The best of
Rotorua. Ranked.

If you want colour — the Champagne Pool, the Devil's Bath — go to Wai-O-Tapu. If you want a geyser plus Māori cultural context, go to Te Puia. If you want boiling mud and a mud bath afterwards, go to Hells Gate. If you want a walk through a valley created by a volcanic eruption rather than a boardwalk loop, go to Waimangu.

Yes. Kuirau Park in the centre of town has steaming vents, boiling mud pools and a free public foot pool, and Sulphur Bay on the lakefront is free and steams constantly. They are smaller and less spectacular than the paid parks, but they are genuine and cost nothing.

Early morning. The parks are emptiest at opening, the light is best on the coloured pools, and cold morning air makes the steam dramatically more visible. Wai-O-Tapu is the exception to plan around because the Lady Knox Geyser is set off at a fixed morning time and the crowd moves through the park together afterwards.

No. The smell is hydrogen sulphide venting from the geothermal field under the city. It is strongest near Sulphur Bay and Kuirau Park, most visitors stop noticing it within a day, and at the concentrations found around town it is harmless. People with respiratory conditions should still follow the posted signage inside the parks.