. Roll with it.)

Drive east to Hot Water Beach, where a thermal river underneath the sands creates natural hot pools. If none are formed, dig your own. (Note: this is not a swimming beach, you’ll want to head a little north to Hahei for that.) This is some of the oldest inhabited land in all of New Zealand and is sacred to local tribe, the Ngati Hei—so respect the area. Don’t eat or drink in the pools; go across the way to Hot Water Cafe for pavlova and cold brew in the outdoor garden if you’re peckish.

By lunch, you’ll want to be on the road again, driving south on SH 25 to Mount Maunganui, which locals call 'The Mount.' Another Kiwi summer playground, it’s unpretentious and beautiful. That large hill you see on the drive in, with a bay on one side and the mighty Pacific on the other, is the “mountain” that the town is named for. There’s a corkscrew trail that will take you 45 minutes to climb from the bottom to the peak. After your hike, soak in the hot pools at Maunganui’s base (or jump in the ocean, it’s right there). Take your pick of wine bars and bistros along the main drag of Marine Parade, or head one road inland to Astrolabe, where my parents and I—and then my friends and I once we got older—have come for local Mac’s beers and grilled steaks for decades. Check in to the Oceanside Resort and Towers right on the main beach for the night.

The sleek Kinloch Club is one of the country's famed luxury lodges.

Matthew Broodryk/Courtesy Kinloch Club

Day 2

Start your day with a flat white at the café in the resort and stroll down the beach before it gets packed later in the day. Then hop back on SH 1, swerving inland toward Lake Taupo, the heart of the North Island. The towering volcanoes and waterfalls en route make it easier to leave the beautiful coastline behind. You’ll pass Rotorua, a tour bus favorite for its bubbling hot pools and geysers (yep, that smell is sulphur in the air). Stop if you must, though the better experience is outside the town limits in the Buried Village of Te Wairoa, a Maori and colonial hamlet that was covered and preserved in ash and mud when Mount Tarawera erupted in 1888. It’s New Zealand’s own mini Pompeii.

Carry on south, passing Lake Tarawera, to the northern tip of Taupo. Once there, ditch the car and hop in a kayak or onto a charter boat (many companies, including Ernest Kemp, sail throughout the day) to see the remarkable Mine Bay carvings, where master carver Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell has chiselled a ginormous Maori priest figure known as a Ngatoroirangi right into the cliff face. Do a late lunch at the nearby Bay Bar—the seafood in puff pastry or ceviche is the way to go—or head straight for the very chic Kinloch Club. Full disclaimer: this is not the part of the trip where you will feel even remotely local (shoes, preferably polished, should remain firmly on your feet). It’s $1,500 a night, but the floor-to-ceiling windows, designer furniture, roaring fires, and delicious pan-seared lamb make it a worthwhile splurge.

Hawkes Bay has Jurassic Park-style coasts and sophisticated wine.

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Day 3

Start the day with a stroll on the resort’s pathway that cuts through the rolling hills overlooking Taupo. Stretch your legs, as it’s a long three hour drive southeast to Hawke's Bay. You’re here for the vino (mostly chardonnays and syrahs), though the first stop will be in the seaside city of Napier. It’s an architectural marvel, destroyed by a powerful earthquake in 1931 and then rebuilt in a mash-up of styles of the time. You’ll find Spanish Mission, Art Deco, and Stripped Classical designs all in the same block. Park your car by the water and start walking. A string of pale pink, green, and yellow estates line the boardwalk, including a particularly gorgeous coral tobacco warehouse and a number of old publishing houses. It’s easy to grab a map and stroll by yourself, though the wonderful Art Deco Trust does guided tours.

Now, it’s finally wine time. Just outside of the city is Church Road, a sophisticated countryside winery producing some of New Zealand’s boldest syrahs. Order the roasted spiced pumpkin and blue cheese ravioli for lunch with a glass of their crisp pinot gris and then hop on the 2 p.m. tasting and museum tour. Don’t overdo it on the merlot samples, even if the final stop today is six minutes away. There is plenty more to drink at the historic Mission Estate, the country’s oldest winery founded by French settlers in 1851. Drop your bags in the vineyard’s sun-lit guest room for the night, before wandering through the chardonnay vines and landscaped gardens that circle the main colonial style farmhouse.

The historic Martinborough Hotel has views over the town's square and is walking distance to tasting rooms.

Courtesy Martinborough Hotel

Day 4

Three hours south through country back roads is Martinborough, a quaint town near the capital city of Wellington in the boutique wine region of the Wairarapa. Vineyard hopping here feels like the world’s greatest block party, where neighbors produce and pour some of the world’s top wines and keep their doors wide open.

Since nearly all of the wineries are within walking distance of the town’s central square, drop your car at your hotel: the historic, recently restored Martinborough Hotel with its wonderful multi-level, wraparound balcony. Then stroll to Poppies, a delightful winery run by a young husband and wife team that serves superb charcuterie boards and bottles of their own Riesling on an outdoor terrace. Poppy herself will likely be on hand to enthusiastically guide you through the difference between New Zealand’s wine regions and convince you, ever so charmingly, to ship a case of her pinot and sauvignon back home. Make your way back to the square with stops for some pinot noir at Te Karainga and the Martinborough Vineyard along the way, and cap the day at the Union Square Bistro and Bar back at the hotel.

Wellington is the southern-most point of the North Island. You can hop on a ferry here to access to the South Island.

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Day 5

If you leave early enough, stop just south of Martinborough in the colonial village of Greytown, en route to Wellington for a coffee at Food Forest Organics (its owner is director James Cameron, who lives in the area) and pop your head into one of the many furniture design stores. Then carry on over the winding Rimutaka mountain range—if you had one too many savs the night before, you may start feeling it here—before arriving in the middle of Wellington, about an hour’s drive from the vineyards. It’s a quirky, artistic, foodie city pinned in by hills on one side and a harbor that opens up to the Cook Strait that leads to the South Island on the other. Stay at QT Wellington on the waterfront to be walking distance from cafes like Olive and Fidel’s and boutiques on Cuba Street, the nightlife of Courtney Place, and the unmissable Te Papa Museum of New Zealand. This is a city to just hang out in, lingering in the cafés like the Wellingtonians. Don’t rush out after one night like so many naively do. Park the car, end the drive, and stay a while.