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Étaperia

New Zealand in 10 days: Rotorua and the Coromandel, day by day

Ten days from the geothermal valleys to the Coromandel beaches: Waiotapu, the Waimangu valley born of the 1886 eruption, Te Puia and the Pohutu geyser, the Kaituna rafting, Cathedral Cove, Hot Water Beach and the Pinnacles.

Sequenced by Kylian Updated on 20 September 2026

The Auckland skyline and the Sky Tower at sunset, yachts moored in the bay
  • 10 days
  • 27 places
  • 10 nights
  • sustained pace
Start
Taupo
End
Auckland
Main transport
Rental car throughout, returned in Auckland on day 41; boat access to Orakei Korako and a flight to White Island
Recommended season
November to March: Hot Water Beach is dug at low tide and Cathedral Cove is reached on foot or by boat, neither of which improvises well out of season

What you get

  • The complete itinerary: 10 days sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Hotel
  • The card of every hotel, with the address and a direct booking link
  • Quota tickets, fixed-date tickets and surcharges flagged in advance
  • The country quick guide: weather, transport, formalities, budget
  • A PDF file of 21 pages

What the price does not include

  • Flights
  • Hotel nights
  • Tickets and admission fees
  • Travel insurance
  • On-the-ground assistance during your trip

The travel book preview

The free day in full, with its hotel card. This is the sample.

Day 9

Cathedral Cove, Hot Water Beach and New Chums

Morning

Cathedral Cove

Two beaches linked by an arch hollowed into the white rock, at the heart of a marine reserve. Forty-five minutes’ walk from the Grange Road track.

Hot Water Beach

Over two hundred metres of beach, a hot spring surfaces under the sand: you dig your own pool and the water rises to 64 °C in places, enough to burn. Spades for hire in the nearby cafés.

Afternoon

New Chums Beach

Often named among the finest wild beaches in the world, precisely because no road leads to it: 30 to 40 minutes’ walk from Whangapoua, across the foreshore and a rocky track. Access on a falling tide only.

The 309 Road, Waiau Falls and Waiau Kauri Grove

An old, partly unsealed cross-country road that cuts across the peninsula, with a ten-metre waterfall a step from the edge and a grove of surviving kauri, including the famous “Siamese kauri” with two fused trunks.

Hotel · Night 9

Coastal Motor Lodge, Thames

A four-star motel of ten units, timber chalets and studios in a landscaped garden facing the Firth of Thames, five minutes north of town. Reception open from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. A short, well-placed stop for the next day’s Pinnacles walk, thirty minutes from the Kauaeranga valley.

Address
· 608 Tararu Road, State Highway 25, Thames
Website
· coastalmotorlodge.co.nz (new tab)
Check-in
2:00 PM · Check-out 10:00 AM
Book this hotel (new tab)

Buy this itinerary

€39 incl. tax

that is €3.90 per day of travel

The buy button becomes active once the box is ticked.

  • Secure payment through Stripe, bank card, Apple Pay and Google Pay
  • Available immediately in your customer account: online reading with clickable booking links, downloadable PDF for offline use
  • Method: what is checked, and when

A hotel in the itinerary closed or impossible to find, a place to visit permanently closed?

Within 12 months of purchase, email contact@etaperia.com

Itinerary corrected within 7 days, or refunded in full. Terms in article 12 of the T&Cs, on top of the legal warranty (new tab)

€39 incl. tax · 10 days

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A question before buying? Email Kylian, reply within 48 working hours.

The day-by-day rundown

10 stops, 320 km as the crow flies

  1. Day 1 From Taupo to Rotorua by the thermal valleys Lava Glass Glassblowing Studio Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  2. Day 2 The 1886 eruption, on its trail Waimangu Volcanic Valley and cruise on Lake Rotomahana Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  3. Day 3 Te Puia, Whakarewarewa and the Redwoods Te Puia and the Pohutu geyser Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  4. Day 4 The Edwardian spa town Rotorua Museum, Government Gardens and Blue Baths Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  5. Day 5 Hot mud and river Hell’s Gate Geothermal Reserve and Mud Spa Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  6. Day 6 Luge, ZORB and a panoramic dinner Skyline Rotorua, gondola and luge Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  7. Day 7 White Island and the summit of Tarawera White Island and the summit of Tarawera Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  8. Day 8 Karangahake gorge and the gold of Waihi Karangahake Gorge, Windows Walk and tunnel Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  9. Day 9 Cathedral Cove, Hot Water Beach and New Chums Cathedral Cove Free
  10. Day 10 The Pinnacles, then back to Auckland Pinnacles walk Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF

Found an error in this itinerary? Report an error

Country quick guide and logistics

The essentials of the country, scannable in ten seconds.

Weather and when to go

  • Rotorua smells of sulphur permanently: you stop noticing within half a day. The thermal valleys are best early, when cool air makes the steam far more visible.
  • The White Island flight on day 38 depends on weather and volcanic activity: seven nights in Rotorua make it possible to shift it within the week without disturbing anything else.
  • November to March for the Coromandel: Hot Water Beach is only worth it with a warm sea, and New Chums is reached by a forest walk with patchy shade.

Transport and permits

  • Rental car throughout, returned in Auckland on day 41 at the end of an already long day: allow time for the check-in inspection.
  • Orakei Korako on day 32 is reached only by boat, a short crossing included in the ticket and run on demand: check the time of the last sailing.
  • The 309 Road on day 40 is gravel, drivable but slow, and serves Waiau Falls and the Kauri Grove.

Formalities and safety

  • Te Puia and Whakarewarewa on day 34 are two separate tickets on the same geothermal valley under two separate managements: a national institution on one side, a lived-in village on the other.
  • The Kaituna rafting on day 36 is grade 5: minimum age 13, maximum 120 kg, advised against with heart conditions or in pregnancy, and you need to be comfortable in deep water.
  • The Lake Rotomahana cruise on day 33 is charged on top of the Waimangu ticket and leaves at fixed times: book it with the entry.

Budget and meals

  • The New Zealand dollar, roughly €0.55 to 1 NZD, card everywhere, down to the Coromandel beach car parks.
  • Heavy items: the White Island flight on day 38, the day 36 rafting, the three thermal parks on days 32 to 34 and the Skyline luge pass on day 37.
  • Rotorua Museum has been closed since 2016, seismic strengthening under way and reopening announced for 2027 to 2028: do not count on it. The Government Gardens around it remain open.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly do I receive?

Your Étaperia itinerary, available immediately in your customer account after payment: readable online with clickable booking links, and downloadable as a PDF for the trip. Every day is sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening, with the hotel for each night, its address and its booking link, and timed-entry tickets flagged in advance.

How is this better than what an AI gives me?

A generative AI composes a plausible list in seconds, without saying what was checked or when. At Étaperia, every itinerary is sequenced by hand, place by place, with the booking constraints spotted before it is too late to get them. The Method page says what is checked, against which source and on what date.

Can I adapt it to my dates and my pace?

Yes. The days are self-contained blocks: you can shift the departure, stretch a stage or skip a day without breaking what follows. Only timed-entry tickets require adjusting the dates accordingly, and they are all flagged.

What if a hotel or a place in the itinerary has closed?

Email contact@etaperia.com within 12 months of your purchase. If a hotel in the itinerary is closed or can no longer be found, or a place to visit has closed permanently, the itinerary is corrected in your customer account within 7 days, or you are refunded in full. A hotel fully booked on your dates, a seasonal closure or a change in opening hours or prices is not covered. This guarantee comes on top of the legal warranty of conformity; details in article 12 of the terms and conditions of sale.

Who is selling you this itinerary

  • Kylian, sole trader, SIRET 927 587 709 00035
  • Consumer mediator: ANM Consommation
  • Payment handled by Stripe: Étaperia never sees your card number
  • Publisher, not a travel agency: you book flights, hotels and tickets yourself

In the same country

This module is one leg of the full itinerary: Complete New Zealand itinerary: 88 days, hotels and bookings

The complete itinerary

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