Visitor Information

 The New Plymouth i-SITE Visitor Centre, Puke Ariki, 65 St. Aubyn St. (tel. 0800/639-759 in NZ, or 06/759-6060; fax 06/759-6073; www.newplymouthnz.com), is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 6pm (Wed until 9pm), and Saturday, Sunday, and holidays from 9am to 5pm (closed Dec 25).

South Taranaki i-SITE Visitor Centre, 55 High St., Hawera (tel. 0800/111-323 in NZ, or 06/278-8599; fax 06/278-6599; www.southtaranaki.com), is open Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 5:15pm, and weekends 9:30am to 4pm, December through April (closed Dec 25); and 10am to 3pm May to November.

Special Events

During October's Taranaki Rhododendron Festival (tel. 0800/746-363; www.rhodo.co.nz), more than 100 private and public gardens open their gates. The TSB Bank Festival of Lights ★★ (tel. 06/759-6060; www.festivaloflights.co.nz) takes place in Pukekura Park, nightly from mid-December through early February, weather permitting. WOMAD (www.womad.co.nz) is a massive 3-day multicultural festival of world music and dance held in March at Brooklands Park. Parihaka (www.parihaka.com) is a 3-day International Peace Festival featuring arts, music, and culture staged on the historic Parihaka Pa in January. Call the visitor center for more events, or check the events calendar on the website.

Getting Around

By Taxi -- Call New Plymouth Taxis (tel. 06/757-3000) or Energy City Cabs (tel. 06/757-5580).

Orientation

 Devon Street East and Devon Street West are the main thoroughfares. Running parallel and to the north are the one-way streets Powderham and Courtenay, and to the west, Vivian and Leach streets. The main road into the city from the south is Eliot Street. Once you've memorized the one-way pattern, it's very easy to find your way around. The small towns of Stratford and Hawera lie to the south of New Plymouth.

Getting There

By Plane -- Air New Zealand Link provides daily flights from Auckland, Wellington, and Wanganui, with connecting service to other cities. Call tel. 06/755-2250 for flight information. The New Plymouth Airport is approximately 8km (5 miles) from the city, a 10- to 15-minute drive. Withers Coachlines (tel. 06/751-1777;www.withers.co.nz) provides shuttle service to and from the airport and they're much cheaper than taxis.

By Coach (Bus) -- InterCity (tel. 09/623-1503) and Newmans (tel. 09/623-1504) provide daily coach service. Tranzit Coachlines (tel. 06/765-7127; www.trc.govt.nz/bus-routes) operates local city buses. Average city fares are NZ$3.50 to NZ$5.50 for adults and NZ$2 to NZ$3.50 for children ages 5 to 15.

By Shuttle -- A number of different companies, including Withers Coachlines (above), depart New Plymouth daily for the North Egmont Visitor Centre at Egmont National Park, returning to the city in the afternoon. Reservations are essential; the trip costs around NZ$55 to NZ$65 round-trip. Taranaki Tours (tel. 0800/886-877;www.taranakitours.com) charges NZ$55 per person for this service.

By Car -- New Plymouth is reached on State Highway 3 from Wanganui via Stratford and from the north via Waitara; or on State Highway 45, the coastal highway (commonly called the Surf Highway), via Opunake. If you have plenty of time, enjoy history, and want to see a remote slice of "old New Zealand," take the Forgotten World Highway 43, which runs between Stratford in Taranaki to Taumarunui in the Ruapehu region. It's about a 3-hour trip. Most i-SITE visitor centers carry the detailed, pictorial brochure of the trip, which includes all highlights along the way. Note that 12km (7 1/2 miles) of the road are still unsealed and there are no petrol stations along the 155km (96-mile) route.

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