Image: Camilla Rutherford
Wellness has entered its elemental era. Instead of retreating from the world, we’re hiking through ancient forests, plunging into icy cold lakes and breathing the freshest air we can find.
We want to come home feeling better than when we left, and increasingly that feeling comes from moving our bodies, spending time outdoors and sharing experiences that leave us energised.
We no longer want holidays to work with our routines; we want travel experiences that change them. We want to feel alive.
New Zealand is perfectly suited to this new way of travelling.
Whether going solo or with friends, New Zealand is the kind of place where mornings begin on walking trails that wind through native forest, along dramatic coastlines or into alpine scenery that rewards every step. Want an active escape that delivers on all fronts? You’ve come to the right place.
The Forest Walk That Calms Your Nervous System
Start with a walk through towering Californian redwoods, where the Redwoods Treewalk threads through the forest canopy on a series of elegant suspension bridges. There’s something about standing beneath trees that have stretched skywards for generations that instantly quietens the mind, replacing mental chatter with a profound sense of perspective.
Where To Find New Zealand’s Most Exhilarating Outdoor Adventures
For those craving a little more adrenaline, Mountain Bike Rotorua offers world-class trails through native forest, you can soar through the forest canopy on a zipline with Canopy Tours Rotorua, climb a waterfall via a via ferrata with Wildwire Wanaka, or descend beneath the earth on a Black Water Rafting adventure through the glow-worm-lit caves of Waitomo. It’s exhilarating, demanding and exactly the sort of adventure that leaves you smiling long after you’ve dried off. Still want more? A heli-hike on Franz Joseph Glacier delivers adventure that stays with you forever.
Why Cold-Water Swimming Makes You Feel So Alive
If you’re someone who chases the invigorating buzz of a cold plunge, why not take a bracing swim in the crystal-clear waters of Lake Ōkāreka or Lake Tarawera, where the cold lingers just long enough to sharpen the senses. Or immerse yourself – literally – in Doubtful Sound, where an overnight cruise on pristine water gives the option for a bracing swim that will leave you feeling wonderfully alive.
The Recovery Ritual Every Wellness Holiday Needs
Of course, there is also time for recovery. New Zealand’s geothermal landscapes have long understood something modern wellness is only just rediscovering; recovery matters as much as movement. At Wai Ariki Hot Springs & Spa in Rotorua, restorative therapies inspired by Māori healing traditions pair naturally heated mineral waters with contemporary wellness rituals. Further north on the Coromandel, recovery looks altogether different. At Hot Water Beach, visitors dig their own spa pool in the sand as geothermal water bubbles up beneath the shoreline, before cooling off with a dip in the Pacific. It’s a reminder that some of the country’s most memorable wellness experiences are created by nature itself.
How To Balance Movement, Rest And Indulgence
And the reward doesn’t end there. Downtime continues on board your cruise at Doubtful Sound as you sleep in total silence and awaken to hearty chef-cooked meals, or at the chic Regent of Rotorua, where sleek rooms, the hotel’s own thermal mineral pools and easy access to world class restaurants make it easy to balance all that adventure with well-earned rest and perhaps a glass of pinot – life’s about balance, after all.
In New Zealand, you’ll find that wellness doesn’t have to be all green smoothies and silent meditation. Sometimes it’s feeling exhilarated, sleeping deeply and waking up ready to do it all again. And that’s a feeling worth bringing home.
Come find your 100% in New Zealand
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