North Island Accommodation
Most New Zealanders live here, on the warmer of the two islands, so towns sit closer together and the drives between regions are short. Māori history and te reo run through all of it, in place names, marae, and how people talk about the land.
North Island accommodation covers city apartments and beach baches, cottages by the lakes, farm stays inland, and holiday homes with room for a group. Hosts write their own listings, so descriptions come straight from the people who look after each place.
Each region below opens onto its towns, and each town onto its listings. Pick the region first.
Northland
Subtropical north of Auckland, the days stay warm longer here and summer takes its time leaving. Twin coasts run either side of a narrow country, kauri stand in Waipoua Forest, and the road runs out at Cape Reinga. The baches are built for long stays.
Auckland
Boats leave the downtown wharves all day, and half the city seems to be looking at water. Volcanic cones such as Maungawhau rise straight out of the suburbs, with Rangitoto sitting offshore. Apartments put you among the restaurants and galleries, with quieter holiday homes out toward the coast.
Waikato
Green farmland fills the middle of the region, with farm cottages spread along New Zealand’s longest river. Raglan holds the surf coast, Waitomo’s glowworm caves and Hobbiton both sit within an hour of Hamilton’s gardens, and over the Kōpū bridge the Coromandel’s beach towns run away up the peninsula.
Bay of Plenty
Sunrise comes off the water on this coast, and the beach towns fill up through January, with beach houses and apartments in the streets behind the sand. Just over the inland boundary, Rotorua’s lake country is about an hour from the coast.
Rotorua
Steam drifts out of the ground between the lakes here, and the smell of sulphur is part of arriving. Redwood forest carries mountain-bike trails, the lakefront holds the museum gardens and evening hāngī smoke, and holiday homes gather along the bays from Ngongotahā around to the Blue Lake.
Taupō
The lake is big enough to make its own weather, with trout water where the rivers come in and cruise boats heading for the rock carvings. Holiday homes line the bays from Taupō town to Kinloch and Tūrangi, and the volcanoes of the central plateau stand across the water on a clear day.
Hawke’s Bay
Pōrangahau sits at the southern end of the region, where surf rolls onto a long beach backed by sheep country. Napier is over an hour north, rebuilt in Art Deco after the 1931 earthquake, and gannets nest on the cliffs at Cape Kidnappers. Baches suit a slow week here.
Taranaki
One volcano stands over everything here, ringed by dairy farms that run out to a black sand coast. Cottages and baches sit in the gap between the two. New Plymouth’s coastal walkway crosses the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge, which frames the peak on a clear day.
Manawatū-Whanganui
Paddlers spend days on the Whanganui River, and rural cottages follow the same water south through steep country and farmland. At the top of the region the Tongariro Alpine Crossing climbs past crater lakes, with Ruapehu often holding snow into spring. The two halves barely resemble each other.
Wellington
Hills drop straight into the harbour in the capital, where the centre is small enough to cross on foot between coffee, theatre and the wind off the strait. Apartments cover that end. Up the coast north of the city, holiday homes sit behind long beaches facing Kāpiti Island.
Ready to find your stay?
Every region above links through to its towns, and every town to the places listed there. Start with the part of the island your trip already points at, or work down the list if the route is still open.