From the North Island, to the South Island, from the east coast to the west coast, Aotearoa New Zealand is full of amazing scenery. Photogenic? hell yeah.
The word scenery is defined as “the natural features of a landscape considered in terms of their appearance, especially when picturesque”.
In other words, good scenery is pretty, and so striking it makes you want to take a picture. Which a lot of New Zealand does.
Anyone who has been to Aotearoa New Zealand knows the place, like the whole place, is crazy photogenic.
Check out the hashtag #nzphotography on Instagram and you’ll see why.
But we do have a few favourites. In no particular order, here are our top five places in New Zealand for scenery.
The jewel of the North Island: Tongariro National Park
This place isn’t just in our New Zealand top five, it’s in our global top five.
Tongariro National Park in New Zealand is an alpine and thermal wonderland, one born of, and still defined by, it’s three active volcanoes: Mount Ruapehu, Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe.
Still youthful on a geological scale (they’re all younger than 500,000 years old), the mountains of Tongariro National Park are still forming, and they have created a landscape that is, in colour and shape, as stunning as it is unique.
Hit the Tongariro Alpine Crossing day walk to see, and photograph this terrain sculpted by volcanic activity up close, including red and yellow rock formations, emerald lakes and little goblins made of black lava.
Fun fact: Mount Ngauruhoe served as Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings, one of the film’s many shooting locations in New Zealand.
Top spot on the South Island? Milford Sound.
One of the most photographed places in New Zealand, Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park might be the top spot for camera-toting on the South Island?
It’s certainly one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand, and the country’s most famous attraction. More than one million tourists per year visit this remote place in the far south west of the South Island. And yes, they take a lot of photographs.
Top shots include perfectly-shaped Mitre Peak and the Bowen and Sterling waterfalls, which plummet straight down into the glistening waters of the fjord below.
No time to drive? Hop a scenic flight from the airport at Lake Wanaka to take Milford Sound in, efficiently, in from above.
Coastal perfection: Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand
Tucked away at the top of the South Island of New Zealand, Abel Tasman National Park is overflowing with impossible beauty.
In photographs, it looks more like a tropical island in the middle of the South Pacific ocean than a New Zealand landscape.
Highlights of this majestic corner of New Zealand include gorgeous beaches with white sandy beaches and aqua waters, towering cliffs made of granite and dense native bush. Then there’s Golden Bay, so-called because it is, literally, golden.
Peak scenery: Aoraki Mount Cook National Park
Aotearoa New Zealand’s highest mountain (that would be Aoraki Mount Cook, at 3724 metres), 19 peaks that more than 3000 meters tall in the surrounding mountains, five significant valley systems (Godley, Murchison, Tasman, Hooker and Mueller) and a park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, that is 40% glaciers.
Go now, and take your camera.
The other jewel of the North Island: The Coromandel Peninsula
Just over a two-hour drive from Auckland along the Pacific Coast Highway, the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand is a wonderful place whether your bag is active holidaying (try kayaking in Cathedral Cove or madly digging yourself a DIY hot pool at Hot Water Beach), or just taking your time to take in the beauty.
And there’s plenty of beauty. Crystal clear water that’s tinted aquamarine? Yep. Mist-shrouded bush? Sure thing. Perfect sunrises? Absolutely.
Honorable mentions: Other New Zealand stunners
When it comes to New Zealand scenery, it’s hard to pick a top five. Here are a few more of our favs:
The north coast of the West Coast of the South Island. It’s got its own microclimate, which produces thickets of groovy Nikau Palms framed perfectly by the Tasman Sea. Also on the West Coast, Lake Matheson is one of the best mirror lakes in the world and the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki are like mini versions of Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway.
Then there’s the natural beauty of Mount Aspiring National Park in the Southern Alps , the bubbling mud pools in Rotorua and the Champagne Pool at Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland nearby.
Where can you find the best scenery in New Zealand? Where can’t you.
