Experience the best of Taupō

Taupō stands on the north-eastern shore of Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, which fills the crater left by huge volcanic eruptions in the distant past. Mount Tauhara rises behind the town, and the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park, Ngāuruhoe, Tongariro and Ruapehu, form the horizon to the south.

Huka Falls, where the Waikato River squeezes through a narrow chasm and plunges in a torrent of blue and white water, lies a few kilometres north. The Aratiatia Rapids flow through a gorge when the dam gates open, Craters of the Moon steams and bubbles, and Orakei Korako has coloured silica terraces. On the lake, a tall rock carving of the Māori navigator Ngātoroirangi is cut into the cliffs of Mine Bay and reached by boat.

Trout from the lake and the Tongariro River is often smoked or grilled, and hāngi, food cooked in an earth oven, is served in nearby Māori communities. Summer is for swimming and sailing on the lake, and in winter skiers head for the slopes of Ruapehu.