Magical city! Rotorua is located alongside a volcano crater lake, and a bunch of geothermally active hot springs and geysers. This place is unlike any other town I've ever been to! How many other cities have steaming pools along the main road? The whole town smells of sulfur, mildly like rotten eggs. It's that volcanic activity! There's even a Best Western hotel along the main strip that has a fence that unexpectedly sprays hot steam out of it. The geothermal activity is everywhere here! Rotorua knows how to capitalize on it too- there's ample parks, Maori villages, Zorbing, a cable car, bungee jumping, and museums! This little town is quite the tourists' paradise. There things to keep everyone entertained on their trip to NZ. Rotorua is in the middle of Maori country, where there are lots of villages set up to receive tourists, feed them, and put on a bit of a show! There's plenty of spas, and places to relax in the hot springs, or go swimming in the lake. At the center of town, under the big clock tower is the tourism bureau where you can get info on what there is to see and do around town. They'll even book your tour for you. The city is clean, and felt safe. read more

I'm going to use this review as a proxy for much of New Zealand, and especially for my American and vegan audiences. Rotorua, despite having a certain tourist aspect to it, is very similar to much of New Zealand (except perhaps Auckland) in terms of facilities, and the expectations you should have about NZ. The stereotypical NZ motel offers a mini kitchen with microwave, stove top and fridge. In fact, we didn't eat out at all during our stay here. There's numerous supermarkets, and almost everything you find in most of them (but go to Pak 'N Save for a great NZ supermarket experience) will be very familiar to an American traveller, and very easy for a vegan to find things to eat and prepare in their motel. Just don't make the rookie mistake I made of buying frozen pies, which needed cooking in an oven (I managed in the end to do an OK job with the saucepan). You'll find the prices of food very much on par with US prices. Whilst we're on the subject of pies, if you are *not* vegan, an essential NZ food to try is the petrol station pie. No, not the frozen one from the supermarket, and definitely not Georgie Pie (now served by McD's), but one out of the warming cabinet with the fluffly pastry. If you are vegan, then that same petrol station is quite possibly able to offer you a hafl-decent soy latte. Yes, that's right. In NZ, coffee has reached such an art form that gas stations have baristas. Take that, America! Also, if you are driving through the country side, you definitely want to try and stop at one of the numerous farm stands to pick up some produce (but make sure you have some NZ cash). As for Rotorua itself - well, it is cheesy, but not perhaps quite as much as I remember. And the nickname "Rotovegas", whilst superficially deserved, is not really fair. As for the specific attractions, certainly Rainbow Springs and The Luge, and possibly the Arogdome, although there are many many more things to do here. The motels by and large no longer offer real hot mineral spas, due to over-use, but do have more regular spas. The downtown area is nice enough - there are obvious tourist shops, but aren't overly tacky. What I can't really recommend though is the Maori experience stuff here. I'm not Maori at all, but like many NZers, it is in some measure part of the NZ culture we all share, and I feel like what's on offer in Rotorua is a caricature. In my opinion, go almost anywhere else, for what I think is a more genuine representation of Maori culture Also, if you came to Rotorua for an idea of what the NZ lifestyle is like in general, you probably won't see that either. Try spending some time in a small town for that. But you should go to Rotorua if you're in NZ. But there's more more to NZ than just this one tourist city. read more

Rotorua - View from skyline. - Rotorua, BOP

Lovely little town in the middle of nowhere! They have sort of turned it into a tourist trap/destination of sorts with all kind of roadside attractions. It does have a relaxed feel to it, but we found the food to be quite uninspired with menus comprised of much fish and chips (and other fried foods). The best thing I ate here was a veggie burger. For such an agricultural area I was surprised salads and healthful eating have not really reached this busy little place. I didn't feel bad supporting the local Maori people by coming out to visit their land, but I thought the "adventure" parks all lined up along the main highway were a bit contrived. read more

Hot , needs tourist! A very different kind of town. Good food. People are lovely. Good opportunity to take in the local culture and even go shooting. read more