Where to live in New Zealand: The best places for city life and nature
I haven’t lived everywhere, but I have spent a lot of time searching for the perfect place.
For a couple of years now, I have lived nomadically — I quit my flat in Auckland to live out of my van in the South Island, before travelling the world and coming back to spend another six months on the road in New Zealand.
I haven’t decided where to settle yet. But choosing a place to live in New Zealand is constantly on my mind.
I want a bit of everything; close to the sea, but also close to mountains. Big enough to have an active social life, but small enough to not have to deal with traffic.
I want all the laid back, easygoing lifestyle of small town New Zealand but with a big city lifestyle (flat whites and sourdough bakeries, wine bars on the weekend, and people from all over the world to meet).
During my travels around New Zealand, I’ve been trying to figure out where the best place to live might be. If you’re wondering the same thing, here are my insights into life in Auckland and in other places.
Key takeaways
Assuming you want to live in a larger town for work, here are the key points:
Auckland is the biggest and most diverse city, with the most nightlife and dining options
Wellington is fun, naturally beautiful and has epic coffee, but you have to be okay with wet and windy weather
Queenstown is a busy tourist hub with sky high rent (if you can even find a rental property) but you get to live in paradise
Nelson has a great balance of beaches and mountains, but it’s a small town without a lot of nightlife or events
Christchurch is a fun city with a great balance of things going on, but it’s less diverse than Auckland
Dunedin is close to some epic surfing, camping and hiking, but has strong student city vibes
New Zealand city life vs rural life
The biggest push and pull for me is the choice between city or rural life.
New Zealand doesn’t have a lot of big cities; Auckland is the largest at 1.5 million people, and Christchurch and Wellington are the next largest with 380,000 and 200,000 respectively.
The pros of living in a city are obvious. You have far more options in terms of eating out, nightlife, arts and culture, and all the other good things that come with cities.
Small towns have less of that but often other perks. Like, uncrowded surf breaks, epic hiking, or generally incredible nature.
But, there’s not much going on out there in the wops.
I grew up in the Coromandel Peninsula, in a very rural area that is both stunningly beautiful and isolated. It’s hard to have any kind of social life there. And I should know — growing up there, my teen years were pretty tame. It wasn’t until I got my license and started driving at 17 that things started getting more interesting.
You definitely need a car, which means going out is tough. Drink driving is a big problem in rural areas for this reason. You can’t just pop out for drinks, unless you have a sober driver to get you home.
1. Auckland
Pros: Has the most options in terms of dining, shopping, and nightlife
Cons: Traffic is bad and the city is expensive
Auckland is New Zealand’s only large city, with a population of 1.6 million people.
It’s still sleepy compared to cities like London or New York, so it’s a nice place to live if you like a balance between city amenities and a good lifestyle.
Living in areas like the North Shore or in West Auckland, you’re close to beaches, bush walks, without being too far from the city centre.
From my home in the central neighbourhood of Grey Lynn, I can reach West Coast surf beaches like Muriwai in 45 minutes, or head 1 hour north to white sand surf beaches in Tawharanui Regional Park.
Both destinations also have great walks and wildlife — in Muriwai you can see gannets and in Tawharanui, you can see rare birds like takahe. Not bad for how close these places are to the city centre.
More central neighbourhoods in Auckland, like Grey Lynn and Ponsonby, are full of excellent cafes and restaurants, as well as bars for nights out.
The downsides of living in Auckland are higher housing costs and a lot of traffic.
According to September 2023 data from Trade Me Property, the North Shore of Auckland is the most expensive place to rent in the country. Average weekly rent is $730, a 12.3% increase on 2022.
It’s common for single or young people to share houses (we call it flatting) in New Zealand, so if you want to find roommates, you would probably pay around $300 a week in rent.
You need a car in Auckland — the way of life here means that’s almost non-negotiable.
Most New Zealanders rely on their car for everything, from getting groceries, to visiting friends, to dropping the kids off at school. This stems from New Zealand’s remoteness, where many people live far away from amenities — where I grew up, the nearest supermarket is a 45 minute drive away.
That mentality, of driving everywhere, is no different in Auckland.
Public transport just isn’t efficient enough to get by without a car. Trust me, I’ve tried to make it work — I would happily live car free in the city, but it can take hours to get from one side of the city to the other on buses, when it only takes 20 minutes to drive.
With a relatively large population though, this means that traffic is a constant problem.
2. New Plymouth
Mount Taranaki seen from the sky
The Pouakai Tarns walk
I love New Plymouth. I’ve visited many times, and like it so much I’ve even worked remotely from there.
With the surf highway wrapping around the coast, and the mighty Mount Taranaki looming over the region, Taranaki offers a great balance of both mountain and water activities.
This is where you can surf and snowboard in the same day.
Egmont/Taranaki National Park has some epic hikes.
Climbing to the summit of Mount Taranaki is one of the best day hikes in New Zealand, and shorter walks around the base of the volcanic cone lead through goblin forest to waterfalls and alpine pools.
Taranaki’s coastline is famous for black sand beaches with pounding surf. Turn down any side road off Surf Highway 45 and you’ll reach a great surf beach.
With a west facing position, the beaches are also incredible sunset spots, even if you don’t surf.
It’s also a really arty area. New Plymouth has some great street art, and has spawned some creative New Zealand brands like Ozone Coffee.
The Govett Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre is one of New Zealand’s best art galleries, and a linchpin of the local art scene.
The cons of New Plymouth is that it is essentially quite a small town, so it can be hard to build up a social circle there.
On a hike up to the Pouakai Tarns, my friends and I befriended a couple in their thirties, who had recently moved to New Plymouth from overseas.
We took turns taking photos of each other by the beautiful tarns (an epic day walk) then caught up the next day for brunch in New Plymouth.
They loved the outdoorsy lifestyle in Taranaki, but did feel like it was hard to connect with locals.
Having said that though, they were lovely and happy to make plans with us, so I think if you’re comfortable putting yourself out there you could make it work.
3. Wellington
Pros: Compact, creative and artistic, beautiful, and great food and nightlife
Cons: Famously wet and windy weather
Wellington locals love to say that you can’t beat Wellington on a good day.
They might be right, but the problem is, there aren’t many good days in Wellington.
The capital city is famous for having windy weather.
It’s significantly colder in Wellington than in Auckland.
My sister used to live in Wellington and was always complaining that she couldn’t wear short dresses, because they would constantly fly up, or nice shoes, because they were always being ruined by the rain.
If you don’t mind a bit of wind and rain though, Wellington is a great city.
It’s naturally beautiful, located on the edge of a stunning harbour.
Orcas sometimes swim into the harbour, and the waterfront in Wellington puts Auckland to shame.
The Tourism New Zealand office, where I would work from occasionally, was located high up one of the central office towers. The view looking across the harbour was incredible. My colleagues kept a pair of binoculars in the office, so they could spot orcas and other marine life when they visited the harbour.
What I love about Wellington is how compact the city centre is. You can easily walk around all the main streets in the centre, which isn’t really possible in Auckland.
The city centre really delivers on all the good things too, with excellent restaurants and cafes — the city takes its coffee culture seriously.
Lyall Bay in Wellington has great surf, and there are some beautiful nature walks close to the city, like the trail at Red Rocks Reserve, where you can see seals on the rocks.
Another thing to note about Wellington is that the city is very hilly — you need to like walking up and down steep slopes if you plan on living here.
4. Nelson
Pros: Close to three national parks and some incredible beaches
Cons: There isn’t a lot in the way of nightlife or events — one friend left after a year of living there because it was too boring
Nelson is a great place to live in New Zealand if you don’t mind small town life.
Nelson is within easy reach of three national parks — Abel Tasman, Kahurangi, and Nelson Lakes.
That means you can spend most weekends hiking, camping, or otherwise exploring.
It’s also within easy reach of the Marlborough Sounds and Golden Bay, so there are some awesome opportunities for watersports like kayaking and paddleboarding.
On top of that, there are plenty of vineyards and breweries in the area, so there are plenty of ways to stay busy on the weekend.
The major downside of Nelson is that there aren’t many young people in the town.
The median age is 43.4 years, according to Stats NZ. That’s compared to 34.7 years in Auckland, or 34.1 in Wellington.
That might be okay if you’re looking to relocate there with your family, but if you’re a twenty or thirty something looking for fun, Nelson might not be great in the longer term.
5. Christchurch
Pros: A beautiful, affordable city close to lots of natural beauty
Cons: Earthquakes
Christchurch is the biggest city in the South Island, so has the most opportunities for work and housing.
Even so, housing is a lot more affordable in Christchurch than in Auckland or Wellington. That goes for both rent and house prices.
It’s also a very cool city — there is plenty to do in the town itself, and it’s close to some great natural attractions as well.
Between the golden Port Hills, the surf beaches at Brighton and Taylor’s Mistake, and the glittering Lyttelton Harbour, Christchurch is as beautiful as any other location in New Zealand.
Christchurch is a very flat city, which is somewhat unusual for New Zealand. This makes it a great place for cycling.
The obvious major downside of living in Christchurch is the likelihood of another earthquake.
The 2011 Christchurch earthquake killed 185 people and damaged around 100,000 houses — some 10,000 of those needed to be demolished.
In the years since the earthquake, Christchurch really has grown back more resilient. The city should be better set up to weather quakes in the future, but it depends on how comfortable you are with living with the possibility of seismic activity.
6. Queenstown
Pros: Queenstown is lively for a small town and there’s a lot to do all year round
Cons: Rent is Queenstown is expensive and rental properties are scarce
Queenstown is a great place to live if you’re looking at visiting New Zealand for a working holiday.
There are plenty of jobs there in hospitality and adventure tourism.
Queenstown is at the heart of many of New Zealand’s most famous adventure activities. You can hike to glaciers on the weekend, go skiing all winter, enjoy living lakeside, and benefit from the lively buzz that comes from the town being so popular with visitors.
The major disadvantage of Queenstown is the cost of housing.
Rent is expensive, and it’s also hard to find places to rent.
Depending on how warm you like the weather to be, the climate of Queenstown can also be a drawback. I find it to be quite cold.
7. Dunedin
Dunedin is a cool town with a Scottish vibe.
The city was settled by Scots from 1848 — the name Dunedin is a Gaelic version of Edinburgh. With stone buildings, whisky distilleries, Highland games, and chilly, wet weather, the Scottish roots of Dunedin remain strong.
Dunedin is mostly famous as a student town, home to the University of Otago. The students have a reputation for burning couches in the streets, partying hard in dank and freezing flats, and basically running amok.
Dunedin is fantastically close to some epic parts of the South Island.
Thanks for reading this far! I hope this helped you decide where is best to live in New Zealand — although remember these are just my opinions, so don’t let me get in the way of you living wherever is best for you.
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