Lake Taupo Touring Routes & Maps

The Great New Zealand Touring Route

The Great New Zealand Touring Route (GNZTR) is renowned as one of New Zealand's best driving experiences. The circular route offers the opportunity to experience the very best of the North Island in one compact area, following two well established touring routes: the Pacific Coast Highway and the Thermal Explorer Highway.

The Great New Zealand Touring Route comprises seven regions: Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay, Waitomo, Rotorua, Lake Taupo and Ruapehu.

Thermal Explorer Highway

The Thermal Explorer Highway can be explored as a return journey between Auckland and Napier, during which it runs through the centre of the North Island into areas of Hawke's Bay, Lake Taupo, Ruapehu, Rotorua and Waitomo.

Thermal wonderlands are a feature of the Thermal Explorer Highway, along with sublime food and wine experiences. You'll see steaming geysers, bubbling mud pools and some of the largest silica terraces in the world. Without a doubt this touring route takes in the very best of the country's thermal activity. When you reach Hawke's Bay you can kick off your shoes and dine alfresco amidst the vines.

More than 40 vineyards are clustered around the river plains behind Hastings, and most have a cafe or restaurant. Some visitors choose to cycle from one to the next; others team up with a local tour operator to avoid the need to drive.

Thermal Explorer Highway map

The Pacific Coast Highway

The Pacific Coast Highway is well signposted along its entire route, giving a safe and easy way to navigate through some of the most spectacular coastal scenery New Zealand has to offer. Be among the first people to see the sun as it rises majestically over the Pacific, casting its first rays over the stunning white sand beaches along the length of the Highway.

Experience pure escapism! Sample the world's best seafood, innovative cuisine and award winning wines and indulge yourself in one of the many luxurious accommodation establishments along the way.

Enjoy the diverse and unique heritage within the region. You'll find an abundance of buildings from another era, ancient Maori pa sites, countless historical delights and the living heritage of the stories and faces of the local people. Marvel at the talents of the local artists and share with them the environment that so inspires them - the slice of the Pacific paradise that is the Pacific Coast Highway.