New Plymouth tourist information

New Plymouth is the port and main city in the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand.

The area where New Plymouth was founded had been the historic home for several Maori iwi (tribes) for centuries. Early European whalers operated in the area for some time before the ship William Bryant arrived in 1840 to disembark the first of the European settlers, with the town of New Plymouth being established in 1841. Settlers came from not only Britain (as the majority of New Zealand's settlers did) but also from Poland, Switzerland, The Netherlands, China and India.

Today, the city is a service centre for the region's principal economic activities including intensive pastoral activities (mainly dairy farming) as well as oil, natural gas and petrochemical exploration and production. New Plymouth is also a bustling financial centre as the home of the Taranaki Savings Bank (TSB), which is the only 100% non-government New Zealand-owned bank and has topped banking surveys in customer service and satisfaction. The population is about 49,000. Notable features are the excellent botanic gardens (eg Pukekura Park), the controversial 45 m high artwork called the wind wand designed by Len Lye, and picturesque views of Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont. ). It is also noted for being a coastal city with a mountain within one hour's drive away, where residents and visitors to New Plymouth can snowboard, ski, water ski and surf all in the same day.

Lonely Planet City and Country Guides^{(external sources)}