A lakeside town on New Zealand's North Island, full of geysers, bubbling mud, hot pools and Māori culture, with forests and lakes all around. Here's what Rotorua is like, when to go and how long to stay.
UK passport holders need an NZeTA before they fly, applied for online, plus a small tourist levy. New Zealand has strict rules on bringing food and outdoor gear into the country. Check entry rules on GOV.UK before you book.
Temperatures are the average daytime high in °C.
Rotorua is good all year. Summer, from December to March, is warm and best for the lakes and mountain biking, though it's busiest in the school holidays from Christmas to late January. Winter, from June to August, is cool, around 13°C, but the hot pools feel even better in chilly air. The geothermal sights are the same in any season.
See the Pōhutu geyser erupt, kiwi birds, and Māori carving and weaving schools in the Whakarewarewa valley.
The bright orange and green Champagne Pool and the Lady Knox geyser, which erupts every morning at 10:15.
Lakeside hot mineral pools, including a family pool area, open into the evening.
Suspension bridges strung between giant redwoods, lit with lanterns after dark.
A gondola up the hill, then race down on a luge cart. Children love it.
An evening of song, dance and a hāngī meal cooked in an earth oven.
Very. Geysers, mud pools, luge rides, treewalks and hot pools make it one of the best family stops in New Zealand. The sulphur smell takes a day or so to get used to.
Two or three nights covers the main sights. Most visitors include it on a North Island road trip with Auckland, Waitomo's glowworm caves and Lake Taupō.
Fly into Rotorua Airport, a short drive from town, with domestic flights from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. From Auckland Airport, which has the international flights, it's about three hours by car.
Yes, in spas and hot pools such as the Polynesian Spa, Kerosene Creek or Hell's Gate's mud baths. Never swim in the wild geothermal pools in the parks, which are boiling.
Put Rotorua on standby with everyone's other ideas. You each spread your points in secret, get one veto, and the draw picks where you go.