This was of the top highlights of our trip on the North Island. Getting up close to geysers shooting water, hot springs that radiate heat and the smell of sulfur, and bubbling mud pools is a bucket list experience. The park has three different paths, color coded on both the map and landmark description signs, so it was easy to navigate. The paths themselves allow for easy to moderate walking and offer overlooks for great views and places to rest. Budget 2.5 - 3 hours to explore the entire park, including the Lady Knox geyser. It’s well worth it.

A must do attraction when visiting New Zealand. There are only 5 locations in the world that have mudpots, geyers, hot springs, and other thermal activities together in one location. The colors of the ponds and lakes are surreal. There are 3 different trails to take in the main park area, ranging from easy to moderate. I was able to do all three within 1.5 hours, though I was walking fast since I was on a tour and was allotted 2 hours for the main park area and I wanted to see everything. Plenty of clean bathrooms and there is a small gift shop and cafe for snacks and drinks. One person on our tour said that the cafe only took credit cards.

Walking through the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland was an experience like no other. It's so amazing to see the dramatic differences from one spot to the next. We went on a cloudy day, and so some of the colors weren't as vibrant as I'd hoped, but, even with the cloud coverage, this was a 10/10 experience.

We really enjoyed our visit to Wai-O-Tapu. Before going make sure you check the days of the week and hours they are open, and plan accordingly. There is quite a lot of ground to cover and loop trails of varying lengths. There not so many other visitors when we were there and we definitely saw some unique features. We have been to thermal areas in other countries and these are right up there with the most interesting ones.

Easy to spent a half day or more here. Plenty of walking if you want to see everything and the sights are varied. Great place to see the thermal areas of this region. Not suitable for people with mobility issues. Can visit just the mud pools for free as they are just up the road. These are assessable to all abilities. The geyser is also at a seperate location to the main site. It is manipulated to go off at a certain time daily and you need a ticket to get to the area. If you ask at the ticket counter at the main site they can mark your ticket for use the next day for the geyser if you missed it.

We loved this experience with our 13 and 11 year old. So many interesting things to see. Sadly we arrived too late for the geyser and talk ( only happens once per day) but still felt the price was appropriate for the walks wedding. Lots of walking so would not recommend for people with mobilty issues or very small children who want to run.

It's definitely worth a visit, with a variety of landscapes and geothermal wonders to see. There are three walks you can do: 45 minutes, 60 minutes or 90 minutes - I did the 45min-walk and that was plenty. I also saw the Lady Knox Geyser, which isn't much to see: it's set off in a way that makes me wonder about the health and safety of the staff, and lasts for maybe two minutes? Worth seeing if you're there for the morning show but the real selling point is the thermal wonderland walk. There's a cafe and toilets on-site, and plenty of parking.

Stunning! A must when visiting Rotorua! Not too far from downtown Rotorua. Took about an hour to go through the park, including the geyser. I’ve been to Yellowstone National Park in the United States and while it had similarities, it was uniquely beautiful and well worth my time.

This is an astonishing place to visit. Well worth the effort. there isn't any point getting there before 10:00am as the safety talk etc all occurs at the Lady Knox Geyser. It doesn't start right on 10am so if you are short on time it's worth planning around this. Some people walked from the entry building to the Geyser which is in a different direction but it's longer than you imagine and most walkers had to grab a lift with one of the passing cars, not a walk for children. We had a wonderful time as a family and even with lots of people in the park it never feels crowded. They didn't have maps available which was a pity, you could take a picture of a map they had on display but that didn't really work. It is ceratinly different to the other geo thermal sites we saw and were really glad we had gone. It's all easy walking and well set up.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Thermal park. We reached in time for the Lady Knox Geyser at 10.15 am. The best part was the Artist Palette pool during the first loop walk. Lovely colours!