Hamilton is New Zealand’s fourth-largest city, yet is so often overlooked by tourists, many know nothing about it. Home to world-class gardens and situated on the banks of the country’s longest river, it’s a lush green vibrant city in the heart of the Waikato region. Surrounded by some of the country’s highlights, there are also plenty of things to do in Hamilton.
With domestic tourism in full swing this season, Hamilton offers the advantage of affordability, as many of its highlights are free. One can have a stroll along the river, around the gardens, or through the Arboretum. Even entry to the main museum is by donation. Plus, as a university town, there are plenty of affordable, delicious, and fun cafes and restaurants.
Photo Credit: Mohammed Al-Mushawer (CC BY 2.5)
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Things to do in Hamilton New Zealand – Outdoors
Hamilton Gardens
Location: Hungerford Crescent, Hamilton East
Hours: Enclosed Gardens are open daily from 10 am to 4 pm (last entry 3.30 pm)
Entry: Free
Website
A must-see urban oasis, the Hamilton Gardens are the region’s most visited attraction, drawing nearly one million guests annually. The 54-hectare public venue features themed gardens that take us through time as they tell the story of gardens both domestically and around the world. The 21 themes cover a diverse range, from a Japanese garden of contemplation to a traditional productive Māori garden.
Hamilton Gardens are easy to visit on your own. To aid us, we picked up a guidebook for a nominal fee at the gift shop. Alternatively, one can choose this 75-minute guided tour.
Japanese Garden of Contemplation Italian Renaissance Garden Tudor Garden Tropical Garden
Riff Raff square
Location: Embassy Park, 218 Victoria Street, Hamilton
Hours: always open
Entry: Free
Riff Raff Square seemed somewhat out of place in Hamilton, as it would in just about any city in the world. It is dedicated to former Hamilton resident Richard O’Brien, who wrote the screenplay Rocky Horror Picture Show and played Riff Raff (the alien from the planet Transsexual).
In the square is a life-sized statue of Riff Raff, instructions for the Time Warp, and ‘Frank N Furter’s Lab’ encasing the public toilets. The statue was designed by Weta Workshop in Wellington (they are the makers of the props for Lord of the Rings and many other films).
For us, Riff Raff Square highlighted our family’s generation gap. It was especially evident from our adult children as Jeff and I did the time warp in a public square. They seemed okay with the jump to the left and a step to the right, but it was the pelvic thrust that had them rolling their eyes.
The public toilets as Frank N Furter’s Lab Statue of Riff Raff
Taitua Arboretum
Location: 25 Taitua Road, Temple View, Hamilton
Hours: 8 am – ½ hour before dusk
Entry: Free
Gifted to the city of Hamilton in 1997, it is a lovely spot for a stroll or picnic under mature trees, or alongside the small lake. There are several optional paths. The main walk around the Arboretum takes about 90 minutes to complete.
Enjoy the Waikato River
Location: Waikato River runs through the city
Hours: always open
Entry: Free for walking and cycling, fee for boat adventures
Tree-lined and peaceful, New Zealand’s longest river is enjoyed by locals and visitors as it meanders through the heart of Hamilton. Stroll or cycle on the 11 km Riverside Walkway as it winds alongside the Waikato River through native bush and a few residential areas. Or, enjoy it from the water on a cruise.
Check price and reviews of daily Waikato river cruises or an exciting jet boat adventure.
Photo Credit: Johnragla (CC BY 4.0)
Things to do in Hamilton NZ – Museums
Waikato Museum
Location: 1 Grantham Street, Hamilton
Hours: 10 am – 5 pm daily
Entry: Donations welcome (charges apply for some exhibits)
Website
It’s an exciting regional museum with an impressive collection of Māori artefacts featuring a superbly carved waka (war canoe). With frequently changing exhibitions across its 13 galleries, drawing from the museum’s own collection as well as hosting international expositions, there is always something new to see. And with 130 free events a year at the museum, you’re never short of something to do
Classics Museum
Location: 11 Railside Place, Dinsdale, Hamilton
Hours: 7 am – 3 pm weekdays, 8 am – 3 pm weekends
Entry: $20 adults/$8 children (at time of publication)
Website
With over 100 classic cars on display plus petrol memorabilia, vintage toys, pedal cars, and more, this is the place for auto enthusiasts and the whole family. Continue your vintage experience with a meal or snack at the onsite 1950s themed Jukebox Diner.
Other Things to do in Hamilton New Zealand
Hamilton Zoo
Location: 183 Brymer Road, Baverstock, Hamilton
Hours: 9:30 am – 4:30 pm (closed Mondays)
Entry: $26 adults/$12 children (at time of publication)
Website
Home to New Zealand’s only tapirs and fishing cats, a visit to the zoo is one of the best things to do with kids in Hamilton. In total, there are over 600 native and exotic species at the zoo. Bird lovers can enjoy New Zealand’s largest walk-through aviary that is dedicated to native birds and plants.
Photo Credit: Brian Gratwicke (CC BY 2.0)
Zealong Tea Estate
Location: 495 Gordonton Road, Gordonton
Hours: 10 am – 5 pm daily
Entry: services and prices vary
Website
Sip a cup of organic pure oolong tea at the tea house, indulge in a high tea, or tour New Zealand’s only tea plantation.
Photo Credit: Jeff Marquis (CC BY 2.0)
Key things to do near Hamilton in the Waikato region
Within an hour’s drive in nearly every direction and still within the Waikato region, you can have one of several unique experiences. Here are a few of the nearby highlights.
- Surfing in Raglan (45-minute drive west of Hamilton)
Black sand, stunning scenery, and plenty of cafes, but Raglan’s long rides and challenging breaks make it well known amongst surfers. - Waitomo Glowworm Caves (A little over an hour’s drive south of Hamilton)
Enjoy underground caverns featuring limestone formations and thousands of sparkling glowworms, or choose a caving adventure. Click here to check for discount options on a triple cave combo. - Hobbiton (50-minute drive east of hamilton in Matamata via SH1)
This is the real middle earth and often thought of amongst Lord of the Rings fans as one of the top places to visit on the North Island. Available only via tour.
➜ Use this link to check for discounts on a Hobbiton and Waitomo Cave tour from Auckland. - Sanctuary Mountain (50-minute drive southeast on SH3 in Pukeatua)
A place to see takahe, tuatara, giant weta, and kaka in New Zealand’s largest mainland fenced sanctuary, located on Mount Maungatautari.
Where is Hamilton New Zealand?
We always include a stop in Hamilton when we road trip from Auckland to Wellington.
Hamilton is 125 km southwest of Auckland (New Zealand’s largest city), 103 km northwest of Rotorua (New Zealand’s geothermal region), and 500 km north of Wellington (New Zealand’s capital city). There are four ways to get to Hamilton: self-drive, take a bus, fly, or via train.
- Driving to Hamilton is easy with state highways 1 and 3 intersecting just south of the city centre.
- There is daily bus service to and from Hamilton.
- Air New Zealand offers domestic flights from Auckland or Wellington.
- Hamilton is one of the stops along the Northern Explorer scenic route from Auckland to Wellington.
Photo provided by The Great Journeys of New Zealand.
A few cool things about Hamilton
- Jacinda Ardern, the current Prime Minister of New Zealand, was born in Hamilton.
- Also born in Hamilton was Helen Clark, a current administrator of the UN Development Programme and former New Zealand Prime Minister.
- Hamilton has four sister cities: Sacramento California USA, Saitama Japan, and both Wuxi and Chengdu in the Peoples Republic of China.
Accommodation in Hamilton NZ
If you are making a weekend of Hamilton, why not stay like a local at an Airbnb?
Booking tips for your New Zealand travel planning
First-time visitors start here: New Zealand travel guide.
Flights: We use Skyscanner to find all the available flight options at the best prices.
Rental Vehicles: For cars, we always use RentalCars.com, a rental car search engine with no hidden costs. For campervans, note that Spaceships Rentals NZ offers free one-way drop-off between Auckland and Christchurch.
Accommodations: We use Booking.com to find all levels of accommodations in most NZ cities.
Activity Discounts: We use Bookme.co.nz to find discounts on entry tickets and tours in New Zealand.
Travel Insurance: We purchase insurance that covers medical and travel emergencies when we head overseas. We start with World Nomads.
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Which one of the things to do in Hamilton NZ will you do first?
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Free Things to Do in Rotorua New Zealand – Travel Local
kelleyn
Looks like a great city!
Maggie
Yep, I’m one of those who’ve never heard of Hamilton. It looks delightful though!! And it’s so close to places I’d love to visit, like the gloworm cave and Hobbiton. The Hamilton Gardens look spectacular – that Italian villa is gorgeous!
Indrani
Wow that is a great list of things one can do in Hamilton. Museums are high on my list. Loved the pots of the Tea Estate. The gardens of course is very high on my list.
Renee
I love to visit cities that are not popular with tourists, so this appears to be the place to go when in New Zealand. I should love to visit those gardens, see all four, and how different they are, would be a wonderful way to spend a full day. And, a stroll along the river in early morning or evening sounds lovely to me.
Parnashree Devi
Wow, I had limited knowledge about Hamilton. Thanks for introducing this beautiful destination. The first thing that attracted me is the garden and greenery. Was wondering how beautiful it would be to have a house there. It’s a perfect city guide for travelers. Fun facts are good addition.
Delphine
I know a few Kiwis who are embarrassed to be from Hamilton, but the river looks ok! I can’t wait to get back to New Zealand but I wonder if it will be the North Island, I can’t keep my husband away from the South Island!
Stevenson Que
New Zealand is and will always be a very big dream for me, hopefully I can see Hamilton, Queenstown, Rotorua and many more places on your beautiful country someday 🙂
Nancy
Your posts give me the “itch” for traveling, but I wouldn’t trust it yet – not with the uncertainty due to coronavirus.
Linda (LD Holland)
We were very sorry we had to cancel our visit to New Zealand this year. We had not got around to detailed planning. But now I know to put Hamilton on the itinerary. Good to know that many of the attractions are free. And that there are such great outdoor green spaces in the city. We would definitely look to rent bikes and bike the Waikato river path. Although a cruise along the river might be a nice way to enjoy the views. We love to do High Tea when we travel. So we now know where to do it in Hamilton!
Shreya Saha
Hamilton is a city that I have not heard of before, even when I have read of New Zealand before. I think if you ask me about the first thing I will choose to do in Hamilton, it will be visiting the Hamilton Gardens for sure. I will surely take the 75-min guided walking tour. It intrigued me the most.
Clarice
My kids would love to visit the Hamilton Zoo. They are just so interested with animals that we make sure to visit the zoo in all of our trips abroad. We believe that this is best opportunity for them to see different animals living in the different parts of the world.
Anyway, thank you for sharing this and we hope to visit Hamilton soon. 🙂
ChildrenofWanderlust
Love the idea of riff raff square.
We have visited the glow worm canes but missed here on our tour of New Zealand 20 years ago. When we return I think it would be a great place to stop.
Bolupe
Hamilton definitely has several to do things but my favourite is the Outdoor Hamilton Garden. It’s great to see a Tudor Garden here and I absolutely love a Japanese garden. It must be very calming to sit by the Japanese Garden. This reminds me of Dubai Miracle Gardens.
Jay Artale
The wonderful thing about visiting Gardens is you can never be in the position to say that, I’ve seen one so I’ve seen them all! I’ve seen many different Japanese gardens across the world (because these are my favorite style of garden), maybe because they’re the ones that are most foreign to me. But no matter how many I’ve seen each one offers something different. I love that the Hamilton gardens also has a Tudor garden, You don’t see many of those around the world. Great but it’s also free to walk around
Travelling Tam
I definitely did not pay Hamilton enough attention on my road trip it seems! Those gardens look incredible, I am a little gutted I missed them. I am planning on going to New Zealand again as soon as I can though so I’ll have to go back!
Raksha
I have been to Hamilton couple of times. But I was not aware that one can do so many things 😀. The only thing that I knew it was famous for was the glow worm caves and Hobbiton. The next time I visit, I must keep this list so I can refer back and visit the places I have missed.
Zi @craving.adventure
Mt fav thing in Hamilton is the Good George brewery … gosh I miss their APA, wish they exported it to EU hehe
Subhashish Roy
Thank you for a wonderful guide to this beautiful city of New Zealand. Although I knew about this place as a close friend of mine stays there, this is the first time I came to know so much more. Waikato river, Hamilton gardens and the tea estate would be of special interest to me.
Tina
New Zealand has always been on my bucket list. I will have to make sure to hit Hamilton when I get a chance to visit this country. I would love to see the Hamilton Gardens.
Charlie
Wow, there’s so many interesting things to see in Hamilton! New Zealand has been on my bucket list for years – I’ll be sure to check out this cool city when I eventually come to visit! Thanks for sharing such an informative post 🙂
Dada
Hamilton in New Zealand has so much to offer! We love to bike so we would definitely bike along the Waikato river! It’s also interesting that there is a tea plantation in New Zealand, must also visit that. And of course I wouldn’t miss the Glowworm cave or the Hobbiton! Hope to be able to visit New Zealand one day and we will visit Hamilton for sure!
Anda
There are so many wonderful places to visit in New Zealand and Hamilton is definitely one of them. Thanks for letting me know about this overseen city. I love the abundance of exotic gardens in Hamilton! I could spend an entire day in each one of them. Leave alone visiting Zealong Tea Estate and the famous Hobbiton, just 50 minutes away.
Paul Pietrangelo
New Zealand has so many wonderful cities and places to go. I loved the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The music was fantastic Rhonda. Go to the left……….
Cruisin Paul
Sandee
I love the gardens. Okay the river works too. I’d spend lots of time in both places.
Have a fabulous day, Rhonda. ♥
H A Melton-Butcher
Hi Rhonda – lots to do I see – and presumably a quiet city … so fairly easy and less crowded to walk around. I think a few days there would be great – and I’d love to see the glow-worm caves … but New Zealand I’d be grateful to get to one day … all the best – Hilary