Taupo Town - North Island, New Zealand

Taupo is an amazing travel destination for the entire family in that it offers fun and activities for both kids and adults. The Taupo town showpiece is Lake Taupo and the town's famous lakefront.

The Lake Taupo Museum and Art Gallery houses the Red Carvings, New Zealand's finest example of traditional Maori carving, carved in the 1920s by the famous master carver Tene Waitere.

The Museum houses some other interesting artifacts such as Thomas Ryan's water colours, a collection of all the World War II planes and an impressive 150 year old 14.5 metre canoe (waka). Close to the museum along the lakefront is the Taupo Boat Harbour, the exit point for cruises, fishing expeditions and all kinds of marine adventure activities.

Taupo Town Activities

Taupo has a multitude of thermal spas providing the ultimate hot springs and mineral pools soaking experience. About 3 kms southeast of the Taupo town centre is the Taupo Hot Springs containing a couple of large outdoor pools of natural mineral water and some private mineral pools at different temperatures.

The Taupo Events Centre on A.C. Baths Ave has an exciting range on offer with a sports complex and a climbing wall alongside the refurbishd A.C. Baths complex of swimming and hot pools.

The Spa Thermal Park on Spa Ave has a path that leads to the Waikato River past natural hot bathing pools. Another hour downstream, you end up at Huka Falls.

Taupo has an immense range of activities on offer. Skydiving is the most popular activity with three professional sky diving operators handling the jumps. They also offer solo skydiving courses. Tandem skydiving is another exciting adventure that comes with a very affordable price tag.

There are incredibly beautiful scenic flights available over the lake and surrounding areas on a float plane. There are a host of flight operators to give you a great choice of trips at very competitive prices. The helicopter trips on the Huka Falls Rd is a standout.

There are decent walking trails around Taupo. The Great Lake Walk is the most popular one as it follows the lakeshore east of Taupo town covering a 7 km stretch with hot springs right on the edge of the water.

The Spa Thermal Park to the north of the town offers a great 30 minute bushwalk. This can be in tandem with a riverbank walk to Huka Falls and an extended walk to the Aratiatia Rapids. For classic town and lake views, a trip to the summit of Mt Tauhara on the hill behind Taupo is very worthwhile.

If you are an avid horserider, there are one hour and two hour horse treks available through the pine forests around the Craters of the Moon. A private operator offers horse treks for small groups on a private 2500 acre farm.

A pleasurable activity in Taupo is to go on a lake cruise originating at the Taupo Boat Harbour. The rides on two different vessels built in the 1920s can be quite an exhilarating experience and you get to see attractive Maori rock carvings close to Mine Bay.

There is also a vintage steam launch built in the 1870s now restored and operated by ex-sailors which runs round the lake's edge on weekends.

Taupo Lake provides some excellent spots for kayaking. You can go on guided kayak tours on a launch and paddle around the boat. You can also paddle on two to three hour trips to the rock carvings with no previous kayaking experience required.

Taupo forms an excellent base for rafting adventures. There are trips from Taupo to Tongariro, Rangitaki, Mohaka and Wairoa Rivers. There are several commercial rafting operators providing excellent services.

Some of the other popular water activities available in Taupo are parasailing, water-skiing and jet-biking. Two Mile Bay rents kayaks, canoes, catamarans, windsurfers and various sailboats for the adventurous sailor.

Taupo is the ultimate haunt for game fishing. Rainbow and Brown Trout abound in these waters. You can hire fishing boats and go on trips that last anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. You are advised to book well in advance if you plan to go fishing from December to February.

You can book through the Visitor Centre or through the Taupo Launch Charters Office. The rivers flowing into Lake Taupo are a sought after place for fly fishing from March to September. Fishing is an activity that goes on right through the year. Guides are available to take you on fishing trips and the tourist office has a list of the best ones.

Most of Taupo's eating scene is concentrated on the lakefront with a variety of eating choices available. There are traditional tearooms and complementing these are the modern cafes. The lakefront lodges have excellent private restaurants. There are several pubs and clubs that provide decent nightlife in Taupo.

LooknbookNZ can take care of your Taupo accommodation and Taupo activities bookings and allow you and your family/friends to have a blast in the ultimate tourist and family destination in Aotearoa.