Rotorua

Rotorua needs 2 days: the Wai-O-Tapu geothermal valley, with intensely colored thermal pools and active geysers, on one, and a Maori cultural evening with hangi (food cooked underground) and a haka performance at a traditional marae, on the other. October-April brings the mildest weather. It's mid-priced for New Zealand. Known as «Sulphur City» for the sulfur smell its hot springs give off around the clock, it's the country's most important center of Maori culture and identity, with more local iwi (tribes) keeping traditions alive than in almost any other New Zealand region.