A Local's Guide to the Best Things to Do in Rotorua With Kids

Forget everything you think you know about quiet New Zealand towns, because Rotorua is an adventure powerhouse built on a volcano.

The city sits inside a massive, roughly 22-kilometre-wide bowl called the Rotorua Caldera, which was formed by a monstrous volcanic eruption about 240,000 years ago. That prehistoric hiccup created the very foundations of the city, so you and your family are stepping directly into the geothermal, cultural, and spiritual powerhouse of Aotearoa.

A town built on geological chaos is the ultimate, ready-made playground for kids that smells faintly of boiled eggs (the sulphur, of course, which kids find hilarious). For a family, Rotorua delivers on a primal level with geysers that spray water 30 metres high, mud pools that burp and gloop like something out of a cartoon, and mountains designed purely for screaming down in a wheeled cart.

These are the five essential experiences for families travelling to Rotorua, where education and absolute mayhem meet.

To burn off the sugar-rush from your morning stop at Ciabatta Café and Bakery (try one of their famous cronuts), you take the gondola up Mount Ngongotahā. Naturally the summit offers the requisite panoramic views of a shimmering Lake Rotorua below, the caldera walls in the distance, but then there's the Luge. A small, steerable cart with decent brakes, three tracks that snake through 7.3 kilometres of redwoods, LED-lit tunnels, and banked corners.

Got a toddler (between 80cm and 110cm)? They can ride in tandem with an adult for a small extra fee, experiencing the leisurely Tiki Tour track. Got a pre-teen who thinks they’re a rally driver? Unleash them on the Legend or Ultra tracks where they can push the limits and learn a few hard truths about cornering at speed. The complex is also home to the Zoom Zipline, a dual line that lets you and a family member race through the trees at speeds up to 60km/h.

For something a little less flushed with adrenaline, head south-east to the Whakarewarewa Forest, better known as ‘The Redwoods’. This forest is the closest you’ll get to a cathedral built by nature. Planted over a century ago as an experimental forestry initiative, these Californian Coastal Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) now tower up to 75 metres high, swallowing the light and creating a truly humbling, quiet atmosphere.

The Redwoods offers two main activities. The first is hiking or biking the countless trails. They are clearly graded, from easy 30-minute loops to serious multi-hour treks, making it easy to tailor the adventure to your kids' energy levels. The second, and the reason many families come, is the Redwoods Treewalk.

It’s a 700-metre-long series of 28 suspended bridges and platforms, hanging between 9 and 20 metres above the ground. You're walking among the giants, not just below them. The experience is perfectly safe, requiring no harnesses, but it’s high enough to feel like a genuine forest canopy exploration. The Treewalk also offers a spectacular night-time experience called the Redwoods Nightlight, where architect David Trubridge's lanterns illuminate the path and the giant trunks in an ethereal glow.

This is where you have two excellent options for experiencing the geothermal and cultural heart of Rotorua: Te Puia and Whakarewarewa, The Living Māori Village.

For families with little ones, Te Puia is often the easier win for a comprehensive cultural and geothermal punch. Located in the Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley, Te Puia is the home of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, where your kids get to see master carvers and weavers at work.

The main attraction, though, is the Pohutu Geyser. It’s the largest active geyser in the Southern Hemisphere, and unlike the timed show at Wai-O-Tapu, Pōhutu is unpredictable, erupting up to 20 times a day, sometimes reaching heights of 30 metres. There's nothing like a 30-minute, surprise-blast of boiling water to capture a kid's attention.

Alternatively, Whakarewarewa, The Living Māori Village (located just next door), offers a glimpse into how the Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao people have used the geothermal heat for daily life for centuries. Here, you'll see people cooking their meals (hāngi) in steam vents and using the natural hot pools for bathing. It's a more intimate, less polished experience, offering a different kind of cultural connection.

If the Luge gave your kids a taste for adrenaline, the Velocity Valley Adventure Park (formerly Agroventures) is the destination for high-octane thrills.

With some truly wacky inventions it's home to two world-first rides. First, there’s the Shweeb Racer, the world's first human-powered monorail racetrack. You strap into a recumbent bike pod, suspended five metres in the air, and race your family member over 600 metres. It’s competitive, exhausting, and a total laugh.

Then there’s Zorbing, the original. Rotorua is the birthplace of the giant inflatable ball ride where you roll, solo or tandem, down a 350-metre hill. It’s pure, stupid, brilliant fun. Finally there’s the Agrojet, a 450-horsepower jet boat sprint that hits speeds of 100km/h on a purpose-built course.

The park caters to different age and fear levels with a clever pass system, where you buy a certain number of rides to share across the family. This allows a cautious parent to try one ride while the kids use the rest of the passes to queue up for the Freefall Xtreme (an outdoor wind tunnel that simulates skydiving) over and over again. It’s the kind of high-energy destination that earns you serious parent points.

Obviously you can’t come to Sulphur City without getting wet. The Polynesian Spa, located in the gorgeous Government Gardens, is the gold standard for soaking. While the Adult Pools are serene and aimed at maximum relaxation, the Family Spa area is built for fun, with a large freshwater pool, a hydro slide, and two hot mineral pools that are safe for kids.

The water is sourced from two springs: the acidic Priest Spring water for aches and pains (and the adults) and the alkaline Rachael Spring water, known for its antiseptic action that leaves skin feeling silky. It’s the Lonely Planet-approved practicality: a trustworthy, well-managed place to wash away the day's grime.

For the budget-conscious or those who prefer their thermal experience raw and free, head straight to Kuirau Park. Situated right in the city centre (off Pukuatua and Ranolf Streets), this is New Zealand’s only official geothermal park that allows public access free of charge. You can walk around steaming crater lakes, bubbling mud pools, and even find a free thermal foot bath, perfect for curious little feet (under strict adult supervision, of course). It’s a wonderfully strange juxtaposition of bubbling earth just metres from a manicured garden.