New Plymouth Regional Information

New Plymouth | Regional Information | Activity Highlights | Scenic Highlights | History

New Plymouth is a city located in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. Here you will find a wide range of exciting attractions.

New Plymouth Overview

Taranaki, New Zealand

New Plymouth is Taranaki region's only city. New Plymouth is situated on the west coast of the North Island 365 km south of Auckland and 352 kilometres north of Wellington, with a 2006 urban-area population of 47,913. New Plymouth was the region's first European settlement and has always been the largest. The city is the administrative centre of the New Plymouth District Council.

Today its economy is based on two industries, dairy farming - that dominates the surrounding plains, and the petroleum industry producing oil and natural gas in the Maui and Kapuni fields.

New Plymouth is also home of the TSB Bank (formerly the Taranaki Savings Bank), the largest of the remaining non-government New Zealand-owned banks.

New Plymouth Highlights

New Plymouth is an exciting city with many attractions on offer. These include:

The nearby Mount Taranaki/Egmont providing skiing and snowboarding opportunities
Rock climbing and alpine walks on Mount Taranaki/Egmont
Taranaki coast is known has one of the best places to go surfing in New Zealand
The world's first purpose-built, fully integrated museum, library and information centre
A contemporary art museum
An aquatic centre
Choice of 20 golf courses in the region
The annual WOMAD festival (among many other festivals)