Taupo Maori Attractions

Taupo is a region steeped in Maori culture and offers a number of attractions for visitors to experience the traditions of the Maori.

Wairakei Terraces

This natural thermal spa and hot pools complex also do a Maori cultural show, which includes singing, dancing, haka and a traditional hangi feast. Experience the welcoming ceremony, listen to speeches, before being taken around the walkways and huts of the village, nestled in the heart of this steaming, geothermal paradise. Watch tattooists, weavers and carvers at work. Enjoy an ample Maori feast, then be enthralled by the storytelling, singing and dancing of the Tangata Whenua tribe. Location - Wairakei, 5 mins north of Taupo.

Kai Waho

Billed as 'the most authentic Maori experience in New Zealand', you'll be driven on a intensive 35min 4WD trip high up into the Taupo Basin, to Tamau Pa, your cabin home. Using traditional Maori cooking methods, you'll be taught how to cook food deep in the earth and over dinner can listen to engrossing tales of Maori myth and legend. Unlike other Maori cultural experiences, with Kai Waho you have the option of staying overnight. Choose from single or multi-day packages.

NZ Maori Creations

Run by Maori Delaini Brown, these are tailor-made tours for individuals or groups. You will be taken to special places, see him at work, wood-carving, hear his stories of what it means to be a Maori today, and just be seduced by his passion and fervour for the Maori way of life.

PureOraWalks

Led by a Maori guide, this walk around the Rimu Track, northeast of Lake Taupo, is designed to get you feeling the same spirituality that inspires the Maori who still live here today. Your guide will tell you fantastical stories about why the area is special, and you'll also learn how to live off the land and put together a natural medicine basket of barks, herbs and plants.