5 guides, each rated 1 to 5 with the reason — and two lists per place, where you are comfortable and where to pay attention. Nowhere is called dangerous; the specific thing is what helps.
Very safe town, but the mountains demand respect: weather changes fast, alpine tracks need proper gear, and you should always log your intentions for longer walks. Adventure operators are well-regulated. NZ sun is intensely strong — burn times are short even when cool.
Comfortable: Queenstown · Arrowtown · Frankton
Alcohol and adventure sports on the same day
Alpine weather, which changes in an hour and catches out day walkers on the Ben Lomond and Routeburn
The Crown Range road in winter, which needs chains and is where hire cars end up
Safe and relaxed. The geothermal ground is the hazard and it is real: thin crusts give way, and people have been badly burned stepping off marked paths. Stay on the boardwalks, always. The sulphur smell is harmless. The sun here burns faster than visitors expect — New Zealand sits under a thin ozone layer and an hour is enough in summer.
Comfortable: the lakefront · Ohinemutu · the Redwoods · the geothermal parks · Government Gardens
unfenced geothermal ground — thin crust over boiling mud; stay on the marked paths, which is the whole rule in Rotorua
hot springs of unknown temperature — and never put your head under — amoebic meningitis has killed people in New Zealand hot pools
the lake in wind — shallow, and it gets rough faster than it looks
the hydrogen sulphide smell — harmless in the open air; it is the reason the town smells of eggs
The hazards here are weather and water. The road to Milford closes for avalanche risk in winter and for slips at any time, sandflies are relentless and repellent is not optional, and the tracks need the gear the signs describe rather than the gear people bring.
Comfortable: Te Anau · Milford village · the marked tracks · the cruise boats
the Milford road in winter — it closes for avalanche risk, and chains are a legal requirement
sandflies — relentless, and repellent is not optional — this is the thing everybody underestimates
the Great Walks without the gear on the list — the weather turns in an hour and there is no phone signal
river crossings after rain — six metres of rain a year has to go somewhere and it goes fast
Very safe. The wind is not a joke — gusts over 100km/h are a normal winter day and the airport diverts. The city sits on a fault line and earthquake drills are routine; the guidance is on the back of every hotel door.
Comfortable: the waterfront · Te Aro · Thorndon · Cuba Street · Oriental Bay
the wind — gusts over 100km/h are an ordinary winter day and the airport diverts
Courtenay Place at closing time — the city’s one loud hour
the south coast in a swell — the waves come over the road at Island Bay
A safe, easy city where the sensible precautions are ordinary ones — do not leave anything visible in a parked car, which is the one theft visitors actually meet, especially at trailheads and west coast beach car parks. The genuine danger is the water: Piha, Bethells and Muriwai have rips that kill people every year. Swim between the flags, and nowhere else.
Karangahape Road — and the lower CBD at three in the morning
Car break-ins at west-coast beach car parks, which are constant
Piha — and the west-coast surf beaches, which are the most drowning-prone in the country
The ratings are this site's own, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in; they are not an index. Read the general advice in travel safety tips.
