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Top choice
The steep slopes of 232m-high Mauao swarm with walkers in the morning, when the Mount’s early risers perform their ritual climb to the summit. The ascent is signposted to take an hour, though you’ll see people striding up it in less than 30 minutes (and often running down). The gentler 3.5km loop around the base should take around 45 minutes.
If you just want a view of Mauao, wander across the causeway to Moturiki (Leisure Island), which peers along Main Beach to the extinct volcanic cone.
24.49 MILES
Waihi’s superb Gold Discovery Centre tells of the area’s gold-mining past, present and future through interactive displays, focusing on personal and…
3.71 MILES
The city's pre-eminent gallery stages challenging exhibitions of thought-provoking contemporary work. The building itself is a former bank, though you’d…
3.26 MILES
Surrounded by mature trees and lovely gardens, Tauranga's original mission station incorporates the Bay of Plenty's earliest buildings, along with one of…
2.98 MILES
This fascinating aviation museum, beside the airport, is filled with predominantly military aircraft. You can scramble through the living quarters of the…
3.66 MILES
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…
Karangahake Gorge Historic Walkway
28.63 MILES
The very worthwhile 4.5km Karangahake Gorge Historic Walkway takes 1½ hours (each way) and starts from the car park 14km west of Waihi. It follows the…
12.97 MILES
About 7km south of town, this gorgeous 4-hectare private garden is all aflap with native and exotic bird life. There's 1.5km of paths, looping out to a…
5.99 MILES
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…
2.98 MILES
This fascinating aviation museum, beside the airport, is filled with predominantly military aircraft. You can scramble through the living quarters of the…
3.13 MILES
This shady little cemetery, overlooking the bridge, has some interesting memorials relating to battles fought between local Māori and government forces in…
3.26 MILES
Surrounded by mature trees and lovely gardens, Tauranga's original mission station incorporates the Bay of Plenty's earliest buildings, along with one of…
3.38 MILES
At its best in late spring and summer, this verdant pocket of roses sits behind an ivy-covered colonnade on a cliff overlooking the harbour, and is like a…
3.47 MILES
Shaded by huge pohutukawa trees, spooky Monmouth Redoubt was originally a Māori pā (fortified village), then taken over and adapted by British soldiers…
3.66 MILES
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…
3.71 MILES
The city's pre-eminent gallery stages challenging exhibitions of thought-provoking contemporary work. The building itself is a former bank, though you’d…
3.96 MILES
A fairly ordinary-looking Victorian villa stranded on a hill as the roads around it grew, Brain Watkins House (no, not Brian) was built in 1881 from kauri…