New Zealand's geothermal heartland steams, bubbles and occasionally erupts around a lakeside town that smells faintly of sulphur and doesn't apologise. Soak in the Polynesian Spa's lakeside pools as black swans drift past, then day-trip to Wai-O-Tapu, where the Champagne Pool rims orange like a science-fiction cocktail. Book an evening at a Māori cultural village for a hāngī feast. Go in the southern winter, June to August, when the cool air makes the hot pools sing.
Featured in Ten spa and hot-spring escapes to switch off together · Romantic