What to do and see in Taranaki Region, New Zealand: The Best Places and Tips

Pukekura Park covers 52ha (128 acres) right in the heart of New Plymouth, Taranaki and is one of New Zealand's premier botanical Gardens. The park has an international Green Flag award and is a Garden of National Significance. With a diverse range of landscapes, the park features bush walks, formal Gardens, lakes, children's play areas, a sports area and a Tea House. The park includes the Fernery and Display Houses as well as the adjacent garden estate area of Brooklands, home to the acclaimed TSB Bowl of Brooklands and Brooklands Zoo. As a popular destination for locals and visitors alike, Pukekura Park lights up over the summer as the backdrop for the annual TSB Bank Festival of Lights. The park is free to enter and can be accessed from various streets including Liardet Street, Brooklands Road, Fillis Street, Rogan Street, Kaimata Street and List Street.

Utterly spectacular 11km long walkway along the seafront in New Plymouth, New Zealand. Walk, ride skate or scoot from Bell Block in the north to Port Taranaki to the south taking in the stunning Te Rewa Rewa Bridge, three swimming Beaches, a golf club, rolling farm land, rivers and various accessways to residential and shopping areas.

Tawhiti MuseumWidely acclaimed as one of the most innovative museums in New Zealand, Tawhiti uses life size exhibits and scale models to capture the past in a series of super-realistic displays. All the displays – including the life size figures created from moulds cast from real people – are designed and built on the premises. Whether the subject is shipping, farming, Railways, or just a small corner of a colonial kitchen, the attention given to research and detail is the same. “I hope my enthusiasm for local history comes through the displays. I’m particularly aware of drawing children into our exhibits – they mustn’t feel museums are old buildings, full of old dusty junk. Historical display should be exciting and relevant – I’m always looking for more creative ways of making it just that” Nigel Ogle.

Experience the beautifully restored garden and Chapman-Taylor home. Sculpted from a hillside overlooking the Waiwhakaiho River, this is a premier landscaped garden. Sense the prestige, lifestyle and stories of the property's original developer, the prominent businessman Sir Russell Matthews, and his family. Enjoy a game of tennis, make use of the free barbeque on the River Flat, find a quite spot to read a book or just appreciate the beauty of Tupare. Owned and managed by the Taranaki Regional Council on behalf of the people of the region. Enjoy it - it's yours.

Explore a wonderland of rhododendrons planted within 360 hectares of rainforest, located between Mount Taranaki and the coast, just south of New Plymouth. Established in 1951, Pukeiti is an internationally recognised garden with one of the most diverse collections of rhododendrons on display anywhere in the world. Take a short garden walk or a more challenging adventure and with either, sense another world and time. Feel the spiritual significance of Pukeiti to local tangata whenua and learn some of the language, knowledge and stories which are part of the land. Find out about pioneering Europeans, passionate plant-collectors and garden-makers. Discover the property whilst doing a fun activity or make use of the facilities for a private or community event. Pukeiti is owned and managed by the Taranaki Regional Council on behalf of the people of the region. Share Pukeiti – a truly unique part of Taranaki’s heritage.

Brooklands Zoo is a FREE, family focused zoo which is home to a variety of farmyard animals, amphibians, reptiles, oriental small-clawed otters, meerkats, a brolga, Bolivian squirrel monkeys and both capuchin and cotton-top Tamarin monkeys, as well as a selection of exotic parrots housed inside a walk-through free-flight aviary.