A Completely Subjective Ranking of the Cities, Big Towns, and Small Towns of New Zealand That I Visited in January 2025
My year started with an epic, three-and-a-half week road trip, starting on December 30th with my arrival in New Zealand, a few days in Auckland, and the epic Whanganui Journey followed by another week on the North Island and a week and a half on the South Island.
A day-by-day account of this road trip would take forever to write and read, and frankly wouldn’t be that interesting, although it was an absolute blast. Most days of the road trip consisted of waking up in the van, packing up, and driving along a major road, stopping where we felt like it, in cute little towns or at outdoor attractions, and continuing on to a suitable destination for the night. The outlier days were concentrated from the 13th-18th of January, during which time we hiked the Routeburn Track in two days, took a cruise in Milford Sound, and hiked the Kepler Track in two days. I’ll probably write about those trips separately.
The general shape of the road trip went like this:
December 30-January 1: In Auckland
January 2-January 6: Whanganui Journey
January 6-9: Exploring the North Island with friends, staying in Whananaki
January 9: Whananaki to Matamata
January 10: Matamata to Wellington by way of Hobbiton!
January 10: Wellington to ferry to Granity/Hector by way of Nelson
January 11: Granity/Hector to Fox Glacier by way of Franz Josef Glacier
January 12: Fox Glacier to Wanaka
January 13: Wanaka to Routeburn Track by way of Queenstown
January 14: Day two of Routeburn Track, back to Queenstown
January 15: Queenstown to Te Anau by way of Milford Sound
January 16-17: Kepler Track
January 18: Te Anau to Curio Bay by way of Invercargill
January 19: Curio Bay to Timaru by way of Dunedin
January 20: Dunedin to Christchurch
January 21: Christchurch, moved into apartment, Tiger left in evening
For the bulk of this blog post, I will rank our various destinations in three categories: Cities, Big Towns, and Small Towns (these categories are mostly subjective). This ranking is completely subjective and usually based on less than 24 hours in the place. Towns where we did not spend enough time to rank have been given Honorable Mentions. Overall, I’m always on the hunt for good food, good bookstores, and a thrift store or two. In the cities, having a smart layout, good public transportation, and feeling approachable also count for more, and for the small towns, proximity to beautiful outdoor places goes a long way. I am sure that we missed lots of the best things in some of these places, as we did little to no research before arriving in each one. Caveats aside, I am excited to explore some of these places again and see how my opinion changes during the next five months, but as of the road trip, here’s where they stand.
Cities:
Dunedin
Dunedin was a wonderful city where we spent an easy afternoon exploring. We went to a fantastic used bookstore (the best of the trip), navigated the city’s cool concentric circle design, saw a railway station, and ate delicious noodles. Although we didn’t spend much time in Dunedin, it felt like the most British place we’d been, with beautiful old architecture, it was well-organized and had everything we could have wanted, and had some beautiful flowers blooming. I’d like to return to Dunedin to explore more, and I’ll certainly go back to the amazing bookstore.
Nelson
I liked Nelson maybe even more than Dunedin, but I do feel like we explored the whole of it in a short afternoon there. Authentic New York pizza! Tons of bars and ice cream! Great bookstores and thrift stores! Nelson had nearly everything I look for in a road trip stop, and to top it all off, we ate delicious Korean-inspired tapas seafood and I bought a great storage container. This city was extremely pleasant to walk around in and didn’t feel very big. We went to Nelson instead of a quick stop in Abel Tasman National Park, perhaps a controversial choice, but it felt like a good one based on the part of the road trip we were on, and I have no regrets.
Auckland
I very much enjoyed my time in Auckland but recognize that I mostly spent time in the most tourist-y part. My first run on the waterfront was truly euphoric, and I loved the food hall we frequented, the hotel we stayed in, and our New Years Eve exploration. All of the food I ate in Auckland was reasonably priced and delicious, and they had an awesome maritime museum to boot. While other parts of New Zealand may feel more unique, Auckland was a great introduction to the country and a place I am glad I spent time in.
Invercargill
In our eyes, the main attraction of Invercargill is the world’s southernmost location for many fast food chains, a tour of which became Tiger’s one and only request during our road trip. We went to, in order, the world’s southernmost Starbucks, KFC, Burger King, McDonald’s, Subway, Pizza Hut, and mosque. Tiger posed for a picture in front of each one and we chuckled a lot. Otherwise, this city seemed surprisingly cool and very new. When we were there lots of things seemed to be closed, but I’d gladly go back. One fun fact about Invercargill is that one of its founders thought the city would really take off, so the streets are extremely wide. That did not happen. Sad for that guy, but makes for nice driving! Also, the Burger King has a basketball court, so that’s cool. And we found a lovely garden to eat our fried food in :).
Wellington
We only spent one night in Wellington, which is definitely not enough time in this big of a city. We met our canoe trip friends for a drink at a funky rooftop bar, walked around the hip part of the city, and ate really good late-night burgers. The waterfront here is surprisingly beautiful, and there are lots of cultural locations I wish we’d had time to see. Overall, worth spending more time in and reminded me a lot of Auckland, but a bit more authentic and less tourist-y.
Queenstown
Queenstown is the only place on the list of cities that I actively did not like. Queenstown was exceptionally tourist-y (and a very extravagant, helicopter-focused form of tourist-y, at that) and did not feel fun. Granted, we spent weird chunks of time there, one morning before the Routeburn and then the evening afterwards, but I still can’t say that I enjoyed my time there very much, even when we did the approved tourist activities. I did eat a Ferg burger, which was delicious, appreciated the Ferg bar, bought some delicious ciabatta at Ferg baker which came in handy the very next day, and had a yum milkshake from Mrs. Ferg. So we did appreciate the entire Ferg franchise, and I’m glad we did, but I was still jumpy and felt crowded the whole time. I’m sure I’ll be back to Queenstown later in the semester, and probably appreciate it more. The proximity to amazing outdoor adventures is unmatched, I will give it that. My opinion of Queenstown also suffered when we couldn’t find a place to stay and ended up in a very weird suburban Airbnb, and didn’t get to bed until midnight after a 5am wake up, so there was a lot working against it.
Big Towns
Te Anau
I looooooved Te Anau, and think that it has all of the charm that was missing in a place like Queenstown. The Te Anau Top 10 was one of our favorite RV parks, and the only place we stayed twice. The Fat Duck was one of my favorite meals I’ve eaten in the country (and not just because it sounds like my beloved Duckfat <3), and the movie theater/bar combination across the street is not to be missed. I could have spent days doing the same things over and over again in Te Anau and being very happy about it. They also have a great grocery store, bookstore, and thrift shop, and very walkable streets. Te Anau has my heart as probably my favorite town we stayed in, and the place where we took our only morning off from driving, which was wonderful.
Timaru
We stayed in Timaru very briefly, on what was our last night before Christchurch. The Top 10 was lovely, and we had a fun morning eating great brunch at Mrs. M’s, exploring the town, and meeting a fantastic dog at an independent bookstore. I’d love to go back to Timaru and see more, but I really liked what I saw.
Hokitika
Hokitika was a random midday stop between Granity and Fox Glacier. I bought four things that were all approximately ten dollars here: an on-sale memoir about starting an escort agency on the North Island, a bag of homemade biltong, a delicious iced chai latte, and a greenstone necklace. I call that a pretty good haul, and an excellent stop in the middle of a long day. This town has beautiful beach access, too.
Takapuna
We stopped in Takapuna the first night we stayed with Zac, who I met in Tanzania climbing Kili, and his friend Bridie, both wonderful and energetic Aussies. It was our first night in the van and a very painless one. We got in late at night, I took an incredible hot shower, and in the morning I went on a long odyssey looking for coins to do laundry, which was extremely pleasant because the town is so darn lovely. Just over the bridge from Auckland (and Lorde’s new hometown), Takapuna has tons of adorable coffee shops and is right on the beach. I had a delicious coffee, obtained coins, did laundry, went for a wonderful swim, and ate a delicious breakfast all within a half-mile of the RV park. A great little beach town.
Westport
Westport really felt like the Wild West when we were there, with one lone, very empty street and a beautiful backdrop of the Southern Alps. We spent one morning in Westport during which time I Zoomed into Andrea’s funeral, so it was an odd stop to say the least. That said, I ate a great breakfast sandwich and the town had okay wifi for my purposes, and a very loud church bell. I suppose I’ll never forget this place, but I can’t say it was my favorite stop.
Wanaka
Once again the only place I actively disliked on my big towns list. We stayed in Wanaka to avoid the crowds of Queenstown the night before we started the Routeburn, but it felt extremely tourist-y and very crowded. The Top 10 was quite crowded, the lakefront was very full, the New World grocery store, although a very well-equipped one, was also very hectic, and in general we felt very stressed and uneasy here. They didn’t seem to have many of the things on my list for what makes for a good town, and although the view from the lake was very beautiful, the lake was shallow and dirty. Wanaka is close to some beautiful things, but probably not enough to make up for what I didn’t like. Sorry Wanaka, I am not sure I’ll return.
Small towns:
Curio Bay
Oh my stars, where to begin. I adored Curio Bay. A random stop following our surprisingly long visit in Invercargill and a stunning golden hour hike to Slope Point, the southernmost point of the country, we stopped in Curio Bay on a whim, and it was definitely one of the best decisions of the trip. The campground was perched in between sea cliffs on the south and a stunning, protected, perfect beach on the north, with a petrified forest hosting penguins and dolphins playing in the Gatorade-blue waves. We got in just before sunset and took a bottle of wine up the tallest bluff, watching the sun set over the dark ocean, sharing the space with families and couples and other campers. In the morning, we took our coffees to the beach and I floated in the waves for a while, watching heartbreakingly perfect surfing waves slide past. Curio Bay is a magical place, I am sure of it, and should absolutely not be skipped on a South Island road trip. In general, we adored the Southland, all sea cliffs, tall bluffs, windthrown trees, white sheep dotting green fields, and small towns that felt like home. Completely off the beaten path and well worth the detour.
Fox Glacier
Fox Glacier lives in my memory for three reasons: Our first Top 10, the Fox Glacier itself, and a cool hike around Lake Matheson with great views of the Southern Alps. We found the incredible chain Top 10 by accident, after another RV park was full. Top 10s are awesome, if that wasn’t clear from their previous mentions. Initially when our road trip began, I assumed that we’d be able to “freedom camp” most nights and not pay for lodging. This was not the case, as our van wasn’t considered self-contained because we didn’t have a toilet, and thus we were excluded from most remote locations. We also didn’t have a ton of time to camp out of the way of the tourist-track towns, so we ended up paying to sleep in various places most nights. At Top 10s, though, we never paid more than $60NZD per night, and they always had exceptional facilities with plenty of room, hot showers, laundry, and communal kitchen spaces for doing dishes. Fox Glacier was the first, and a stunning one, with beautiful views of the Alps and the glacier itself. The Fox Glacier itself was a very fun stop, with a quick hike up to a viewpoint that we did around sunset the night we were there. The glaciers I’ve seen so far in New Zealand tend to be pretty far away from the hiking trails up to them, but were worthwhile stops nonetheless. In the morning we walked around Lake Matheson, which has great views of the reflection of the Southern Alps, which was a lovely addition to this very small town.
Whananaki
We stayed in Whananaki with Zac, Bridie, and some more of their camp friends, for what was supposed to be two nights but ended up being one. The first night, we checked into the campground and then spontaneously got invited to a farm party another hour and a half north. We had a very fun and raucous night at this random mini horse sanctuary with a bunch of friends of friends of friends, drinking peanut butter whiskey and talking about nuclear missiles around a fire. It was one of the most random nights of the trip, and probably one of my favorites. Anyways, Whananaki was fine but very small. The campground we stayed at was clearly a place where families decamped for the entire summer season, so we were surrounded by tent mansions and sticky kids. The campground was right on the water, which made for lovely swimming, and had a great general store and ice cream stand, but not a ton else. Whananaki also has some stunning beaches and a slightly more remote campground with tons of surfers and divers, where we watched the sunrise on our last morning. I liked Whananaki fine.
Granity/Hector
Granity was a rando passion stop for me, as my friend from Hurricane Island, Owen, once stayed there for two weeks working for a man moving rocks up and down the beach. I knew I had to see this random, not-much-to-see town, so we stayed there on our first night on the South Island. As expected, there was not much there, but a fine freedom camping site, a beautiful cobble beach, and a bar we didn’t get to go to. This portion of the road trip, down the northern end of the West Coast, was extremely stunning, with lots of cool pull-offs, a random Sunday maker’s market, and wonderful beaches. I’m glad we made the effort to stop here, but it was definitely a silly one.
Taumarunui
Once again, the only place I actively disliked on this list, but with an asterisk. Taumarunui was the site of our trapped January 1st afternoon, when we hoped to get a ride from our canoe rental company but instead spent a long time sitting on a bench waiting. Absolutely nothing was open on January 1, which was understandable, but it did give us sympathy for people who don’t like our small town. We went back later, on our way North during the end of the trip, and we actually liked it far more, when we could buy a sandwich and a coffee from a place that wasn't a Bakehouse Cafe. Other stores looked far more inviting and exciting on our second stop, and I do wish we’d had a bit more time there, but it still was far from my favorite destination of the trip.
Honorable Mentions:
Milford Sound- 100% not a town. Milford Sound itself was incredibly stunning and a very cool stop, but the town was a large parking lot, one gas station, one cafe and information center, and a long walkway along the water.
Franz Josef- We stopped here to hike to the glacier, but didn’t linger much in the town. I don’t think I’m into helicopter-based economies, but they are very cool to watch take off. Nothing bad to say, and a cool glacier.
Whangarei- We only went to the Four Square, as we followed our new Kiwi friends around during the “Zac and crew” segment of the trip. Had a bookstore we didn’t get to go to. Nice Four Square, though.
Raetihi - We spent a very stressful half-hour here at the end of the Whanganui, where we needed to use the bathroom and buy food. The only open food store was cash only, so we ate meat pies in a gas station and got on the bus. Nothing bad to say, just not much to say, either.
Hamilton- We spent fifteen minutes here on January 1 on our way South to the Whanganui. Weird gas station and nothing was open. Have been told it’s not worth going back…
Picton- The town that the ferry travels to on the South Island. We decided to skip the rush and drive through it. Looked cute though!
I vow to write more regularly moving forward, now that I am into the field camp extravaganza part of the program, but I can't say it's been my biggest priority so far. New Zealand already feels like a different experience than Tanzania in many, many ways, and I suspect that will be reflected in my writing hugely. Without those wide-open vistas and endless hours staring out car windows, I wonder if my brain will find itself sorting through this era of my life in the same both methodical and zany way it did during my time in Tanzania. We shall see. For now, I'm excited to be exploring and discovering.
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