Taupō travel guide

New Zealand · Top sights · trending spots

Lake Taupō fills a caldera left by an eruption in the third century, one of the largest anywhere in the last few thousand years, and is the biggest lake in New Zealand.

Huka Falls forces the Waikato through a narrow channel at a quarter of a million litres a second. The town does bungy and skydiving. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing, nineteen kilometres past Mount Doom, is walked from here.

Search flights for these datesChecking fares…

Next long-break window · based on public holidays in United States11.26 – 11.291 leave → 4 daysPlan this trip

Top 10 sights in Taupō

Ranked by Wikipedia language editions — proven fame.

Taupō Volcano
The supervolcano beneath Lake Taupō, responsible for the largest eruption anywhere in the last seventy thousand years, about twenty-six thousand years ago, and for a second around AD 232 whose ash was recorded in China and Rome.
Tiqets Klook
Tongariro River
The river running north into Lake Taupo, and one of the best-known rainbow trout waters in the world — its pools are individually named and fished by anglers who come from Europe and America for them. The upper section is also rafted through grade three water.
Tiqets Klook
Wairakei Power Station
A geothermal station opened in 1958, only the second anywhere and the first to generate from wet steam rather than dry. The pipework running across the valley in silver loops is a landmark, and the steam field it draws on has subsided measurably since.
Tiqets Klook
Pihanga
An extinct andesitic cone of 1,325 metres between Tongariro and the lake. In the Maori account the mountains fought over her and the loser, Taranaki, dragged himself west to the coast — which is why that volcano stands alone two hundred kilometres away.
Tiqets Klook
Whakamaru Dam
A hydroelectric dam completed in 1956 on the Waikato, the fourth of eight stations stepping down the river. Together they were the country's main power scheme before the geothermal and gas plants arrived.
Tiqets Klook
Reporoa caldera
A caldera ten by fifteen kilometres northeast of Taupō, formed by an eruption some two hundred and thirty thousand years ago. Geothermal fields and dairy farms now share the flat ground inside it.
Tiqets Klook
Tauhara
A dormant lava dome of 1,088 metres east of Taupō, the peak that closes the view across the lake from the town. A track climbs it in about two hours to a summit that looks over the whole caldera.
Tiqets Klook
Tauranga Taupō River
A river running north into Lake Taupō from the Kaimanawa ranges, and one of the trout rivers that made the district's reputation. Fishing is by licence and the season runs most of the year.
Tiqets Klook
Waitahanui River
A short river of the Waikato catchment running into the southeast corner of Lake Taupo, some 300 km north of Wellington. Anglers stand shoulder to shoulder in the rip at its mouth, the line known as the picket fence, for the trout that run up it to spawn.
Tiqets Klook
Te Mihi Power Station
A geothermal power station of a hundred and sixty-six megawatts north of Taupō, opened in 2014 on one of the country's largest steam fields. Geothermal supplies a substantial share of New Zealand's electricity.
Tiqets Klook

Popular tickets & tours in Taupō

Live products and prices are provided directly by Klook.

Tickets & attractions

Day tours

Experiences

Trending now

Based on 2025 Wikipedia pageviews — popular places beyond the top 10.

Aratiatia Power Station
A hydroelectric station on the Waikato completed in 1964, above a narrow rock gorge. Its gates are opened several times a day so that the rapids below run full, which people gather on platforms to watch.
Tiqets Klook
Atiamuri Power Station
A hydroelectric station of 1958 on the Waikato, third of the eight on the river. Its lake drowned a stretch of rapids, and the pumice cliffs above it are among the more visible signs of the Taupo eruption that laid this whole plateau down.
Tiqets Klook
Kuratau River
A river of the central North Island rising in hill country south of Pureora Forest Park, running through the small Lake Kuratau and then five kilometres east into the southwest corner of Lake Taupo. Its water drives the Kuratau power station.
Tiqets Klook
Mokomokonui River
A river of the Hawke's Bay region running through steep bush to join the Waikato system north of Taupō. The country around it is a mix of pine plantation and grazing, and its streams are trout water, fished on the same licence as the lake.
Tiqets Klook

Find dates you can go →

Top 10 sights in Taupō

Ranked by Wikipedia language editions — proven fame.

Taupō Volcano

The supervolcano beneath Lake Taupō, responsible for the largest eruption anywhere in the last seventy thousand years, about twenty-six thousand years ago, and for a second around AD 232 whose ash was recorded in China and Rome.

Tiqets

Klook

Tongariro River

The river running north into Lake Taupo, and one of the best-known rainbow trout waters in the world — its pools are individually named and fished by anglers who come from Europe and America for them. The upper section is also rafted through grade three water.

Tiqets

Klook

Wairakei Power Station

A geothermal station opened in 1958, only the second anywhere and the first to generate from wet steam rather than dry. The pipework running across the valley in silver loops is a landmark, and the steam field it draws on has subsided measurably since.

Tiqets

Klook

Pihanga

An extinct andesitic cone of 1,325 metres between Tongariro and the lake. In the Maori account the mountains fought over her and the loser, Taranaki, dragged himself west to the coast — which is why that volcano stands alone two hundred kilometres away.

Tiqets

Klook

Whakamaru Dam

A hydroelectric dam completed in 1956 on the Waikato, the fourth of eight stations stepping down the river. Together they were the country's main power scheme before the geothermal and gas plants arrived.

Tiqets

Klook

Reporoa caldera

A caldera ten by fifteen kilometres northeast of Taupō, formed by an eruption some two hundred and thirty thousand years ago. Geothermal fields and dairy farms now share the flat ground inside it.

Tiqets

Klook

Tauhara

A dormant lava dome of 1,088 metres east of Taupō, the peak that closes the view across the lake from the town. A track climbs it in about two hours to a summit that looks over the whole caldera.

Tiqets

Klook

Tauranga Taupō River

A river running north into Lake Taupō from the Kaimanawa ranges, and one of the trout rivers that made the district's reputation. Fishing is by licence and the season runs most of the year.

Tiqets

Klook

Waitahanui River

A short river of the Waikato catchment running into the southeast corner of Lake Taupo, some 300 km north of Wellington. Anglers stand shoulder to shoulder in the rip at its mouth, the line known as the picket fence, for the trout that run up it to spawn.

Tiqets

Klook

Te Mihi Power Station

A geothermal power station of a hundred and sixty-six megawatts north of Taupō, opened in 2014 on one of the country's largest steam fields. Geothermal supplies a substantial share of New Zealand's electricity.

Tiqets

Klook

Trending now

Based on 2025 Wikipedia pageviews — popular places beyond the top 10.

Aratiatia Power Station

A hydroelectric station on the Waikato completed in 1964, above a narrow rock gorge. Its gates are opened several times a day so that the rapids below run full, which people gather on platforms to watch.

Tiqets

Klook

Atiamuri Power Station

A hydroelectric station of 1958 on the Waikato, third of the eight on the river. Its lake drowned a stretch of rapids, and the pumice cliffs above it are among the more visible signs of the Taupo eruption that laid this whole plateau down.

Tiqets

Klook

Kuratau River

A river of the central North Island rising in hill country south of Pureora Forest Park, running through the small Lake Kuratau and then five kilometres east into the southwest corner of Lake Taupo. Its water drives the Kuratau power station.

Tiqets

Klook

Mokomokonui River

A river of the Hawke's Bay region running through steep bush to join the Waikato system north of Taupō. The country around it is a mix of pine plantation and grazing, and its streams are trout water, fished on the same licence as the lake.

Tiqets

Klook