Things to do in Gisborne
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Gisborne
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Summer brings warm sea, patrolled beaches, the rockslide and stingrays, plus peak prices and the New Year festival crush.
Autumn brings harvest, the best Eastwoodhill colour, warm sea early on and thinner crowds.
Winter is quiet and often sunny with consistent surf, but reduced hours and the highest risk of road closures after rain.
Spring brings lambing closures on Cook's Cove and Hikurangi, fresh gardens and the October arts and wine events.
What's on
- Rhythm and Vines 28 to 31 December
New Year festival at Waiohika Estate; the 2026 edition is the final one in Gisborne before relocation in 2027.
- First Light Marathon 23 January 2027 for the 2027 edition
A pre dawn East Coast marathon and shorter distances timed to greet the first sunrise.
- Te Tairawhiti Arts Festival Usually about ten days in early October
A multi day arts festival across Gisborne venues in spring.
- Gisborne Wine and Food Late October, usually Labour Weekend
A one day celebration of local wine and food; check the date before booking as single day events move.
Best things to do in Gisborne
Tairawhiti Museum
A NZD 5 regional museum with taonga Maori, maritime history and the Star of Canada wheelhouse, plus Wyllie Cottage.
Te Poho-o-Rawiri Meeting House
One of the largest carved meeting houses in New Zealand, a living marae at the foot of Titirangi in Kaiti.
Titirangi Reserve
The Kaiti Hill viewpoint over Poverty Bay by the Cook landing site, best at sunrise or late afternoon.
Gisborne Farmers Market
A Saturday morning growers market for citrus, avocados, honey, bread and hot food, sold by the makers.
Bushmere Estate
A family vineyard strong on Chardonnay, with a cellar door and restaurant made for a long lunch.
Matawhero Winery Cellar Door & Luxury Vineyard Accommodation
A founding Gisborne winery pouring Chardonnay and aromatics in the vines, open on weekends only.
Gisborne Wine Centre
A harbourside tasting room pouring Gisborne wines with guidance, sharing its site with Crawford Road Kitchen.
Where to stay in Gisborne
Inner Harbour and City Centre
restaurants, museum and first trip base
Walk to the Wine Centre, harbour restaurants and the museum, with the city's best and mid range hotels.
Waikanae and Awapuni
beach, families and value
Beachfront holiday park and motels by the calmer city beaches, a short walk or drive to the centre.
Tatapouri
sunrise, surf and stingrays
Coastal cabins and glamping beside Dive Tatapouri, 15 minutes north, accepting a drive to dinner.
Best restaurants in Gisborne
Marina Restaurant & Bar
The city's special occasion table, French inspired seasonal cooking by the river at Marina Park.
The Works
The dependable nicer dinner at the Inner Harbour, seasonal Gisborne produce with local wines.
Crawford Road Kitchen
Share plates and platters built around wine at the harbourside Wine Centre site, best at sunset.
Portofino GISBORNE
The central Italian staple for pizza and pasta, unfussy and good for families and mixed groups.
Sunshine Brewery
A relaxed craft brewery taproom near Waikanae Beach for a tasting paddle after a swim.
Smash Palace
The city's iconic live music bar, with local beer and simple bar food on gig nights.
Zest Cafe
A central cafe open from 6am for big breakfasts and coffee before a day drive.
Captain Morgans
No frills fish and chips, seafood chowder and battered mussels to eat in or take to the beach.
Outdoor things to do in Gisborne
Dive Tatapouri
A guided low tide reef walk in waders where wild stingrays and eagle rays glide around your legs.
Rere Rockslide
A free, unsupervised 60 metre natural rock slide in the Rere River, ridden on a bodyboard or inflatable.
Rere Falls
A wide curtain waterfall near the rockslide, with a picnic area and a short track to its base.
Eastwoodhill National Arboretum of New Zealand
The National Arboretum, 131 hectares and 25km of tracks among the largest northern tree collection in the south.
Tolaga Bay Wharf
One of the longest wharves in New Zealand at 660 metres, walked and fished from on a calm day.
Cook's Cove Walkway
A DOC headland walk to the cove where Cook anchored in 1769, about 5.8km return from Tolaga Bay.
Wainui Beach
A golden surf beach east of the city and the classic place to watch the first sunrise in the world.
Gisborne RailBike Adventure
Side by side tandem railbikes pedalled on a disused coastal railway, an easy way to see roadless coast.
Best hotels in Gisborne
Portside Hotel
The best address in town, a small waterfront hotel on Reads Quay by the harbour restaurants.
Emerald Hotel
A central 4 star plus hotel with very large rooms, a pool and parking, walkable to dinner.
Tatapouri Bay Oceanside Accommodation
Beachfront cabins and Zen glamping beside Dive Tatapouri, with the sunrise visible from bed.
Waikanae Beach TOP 10 Holiday Park
A beachfront holiday park near the centre, from cheap cabins to apartments, with a pool and waterslide.
Is Gisborne expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | NZ$110 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | NZ$220 a person |
| Splurge | NZ$450 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Bushmere Estate: a few days ahead
- Dive Tatapouri: a few days ahead
- Gisborne RailBike Adventure: a few days ahead
- Mount Hikurangi - Te Ara ki Hikurangi: weeks ahead
- Portside Hotel: weeks ahead
- Tatapouri Bay Oceanside Accommodation: a few days ahead
- Waikanae Beach TOP 10 Holiday Park: a few days ahead
- Marina Restaurant & Bar: a few days ahead
- Book Rhythm and Vines accommodation the day you buy tickets, as the city sells out.
- Book Dive Tatapouri early, as tours run only around low tide and fill in summer.
- Book the Marina and The Works for weekend dinners and a Hikurangi guide or hut well ahead.
- Recheck cellar door days the week you travel, as Bushmere and Matawhero run limited seasonal hours.
Is Gisborne safe?
- Crime levels are generally low; theft from unattended vehicles in tourist areas is the common problem.
- Take valuables from cars at Wainui, Rere, Eastwoodhill and Tolaga Bay carparks, as vehicle theft is the common crime.
- If an earthquake is long or strong, move inland or uphill on foot at once and stay there until officials clear it.
- Swim between the flags where patrols run, use high SPF sunscreen, and heed warning signs at the slide, reef and wharf.
Gisborne travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Old itineraries sending you to USSCO, which is permanently closed, or to a Millton tasting, as its cellar door is closed.
- Treating Gisborne as a half day stop, when every road in and out is slow and winding.
- Trying East Cape and back in a day from Gisborne; even Tolaga Bay with the walk is a full day.
- Underestimating the sun and the surf on the same afternoon.
Getting around Gisborne: public transport and more
- You need a car: fly to Gisborne GIS from Auckland or Wellington and hire one, or drive in on SH2 or SH35.
- Download offline maps and fill up in Gisborne, as coverage drops out on SH35 and inland roads.
- Tolaga Bay is about 55km, Rere about 50km and Hikurangi about 130km from the city, all on slow roads.
Who Gisborne suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Gisborne your trip
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