Top Things to do in Hamilton & Waikato Region
Top Hotels in Hamilton & Waikato Region
Top 10 Things to do in Hamilton & Waikato Region, North Island
Discover the best top things to do in Hamilton & Waikato Region, New Zealand including Hamilton Gardens, Ruakuri Walk, Footwhistle Glowworm Cave, Ruakuri Cave, Caveworld, Marakopa Falls, Mangapohue Natural Bridge Walk, Bridal Veil Falls, Te Waihou Walkway, Waitomo Glowworm Caves.
Restaurants in Hamilton & Waikato Region
1. Hamilton Gardens
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 3,439 reviews
Explore an enchanting world of secret gardens. Transport yourself through time and to far-flung corners of the world. Meander through a lush tropical jungle, visit ancient China and indulge yourself in a Renaissance Prince's 16th century garden. Five garden collections have been created to delight the senses, with some garden concepts reaching back 4,000 years. Hamilton Gardens is a conceptual garden based in the Waikato that explores the context, history and meaning of gardens through time, and from around the world. It is internationally recognised for its unique concept and is the Waikato region's most popular tourist destination. Only five minutes drive from Hamilton's CBD, the Gardens is open 7 days a week during daylight hours and entry and parking is free. Access is off SH1, alongside Cobham Drive on the southern side of Hamilton.
Reviewed By Adamc7651
The gardens are a good activity to do for the whole family! Our friends and family enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and stunning gardens
2. Ruakuri Walk
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 374 reviews
Always check the website for changes that might affect your trip.
Reviewed By Lula444 - London, United Kingdom
Lovey short walk through beautiful forest with a couple of viewing decks - very well maintained paths, lots of steps
3. Footwhistle Glowworm Cave
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 69 reviews
We are a locally owned and operated glowworm cave tour based in the heart of the Waitomo Caves Village. Footwhistle Glowworm Cave is located on our private farm and was developed over many years. Our family run tour company ensures that your experience of Waitomo's unique ennvironment is a memory to treasure. We take a maximum of 11 guests per tour and we also allow photography
Reviewed By 84jeannetteb
‘Ross the Boss’ was our awesome guide for the Footwhistle Glowworm Cave experience. His mix of passion, knowledge and humour made this one of the best local sites to visit in Waitomo. A private family run business that is truly about making this a perfect, intimate experience. The visit is topped off with kawakawa education and tea. The caves themselves are a real delight and the family’s understanding and work towards the ecology of them is a credit to them. Highly recommended.
4. Ruakuri Cave
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 872 reviews
Reviewed By Hulij - New Zealand, null
Absolutely recommend Ruakuri Cave. We did the 90 min walking tour of this amazing cave. Hannah our guide was superb and so enthusiastic, really made the tour for us. Great engineering feat with the spiral entrance way and saw loads glow worms close up, better than the boat trip tour of Waitomo Cave we did straight after this tour. Able to take loads photos too. Kids loved it. A must do!
5. Caveworld
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 452 reviews
Caveworld offer two fantastic tours with the aim to create memorable caving and glowworm experiences for all our customers. Either choose our fun-filled black water rafting adventure Tube It, or bring your family and friends along and join our Footwhistle Glowworm Cave Tour, a relaxed one hour guided walk down through glowworm displays and formations. We are A family-run, locally owned and operated business, Cave World specialises in providing the personal and professional touch on our authentic Waitomo tours, with over 10,000 satisfied visitors experiencing our unique piece of New Zealand each year.
Reviewed By Paradise33065083454
The Footwhistle Cave is owned by a local family and is an excellent tour as well as being exceptional value for money. We were met at Waitomo Village by Ross (the Boss) and taken by van to the cave on private property. This is a very safe and educational tour with thousands of glow worms and a very good spoken history from Ross. The tour is followed by a refreshing cup of freshly brewed Kawakawa tea. We took three children with us and they thoroughly enjoyed the tour. I recommend it.
6. Marakopa Falls
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 513 reviews
Always check the website for changes that might affect your trip.
Reviewed By PippinStubbs - Waitomo Caves, New Zealand
Absolutely beautiful! fun track downhill to the waterfall and viewing platform in the winter months or after heavy rainfall you definitely can get hit by the mist, even in summer with a small breeze you can feel the waterfall coming down. If you are driving here make sure you have petrol as there isn't any place to fuel up and no reception. I also highly recommend visiting the Mangapohue Natural Bridge as its about 40 mins from Waitomo but well worth the trip
7. Mangapohue Natural Bridge Walk
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 345 reviews
Always check the website for changes that might affect your trip.
Reviewed By 6-world-travelers
If you're in the Waitomo area, this is a 35 minute drive from Waitomo village, and 5 minutes from the spectacular Marakopa waterfall. Coming from the village, parking is on the right hand side of the road; be careful turning in as it's on a curve and there might be traffic to cross. Easy walk through a gorge to the main attraction; crosses a bridge where you'll have to hold onto your kids' hands (lest they fall over the edge) and you're under the limestone arch in about 5-10 minutes. It's 57ft of wow, and hard to capture on camera. If you carry on through, you'll climb a couple of stiles, go through farmland (watch the cow pats) and up and around. Loop takes maybe 20 minutes, tops.
8. Bridal Veil Falls
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 707 reviews
Always check the website for changes that might affect your trip.
Reviewed By chick-pea-222 - Rotorua, New Zealand
Cool waterfall, which is easily viewable from several view points. The falls are really impressive from the first look out as the waterfall first emerges and is only a 10-min walk from the car park. It’s worth going down to the bottom if you can manage the steps (261 total).
9. Te Waihou Walkway
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 243 reviews
Reviewed By KYU153
Arrive early to avoid the crowds and for visibility. We met car loads of people around midday onwards from the Blu Springs end of the trail. The paths are narrow in places so it makes for a less than pleasant experience. We did the walk from end to end starting from the main carpark. When we started the walk at around 10am we could see the bottom of the river so clearly, right from start of the trail to the blue springs portion, the blues and greens were stark. But on our walk back after lunch the glare off the water made the river opaque in a lot places. The track towards the mid section, where the loop starts/ends also has bits where the path has been rubbed smooth and is under tree cover so is slippery even on a hot, dry day. Can’t imagine those sections will be fun to walk when there’s been rain. The best (only) place for a sit down lunch is at the blue springs end or about half an hour into the walk from the main carpark where there’s a small flat section by the river under a grove of trees. If you have 3 hours to spare, definitely recommend starting at the main carpark, the build up to the blue springs is amazing, it’s a cinematic experience.
10. Waitomo Glowworm Caves
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 5,441 reviews
World renowned and a magnet for both local and overseas visitors, the world-famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves have been guided since 1889 and occupy a high place in the New Zealand vacation wish-list. Stare in wonder at the thousands of illuminating glowworms above as you glide silently by boat through the glowworm grotto. Many of our current guides are descendants of the Maori chief who originally explored the cave and can share with you the remarkable history of the area. Marvel at Mother Nature's light display as you glide silently through the starry wonderland of the Glowworm Grotto. Meander underground along the Waitomo River and gaze in silence at the myriad of glow worm lights that make up the Glowworm Grotto. As you enter this galaxy of tiny living lights, you'll immediately experience a serene ambience and be fascinated and intrigued by tiny glowworms that light your way.
Reviewed By TheRoweTribe
We did the triple cave combo, absolutely amazing caves, Corey was a fantastic and knowledable guide, family favourite was definately the glow worm cave via boat ride. Meal at cafe at glow wormcave was delicious, pricey but to be expected. Only thing that I felt was a little tacky was the photobooks, for $ they asking I would expect quality to be better.
