Nelson

At the top of the South Island, Nelson accommodation sits in one of the country’s sunniest corners, with beach weather from spring into autumn. The region is small and hemmed in by hills, so nearly all of it faces the sea.

Inland, the road climbs to beech forest and the still water of Lake Rotoiti, an hour and a half from the coast, with national park country on both sides of the valley. Holiday homes and apartments cluster in Nelson city, which makes one base enough for the bays in the morning and the ranges in the afternoon.