Everywhere is within walking distance as the land is flat and the city is compact. The heart of the city is closed to vehicle traffic and has attractive gardens, seating and sculpture. Visit Quality Street for a great choice of casual dining options and shopping.
Follow the Street Prints Manaia Art Trail with 15 beautiful, large scale art murals based on the theme “Tuia te muka Tāngata” “Weaving the Threads of Humanity”. Download or view a map of the Trail here.
The Whangārei Growers Market, held 6am to 10.30am every Saturday at Water Street, offers an abundance of locally grown produce along with preserves, honey, eggs, beef, flowers and more.
Take a walk or jump on your bike
The city and suburbs are connected by a network of well developed paths and tracks for cycling and walking. Immerse yourself in the cool native forest by walking from the Town Basin to the Whangārei Falls (catch a bus back into the city). The full walk is about three hours one way or you can choose to do just a short section of the walk. The A H Reed Memorial Park is a five minute drive from the city centre and features a tree-top board walk and stately kauri trees.
Pohe Island Bike Park is your ‘one-stop' cycling destination with a smooth-surface Circuit Track, Traffic Skills and Coaching area beginner bike skills track and world-class Pump Track; all just a heartbeat away from the inner city and connecting to a network of trails around Whangārei.
Kiwis, treasures, parks and gardens
Kiwi North and Heritage Park in Maunu, 10 minutes from the city centre, has loads of amazing things to delight you; trains, vehicles and engines, Māori taonga (treasures), military items, colonial buildings and household items, historical medical collection. Enjoy the Live Days, held monthly when everything is up and running and you can ride a miniature train!
Laurie Hall Park features the ANZAC Memorial and WW1 cenotaph memorial, a playground for the kids and lovely gardens with grassed areas and picnic tables.
Cafler Park, with its gorgeous rose beds, can be accessed from Water Street, First Avenue or the Forum North car park. The Waiarohia River runs along its boundary. Botanica Whangārei, at First Avenue, has displays of colourful subtropical flowers and houses containing cool, green ferns and filmy ferns.
Whangārei Quarry Gardens is set in over 60 acres of a former quarry. The unique microclimate is ideal for growing an abundance of native and exotic subtropical plants. The gardens feature a lake, waterfall, walking paths, forest walks, a variety of garden styles and several historic remnants. Find a perfect picnic spot or relax in the café.
Whangārei Falls / Otuihau
A picturesque 26 metre high waterfall with native forest and lovely picnic spots. Enjoy the view from three easy to access viewing platforms or walk the short loop track to the base of the waterfall. Find out about Otuihau and other waterfalls in the District here.
After enjoying the city centre, don't miss a visit to the lovely Town Basin precinct for restaurants and cafes, museums and galleries, playgrounds and boutique shopping.
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