Haedong Yonggungsa Temple © Aleney de Winter

We explore cliff-top temples, rainbow villages and everything in between in our guide to  the best things to do in 48 hours in Busan with kids.

The alarm screams us awake at 5 AM, which is basically still yesterday. Armed with coffee and groggy determination, my daughter and I drag ourselves onto the KTX high-speed train to Busan. Despite our exhaustion, we’re hoping this ride ends better than the film version.

Happily, what we find in Korea’s second city is one of the best family destinations in South Korea, a city that flips our expectations of Korean family travel. And there’s not a zombie in sight. Well, until we catch our own tired reflections in shop windows.

BTS mural at Gamcheon © Aleney de Winter

Trading Seoul’s polish for lively markets, street food on every corner and neighbourhoods full of local character, there’s no shortage of things to do in Busan with kids, but two days is enough to cover the highlights comfortably. Busan rewards the effort in ways that Seoul, for all its brilliance, simply doesn’t. Trading the capital’s polish for lively markets, street food on every corner and neighbourhoods full of local character, it’s considerably more relaxed and manageable.

Jagalchi Fish Market © Aleney de Winter

There’s enough quirk to keep teenagers from eyerolling themselves into another dimension, enough culture to justify calling it educational and enough Korean fried chicken to keep everyone happy. And, amidst it all, you’ll find yourself having the most honest conversations about history, culture and what it means to preserve the past without embalming it.

If you are visiting Busan for the first time, here’s our tried and tested guide to the must-visit attractions and experiences to enjoy in 48 hours in Busan.

Day One: Busan’s markets, monks and murals

Jagalchi Fish Market

Jagalchi Fish Market © Aleney de Winter

Hit the ground running with lunch at Jagalchi, Korea’s largest seafood market. This place doesn’t mess around. You’ll smell it before you see it… all dried fish, ocean brine and something indefinably fishy that’s somehow completely intoxicating. Let the kids explore the outdoor tanks first. Watching spiky sea urchins and flip-flopping fish is weirdly mesmerising.

Jagalchi Fish Market © Aleney de Winter

For the best place to eat seafood in Busan, just head upstairs at Jagalchi Fish Market to the cooked food section, where you pick your seafood downstairs and they grill it to order. Point at things, nod enthusiastically and you’ll end up with a table groaning under grilled fish with crackling, caramelised skin, prawns the size of your forearm and enough kimchi to fuel a small army.

If you’re lucky (or unlucky, depending on your perspective), someone at a neighbouring table will order something still wriggling. My daughter and I watched wide-eyed as a tentacle make a valiant bid for freedom.  Confronting, for sure. But it’s also honest. There’s no Instagram-filtered version of where food comes from here.

Gamcheon Culture Village

Gamcheon Culture Village © Aleney de Winter

Twenty minutes by taxi brings you to what looks like someone knocked over a paint factory on a mountainside and decided to leave it that way. Gamcheon Culture Village’s candy-hued houses are stacked impossibly on top of each other, tumbling down the hillside like a LEGO masterpiece dreamed up by someone who clearly never heard the phrase “tone it down”.

Once a refuge for those displaced by the Korean War, these steep alleys and jumbled rooftops provided sanctuary in desperate times. Today, creativity hums through every narrow lane. Murals splash across walls, sculptures pop up in unexpected corners, and rooftop cafés perch precariously above it all, offering tea with a side of spectacular views.

Gamcheon Culture Village © Aleney de Winter

What makes this place brilliant for kids is the treasure hunt aspect. Grab a map from the information centre, buy the kids a torched marshmallow ice cream from a street vendor (trust me on this—they’re like s’mores, only better), and let them lead. The village is small enough that you won’t lose anyone but big enough to feel like an adventure. Those candy-coloured houses climbing the mountain like a Cubist masterpiece? They’re even more spectacular up close. Allow two hours minimum and wear comfortable shoes.

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple © Aleney de Winter

Trade Gamcheon’s chaotic colour for the tranquillity of Haedong Yonggungsa, a 12th-century Buddhist temple perched precariously on an ocean cliff that might just be the prettiest place in Busan, which is saying something.

We descend 108 stone steps flanked by bamboo and stone lanterns, the crash of waves below providing the soundtrack. A three-storey pagoda rises like a guardian, and shrines are strewn with colourful lanterns swaying gently in the ocean breeze.

My daughter stops in front of one shrine, its centrepiece a Buddha statue with an extremely shiny belly. My daughter rubs it like she is summoning a genie, and the sunset obligingly painted the sky pink and gold. Coincidence? Probably. But she’s convinced she’s blessed now, and who am I to argue?

Arrive before sunset for the best light and the best chances of good fortune. Be respectful, as this is an active temple. Oh, and entry is free, which is excellent news.

Haeundae highlights

Haeundae Beach © Aleney de Winter

Check into a hotel in buzzy Haeundae, Busan’s buzzing beach district, and prepare to hand the evening over to serendipity. Haeundae’s main street has this wonderful 70s municipal charm about it, with retro light fixtures lining the road that suggest the town planners were either visionaries or just really into vintage aesthetics. Follow the street all the way down to the beach, stop at a vendor for tanghulu (fruit skewered and dipped in a hard sugar shell that shatters satisfyingly when you bite it), and eat it while staring at the sea. There are worse ways to end a day.

Haeundae at night © Aleney de Winter

The entire area is heaving with some of the best restaurants in Busan … But we recommend ducking into Haeundae Traditional Market, a covered alley a short walk back from the beach that manages to pack an enormous amount of chaos and flavour into a very small space. Seafood restaurants line the sides, many with live tanks out front where your dinner is auditioning for the role. But there’s plenty beyond the ocean… tteokbokki (chewy rice cakes in a spicy sauce that is basically addictive), mandu (dumplings, steamed or fried, both amazing), kalguksu (hand-cut noodle soup), Korean corn dogs and cheese hotteok (crispy pancakes stuffed with gooey mozzarella). Bring cash. Most stalls don’t take cards.

Afterwards we stumbled across K-pop dancers practising their routines in the street, which thrilled my daughter more than anything we’d paid actual money to see that day. She folded her arms, tilted her head like a judge on one of those talent shows, and announced (after her whole single lesson in Seoul) that she could do better. Just quietly… she cannot.

Day Two: Busan’s coast, capsules and Korean cooking

Beomeosa

Monksat Beomeosa. Photo by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Start the day early enough at Beomeosa and you might have it almost to yourself, an extraordinary privilege for somewhere this beautiful. Founded in 678 AD by the Great Priest Euisang at the eastern foot of Geumjeongsan, Busan’s guardian mountain, which sounds like exactly the kind of job title a mountain should have, Beomeosa Temple is one of Korea’s five great Buddhist temples, a distinction that carries genuine weight in a country this serious about its Buddhist heritage.

The valley approaching the temple is thick with wisteria, which in spring turns the whole climb into something that doesn’t feel entirely real. It carries its thirteen centuries with quiet dignity rather than tourist fanfare. There’s no gift shop crowding the entrance, no audio guide rattling off facts at volume. Walk through the Iljumun Gate, its four stone pillars dating to 1614, and you feel the shift as the noise falls away. The Daeungjeon Hall sits at the heart of the complex, stone lanterns in the ancient Silla style flanking the entrance, dragon heads carved into the eaves above for anyone who bothers to look up.

Entry is free. Allow two to three hours, wear comfortable shoes, and please keep your voice down, as this is an active temple where monks live and the devout worship.

Taejongdae Park

From the northern mountains to the southernmost tip of the city, Taejongdae is a coastal park perched on Yeongdo Island, all rugged cliffs and pine forests and sea views so dramatic they make you wonder why anyone bothered with screensavers. The park takes its name from King Taejong Muyeol of Silla, who apparently liked to come here to practise archery. Whether that’s because the views inspired him or because he needed somewhere dramatic to be regal, history doesn’t record.

The best way around is the Danubi Train. a small sightseeing train that loops the 4.3 km coastal road, partly because the terrain is steep enough to punish anyone who didn’t budget their leg energy correctly, and partly because the train is genuinely charming in that unashamedly touristy way that stops being embarrassing once you’re on it. Ride it to the Yeongdo Lighthouse, which has been shining continuously since 1906, and the spectacular “Light Beyond Limitation” sculpture at the cliff’s edge. On a clear day, you can see as far as Tsushima Island in Japan. But even on a hazy day, the view is worth getting the bus for. Entry to the park is free; the Danubi Train costs a few thousand won and is worth every one of them.

Haeundae Blueline Park Sky Capsule

Haeundae Blueline Park Sky Capsule

Back on the eastern side of the city for one of Busan’s most quirky and purely enjoyable experiences, the Sky Capsule, which is essentially a small private pod on an elevated coastal track and absolutely as good as the photos suggest. Built along a former railway line that once ran the east coast from Busan to Pohang, the track was repurposed in 2020 into a walking trail and sightseeing attraction. Taking thirty minutes, one way, from Mipo Station to Cheongsapo Station, the brightly coloured capsules fit up to four people and glide slowly enough above the sea that you have time to soak in the view.

Book online before you go. This is not optional advice. Tickets sell out, queues can reach 45 minutes even on weekdays, and there is no joy in arriving to find the only available slot is in three hours. For the best views, ride from Mipo towards Cheongsapo; the capsules run on the seaward side of the track in that direction. Ride back on the Beach Train, which covers the full coastal route to Songjeong Beach and gives you a different, more leisurely angle on the same stretch of coast.

Bapsang Cooking Class

Bapsang Cooking Class © Aleney de Winter

End your trip learning to actually cook the tasty Busan cuisine you’ve been inhaling over the previous days. In our opinion, the best Korean cooking class in Busan for families is Bapsang Cooking Class, run by the lovely Minkyung, or Min, from her own apartment, which immediately makes it feel different from every other cooking experience we’ve had. A short and rather pleasant walk along the seaside from our Haeundae hotel, this wasn’t a sterile commercial kitchen. It is someone’s home and offers us a rare, genuine glimpse into what life in Busan looks like.

We don traditional aprons, gather around preparation stations and start chopping under the guidance of Min, who has spent a career in hospitality, studied traditional Korean cuisine formally and is a certified temple chef. She proves equal parts teacher and storyteller and weaves Korean history and culture into every step… why rice is prepared this way, what different vegetables symbolise and how recipes are passed through generations.

Min guides our every step, explains substitutions for ingredients we won’t find at home, and somewhere between the chopping and the stirring manages to whip up bibimbap with bulgogi, seafood-studded pancakes and a traditional seaweed soup.

When everything is ready, we eat Korean-style… cushions on the floor with dishes arranged on a low bapsang table (which, incidentally, is optional, something my ageing back is immensely grateful for). Min adds pickles and homemade sweets, and the whole thing wraps up in about three hours. The meal is perfect. Not restaurant-perfect, but better… the kind of perfect that comes from effort and learning and doing something completely new together.

We leave with the recipes, a certificate and the slightly humbling realisation that my daughter’s version was better than mine.

Gwangalli Beach Drone Show

If you happen to be in Busan on a Saturday evening, get yourself to Gwangalli Beach for Korea’s first permanent drone show. Every Saturday night hundreds of drones are choreographed into shapes and patterns above the water in a twelve-minute performance that is completely free.

Shows run at 7pm and 9pm. Arrive early for a good spot, or arrive late and spend the whole thing peering around someone’s head, which is also an option but not one we recommend.

Gwangalli itself is worth the visit regardless of the drones. The whole area has an unhurried energy and amazing views of the Gwangan Bridge lit up at night. Not to mention a strip of excellent restaurants and cafés that are noticeably less aimed at tourists than those in Haeundae.

Optional Tongyeong day trip from Busan

Sebyeonggwan Hall in Tongyeong © Aleney de Winter

Tongyeong is perfect side quest for those who’d like to add an extra day to their itinerary. About two hours by bus from Seobu Terminal, or 75 to 90 minutes if you’re driving, an early start is non-negotiable if you plan on visiting Tongyeong, Do it anyway because it’s absolutely worth the effort.

This small coastal town nicknamed “The Naples of Korea” wore its dramatic naval history proudly long before tourists arrived. Admiral Yi Sun-sin used it as his principal base during the desperate sea battles of the 16th century, and monuments to his name dot the waterfront to this day. Yet despite all that bloodshed in its past, Tongyeong now holds a quiet, unhurried charm that makes busier Busan look positively manic by comparison.

Mount Mireuksan Cable Car and Skyline Luge

Mount Mireuksan Cable Car and Skyline Luge © Aleney de Winter

Don’t miss the cable car, Korea’s longest, up Mount Mireuksan and watch islands scatter across the horizon like pieces of an unfinished puzzle, the sea stretching endlessly in every direction. It’s the kind of view that makes you want to spout poetry or at least snap eleventy thousand photos. None of them will do it justice.

Mount Mireuksan views © Aleney de Winter

The mountain trails beckon if you have the legs for it. We did not. But what goes up must come down. And the way down is where things get properly thrilling.

The Skyline Luge sends you plunging down the slope, mountain air slapping against your face as you carve through twists and turns in a small cart you actually steer yourself. This is where you discover what kind of person your child really is. Conservative brake users or speed demons with a death wish? My daughter spent the entire ride squealing with delight and yelling at me to go faster, while I white-knuckled the brake and made a mental note to read the small print next time. We recommend booking online to skip queues, especially on weekends.

Dongpirang Village

Dongpirang Village © Aleney de Winter

Still in Tongyeong, Dongpirang is the kind of place that exists because someone refused to give up on it. In 2007, the government announced plans to demolish the whole hillside community to build a park, which would have displaced a neighbourhood of mostly elderly residents with nowhere to go. A civic group responded by launching a national mural competition, inviting artists and art students from across the country to cover every surface they could find… whether wall, fence, stairwell or water tank. The demolition plan was quietly dropped. Art saved the village.

Wander up through the alleyways, and the details reveal themselves slowly. There are fish swimming across cracked plaster, flowers trailing up stairwells, tiny creatures painted onto letterboxes and fishing boats tucked into garden walls. It’s less curated than Gamcheon and less Insta-optimised but all the better for it. The murals refresh regularly too, so even if you’ve been before, there’s always something new to find.

Climb to the summit, and the harbour fans out below, with the restored Dongporu watchtower, once used by Admiral Yi Sun-sin as an observation post, sitting at the top. The climb is steep, so bring water and take your time because this is the kind of place that rewards slow exploration.

Busan travel tips for families

Everything you need to know about the KTX to Busan

KTX busan © Aleney de Winter

The KTX from Seoul to Busan represents Korean infrastructure at its most competent… fast, punctual and comfortable enough that the journey itself becomes unremarkable, which is the highest compliment you can give public transportation. And it is entirely zombie-free. The sleek, silent beast glides quietly through mountains and fields, transforming what could be a tedious journey into a surprisingly civilised affair. Two and a half hours through countryside that transitions from urban sprawl to agricultural plains to coastal mountains, all while maintaining the kind of quiet that makes you reconsider your own country’s relationship with public space etiquette.

While our tickets were arranged by the amazing Inside Asia team, travellers can also book through the Korail app, which functions with the efficiency you’d expect from Korean digital infrastructure. The system also connects Busan to Gyeongju (ancient sites), Incheon (port architecture), and Pyeongchang (winter sports), making it viable for longer Korean itineraries beyond the Seoul-Busan corridor.

Window seats on the right offer mountain views if you care about scenery. Otherwise, use the time to read, work or simply appreciate transport infrastructure that works as designed.

Getting around in Busan

The subway is clean and efficient, and signage is in English. Get a T-Money card on arrival and top it up – it will work on subways, buses, and taxis. Kids find the beeping sound effects hilarious for approximately forty-seven stops, then mildly annoying for the remaining journey.

Taxis are plentiful and relatively cheap. Don’t be afraid to use them, especially when kids’ feet are dragging or you’re hauling shopping bags full of Korean snacks you don’t need but absolutely have to buy.

Where to stay in Busan

We recommend basing yourself in Haeundae for both nights, as it puts you within walking distance of the beach, the market and the evening street food scene, and the subway connects you easily to everything else.

For families, Paradise Hotel Busan is the splash-out option: direct beach access, a children’s pool, a kids’ club and sea views that justify the splurge.

The Westin Josun Busan sits right at the end of the beach and is the only five-star in the area with an in-house Korean restaurant, which, given what you’ll have learned in the cooking class, feels like a fitting way to end the trip.

For mid-range, L7 Haeundae by Lotte is a three-minute walk from the beach, well-run and good value. Book early for summer visits. July and August are peak season, and prices climb accordingly.

Plan your Busan family trip with Inside Asia Tours

Tongyeong © Aleney de Winter

If reading all of the above made you feel simultaneously excited and mildly exhausted, we get it. Busan is brilliant, but it rewards planning, and planning takes time that most families, frankly, don’t have. This is where InsideAsia Tours comes in.

We used them to organise our Korea trip, and the difference between having a well-designed itinerary and winging it in a country where you don’t speak the language and the transport app is in Korean cannot be overstated. Their inside guides know South Korea, not just the headline temples and markets, but the details that make the difference between a good trip and a genuinely great one. The KTX tickets that need to be booked in advance. The best cooking class. The fact that the Skyline Luge in Tongyeong is worth doing, but you need to get there early. The small print you wouldn’t have thought to read.

Their Korea tours are broad enough to suit most travellers. From small group tours that cover Seoul, Jeonju and Busan to a foodie-focused Culinary Korea itinerary for families who plan their days around eating (umm, yes, that would be us) and a Korea by Rail option that turns the KTX network itself into part of the experience. And if you’ve already done Korea and want to push further, there’s a Jeju Island extension and a Japan and Korea combination that pits bibimbap against ramen over fifteen days.

The best bit is that the majority of Inside Asia’s tours are customisable and tailor-made, which means you tell them everything from what you want to see to how many days you want to travel and whether your thirteen-year-old would rather luge down a mountain than sit through another temple… and they build your trip around it. Brilliantly.

Busan with kids – Need to know before you go

When to visit
Spring (April to June) and autumn (September to November) offer the most comfortable weather that is warm, dry and clear. Summer is hot and humid with a rainy season in July and August. Winter is cold but dry and considerably less crowded.
Language
Korean. Download Papago before you arrive. It’s better than Google Translate for Korean and works offline. Most younger Koreans speak some English, but knowing a few phrases like gamsahamnida (thank you) earns genuine smiles and sometimes better service.
Currency
Korean Won (KRW). Cards are widely accepted in restaurants, shops and hotels, though smaller market stalls and street food vendors are often cash only. ATMs are easy to find throughout the city.
Power
220V AC electricity. Type C and F plugs (the standard European two-round-pin style). Travellers from Australia, the UK or the US will need an adaptor; those with dual-voltage devices (most phones and laptops) won’t need a converter.
Visa & Passport Requirements
Visa requirements vary by nationality. Many countries, including Australia, the UK, the US and most of Europe, can enter South Korea visa-free for stays of up to 90 days for tourism. Check the current requirements for your nationality before you travel, as rules can and do change. Your passport must be valid at the time of entry.
Health
There are no mandatory vaccinations for South Korea, but we recommend visiting your GP at least six weeks before departure for up-to-date advice on recommended immunisations. Tap water in Busan is safe to drink, so bring a reusable bottle and use it.
Tipping
Tipping is not expected or customary. Service charges are generally included, and staff do not expect additional payment. You won’t cause offence by not tipping.
Etiquette
In casual dining spots, things are relaxed, but in more formal settings, the basics matter. Don’t stand chopsticks upright in rice. Pour drinks for others, not yourself. If elders are present, always wait for them to start their meal first. It is not complicated, but simple signs of respect go a very long way.

The post 48 Hours in Busan with kids appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Tong-ojingeo-gui (whole grilled squid) © Aleney de Winter

From market stalls to Michelin-stars, here’s where, how and what to eat in Busan, South Korea‘s lively and lovely second city.

Busan is a city where eating isn’t an activity you plan around your day. It is the day. It isn’t precious or performative. It’s generous, fast, comforting and deeply woven into daily life. You eat because you’re hungry, because it looks good and because it’s there.

Here’s our guide on where and what to eat in Busan,

Busan street food

Hotteok © Aleney de Winter

Street food is where Busan flexes. Start with the crowd-pleasers. Korean fried chicken arrives shatteringly crisp and glossy with sauce. And tteokbokki (spicy, chewy rice cakes) becomes an obsession. In my teen’s case, entire days are loosely planned around tracking down the best bowl.

Then come street sweets. Hotteok (street food pancakes) are pressed flat on a griddle until the outside crisps and the inside becomes molten sugar… dangerously hot, stuffed with brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts and absolutely worth the burnt tongue. Bungeoppang (fish-shaped treats filled with sweet red bean paste) are impossible to walk past. And bingsu (shaved ice topped with fruit or condensed milk) is so addictive it probably needs a warning label. Consider this yours.

Busan’s signature dishes

Dwaeji-gukbap (pork and rice soup), © Aleney de Winter

It’s a good idea to get acquainted with Busan’s other local delights. This isn’t Seoul food; instead, there’s a port city sensibility that shows up in the bowls, the broths and the banchan (small side dishes).

Dwaeji Gukbap

Probably the most Busan dish there is, Dwaeji Gukbap is a milky pork bone broth, simmered for hours until it turns white and unctuous, served with slices of boiled pork, rice and a tangle of kimchi. YLocals queue for it before 9am, and you eat it fast, standing or hunched over a low table, adjusting the heat with kimchi and a spoonful of fermented shrimp paste from the pot on the table. It’s the city’s unofficial hangover cure, a working breakfast and comfort food all at once. Do not leave without trying it.

Milmyeon

Busan’s answer to cold noodles, Milmyeon are thin wheat noodles served in an icy beef broth that’s clean, slightly sweet and deeply refreshing. There’s a spicy version too, bibim milmyeon, tossed in a crimson chilli sauce rather than swimming in broth. Both are served year-round, though locals eat the cold version even in the depths of winter, which tells you everything you need to know about how much they love it.

Ssiat Hotteok

This is the street food pancake evolved. A Nampo-dong original, the classic version of Hotteok is filled with brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts but adds sunflower seeds and other grains into the mix. The result is chewier and more textured.

Ganjang Gejang

Ganjang Gejang sounds like a challenge but rewards the brave. Raw blue crab marinated in soy sauce, left to cure until the flesh turns translucent and the roe becomes something between custard and umami paste.

Eomuk

A kind of fish cake, Eomuk is everywhere in Busan, and is considered the best in the country. At market stalls and pojangmacha (street food tents), skewers of flat, bouncy fish cake float in a clear, lightly salted broth. Take a skewer, dip it and devour it standing up

Tong-ojingeo-gui

Whole squid, grilled over open flame until the skin blisters and chars at the edges tong-ojingeo-gui is one of Busan’s most elemental street foods. Near the waterfront, vendors cook them to order and hand them over on a stick, still smoking.

Dongnae Pajeon 

While Pajeon (seafood pancakeo) os widespread, Dongnae Pajeon is a specific and iconic variation local and famous in Busan. 

The best food markets in Busan

Jagalchi Fish Market © Aleney de Winter

The city is liberally scattered with food markets rammed with tasty treats. Busan has always been a port city, which means the markets here have a particular energy… fishermen unloading directly into stalls and ajummas (aunties) grilling things on the spot. Some have been running for decades and look it; others have been cleaned up for tourists without losing too much of their character. Either way, arriving hungry is the only real requirement.

Jagalchi Fish Market

The largest seafood market in Korea, the scent of dried fish and briny sea, intense and unavoidable, will find you before the market does dried fish and briny sea. It operates on two levels: the covered indoor market downstairs where haenyeo (female free divers) sell sea cucumber from buckets and vendors spruik pungent rows of dried fish hanging in shrivelled clusters, tanks of live crabs and flip-flopping fish, and spiky sea urchins.

The seafood restaurants on the upper floors of the main building allow you to buy something fresh downstairs, bring it up and have it prepared right there. The hoe (raw fish platter) is a choice move, as is grilled fish, skin crackling and caramelised, and piles of garlicky grilled prawns. Just don’t be too surprised if you spy a stray tentacle or, seemingly alive on someone else’s plate, make a futile wriggle towards freedom. The market certainly challenges Western sensibilities but provides an honest, unfiltered slice of Korean life.

Nampo-dong

This pedestrian-friendly maze near Jagalchi Fish Market and BIFF Square hums with energy. You’ll see English signs and photo menus alongside stalls that clearly cater to locals. But the trick is to look for Korean cues and follow them. Whether it’s fish cakes, mandu (dumplings), hotteok or tteokbokki, eat standing up, wipe your hands on napkins that appear from nowhere and keep moving.

Gukje Market

At Busan’s largest traditional market, the food section sits towards the southern end and packs more variety into a smaller space than feels possible. Fried mandu (dumplings), whole fish turning on open grills, tteokbokki in pots big enough to swim in, grilled sundae (blood sausage stuffed with glass noodles and vegetables that’s genuinely delicious), and vendors selling homemade kimchi by the kilogram to locals who wheel shopping trolleys through the aisles. The rule here, as always, is to follow the queue. A long line of Korean grandmothers beats a Michelin star any day.

Haeundae Traditional Market

Haeundae Market is a neighbourhood market rather than a tourist one, and it is better for it. Located a short walk from the beach, it runs daily, and the food section buzzes from late morning. Ajummas (aunties) grill mackerel, steam sticky rice cakes, ladle soups and hand out samples without making eye contact. There’s limited English, just quick transactions and food locals love. Come hungry, bring cash. The dwaeji gukbap stalls here are worth seeking out.

Bupyeong Kkangtong Market 

Bupyeong is Busan’s best night market, drawing a younger, more local crowd than the daytime tourist spots. Food stalls line the walkways selling everything from tornado potatoes and grilled corn to fusion-y things like cream cheese hotdogs and mango bingsu. Come after 7pm when it properly wakes up.

Choryang Milmyeon Street (Milmyeon Alley)

Not a market exactly, but it deserves mention. A short cluster of restaurants near Busan Station dedicated almost entirely to milmyeon. Locals have been eating here for decades. The restaurants open early and close when the noodles run out, which is generally before noon.

Millak Raw Fish Town

Jagalchi Fish Market is not the only spot where seafood takes centre stage. Millak Raw Fish Town is a waterfront strip devoted almost entirely to sashimi. Dozens of restaurants serve similar menus at similar prices, and staff will enthusiastically try to steer you inside. The trick is not to agonise over which one. Watch where local families settle in, look for restaurants with fish tanks that are well maintained, and sit down. Order a mixed platter and eat while the boats go past.

Convenience Stores

Photo by Polina Kneis on Unsplash

Convenience stores deserve their own moment. Korean convenience stores – GS25, CU, 7-Eleven and Emart24 are the main chains – aren’t emergency stops; they’re part of the food culture with hot food, cold food, self-serve coffee, microwaves, hot water dispensers and little plastic tables out front where locals eat full meals without any self-consciousness whatsoever.

Pop in and try some local faves. Samgak kimbap (triangular rice parcels wrapped in seaweed) is the gateway item. The outer packaging is engineered so you peel it in three steps without the seaweed touching the rice until the last second, keeping everything crisp. Fillings range from tuna mayo and spicy pork to kimchi and bulgogi, and they will become breakfast, snack and even dinner when you’re fading after a long day of touristing.

Next to the register you’ll find a rotating heated stand of hot and fried things on sticks. Fish cake skewers (essentially a cheaper version of what you’d pay three times as much for at a market stall), corn dogs stuffed with cheese or sausage, and tteok (rice cake) in various formats. And all good when you’re in need of a sneaky snack.

The selection of instant noodles will be enormous and overwhelming. Whatever you select, the store will provide hot water, a fork and somewhere to sit. Popular choices include Shin Ramyun (classic spicy and deeply savoury) and Jjajang cup noodles (a black bean paste version of instant noodles that offers a different eating experience entirely), but look for Buldak Bokkeum Myeon. Eye-wateringly spicy, they’ve quietly crossed over into a full Western moment, with supermarket shelves in the US, UK and Australia now stocking them. In fact, they’ve become one of those rare exports that travels not because it’s been softened for foreign palates, but precisely because it hasn’t. It’s worth noting that most GS25s have a self-serve soft-serve ice cream machine near the entrance. You may need it.

The other option to soothe your fiery face after eating Buldak is Sikhye, a lightly sweet, slightly fizzy traditional rice drink served cold in a can that is cleansing and refreshing.

Other popular convenience store treats are egg sandwiches made from thick white bread and stuffed with a generous egg mayo filling, sometimes with sweetcorn or cucumber. They are cheap and oddly satisfying at any hour.

Sweet, salty and slightly addictive honey butter chips, a snack that caused genuine supply shortages when it launched and people were reselling bags online for multiples of the retail price. The hype has settled, but the chips remain popular.

And grab a banana milk (a squat yellow carton of improbably sweet banana-flavoured milk) because it is worth trying at least once, if only to understand why Koreans are nostalgic about it.

K-BBQ: How to Do It Right

© Aleney de Winter

Korean BBQ is joyfully unavoidable in Busan, and unlike a lot of cities, it doesn’t cluster in one neighbourhood and call it a night. You’ll find it everywhere, from the packed side streets of Seomyeon and the beachfront restaurant strips of Haeundae to the lively bar district of Gwangalli and the younger, louder eating scene around Kyungsung University and Nampo-dong. Wherever you are in the city, a grill is probably within a five-minute walk.

This is partly a blessing and partly a problem. Because K-BBQ is so abundant and so uniform in presentation, every restaurant looks broadly the same from the outside, and it’s tempting to either overthink it or wander in somewhere mediocre out of sheer decision fatigue. The better move is to wander, watch and follow the locals. If there’s a queue of Korean families or office workers, get in it.

Seomyeon is the late-night BBQ heartland. It is dense with restaurants that stay open into the small hours, fuelled by office workers, university students and the kind of sustained group eating that only soju makes possible. It’s loud, it’s fun and the energy is hard to replicate elsewhere.

Haeundae draws a slightly more mixed crowd of locals and tourists, and the restaurants here tend to be a little more polished… and a little more expensive. It’s worth it for the setting because eating grilled pork belly a street back from a beach is never a bad idea.

Gwangalli has the coolest atmosphere, especially at night when the bridge lights up across the water. The BBQ crowd here tends to skew younger, and the strips around the beach are good for a long, unhurried evening.

Kyungsung-Bugyeong (the university area) is the place you go when you want quantity, low prices and the kind of cheerful chaos that only comes with a student-dense neighbourhood.

Wherever you land, the experience follows a reliable rhythm. A tabletop grill and banchan (side dishes) cover every available surface. Kimchi comes in multiple forms, and there will be pickled vegetables, small salads and things you won’t be able to identify but should eat anyway. Then comes the meat. Thin slices of pork belly and/or marinated beef cook in minutes on the tabletop grill and are wrapped in perilla leaves with a smear of doenjang (fermented soybean paste), ready to be eaten in quick, happy bursts. Order the samgyeopsal (pork belly) and the galbi (short rib). And don’t be afraid to ask for assistance if it’s your first time. Servers commonly cook the meat for you in Busan, more so than in Seoul,

Must-try Busan restaurants

Dondwaeji, Busan. Photo by Rina Kemppainen on Unsplash

Most food in Busan is better when you find it by instinct… wandering, following smells and trusting queues. But there are some restaurants that have earned their reputation and should absolutely be on your list.

Dondwaeji (Myeongdong)

A Jung-gu favourite that has earned a following among both locals and foreign tourists, Dondwaeji keeps its focus on one thing: grilled strip loin. Simple, satisfying, and popular for good reason.

Chamsuri Gopchang (Seomyeon)
Grilled gopchang (small intestine) cooked over charcoal, basted repeatedly until caramelised and slightly crisp at the edges. Confronting for the uninitiated and completely addictive for everyone else, this is the kind of place that has regulars who have eaten the same meal here every week for twenty years.

Chef Gon (Jung-gu)

Tucked down an alley near Jagalchi Market, this is a Michelin-listed counter restaurant run by a former hotel chef. Every morning he goes to the market and buys what looks good; that becomes the day’s menu. The result is a seafood-led tasting course that changes constantly, cooked in front of you. Book well ahead. Closed Mondays.

Samojeong (Seomyeon)

An institution famous for its samgyetang (whole chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, garlic and ginseng, simmered until the broth turns silky and restorative). What sets Samojeong apart is that theirs often comes with abalone, which sounds extravagant until you taste how it deepens the broth.

Palette (Yongho-dong)

One of the few Michelin-starred restaurants in Busan, Chef Jaehoon Kim’s French-influenced tasting menu uses local and seasonal Korean ingredients in ways that feel inevitable rather than clever. Not cheap or casual, but if you want one high-end meal in the city, this is the one to book.

Halmae Gaya Milmyeon (Seomyeon)

Often cited as serving Busan’s finest milmyeon, it’s been dishing it up so since the 1980s. The broth is clear, cold and precise, but the queues are long. We recommend arriving slightly before opening.

Cooking classes in Busan

Bapsan cooking class in Busan. © Aleney de Winter

If you want to really understand Korean food, from how it’s made and why it tastes the way it does to what it means in the context of Korean culture, book a cooking class. Not as a box-ticking activity, but as the thing that ties the whole trip together.

Busan has plenty of options, but we genuinely loved Bapsang with Min. In our session we made bibimbap with bulgogi (a rice bowl topped with marinated beef and a rainbow of vegetables), haemul pajeon (addictive crispy seafood and spring onion pancakes) and miyeok guk (a mild, nourishing seaweed soup).

You’ll leave with a folder of recipes you’ll actually use, a much clearer sense of what’s been in your bowl all week, and, if our experience is anything to go by, already planning which dish to cook first when you get home.

Take a culinary tour of Korea

An InsideAsia Tours local guide takes the guesswork out of eating in markets and beyond. © Aleney de Winter

InsideAsia Tours’ Culinary Korea itinerary is one of the best ways to navigate the country’s food scene, particularly for first-timers who don’t want to miss things through lack of local knowledge. The 13-day fully customisable tour covers Seoul, Busan, Jeonju, Yeosu and Jeju Island, with local guides who know where to eat in each city, and more importantly, what to order.

The difference between a good meal and a great one in Korea is often just knowing which stall on which street to go to, and that kind of knowledge is hard to come by without help.

The post What to eat in Busan, South Korea appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Adelaide Hills © Tourism Australia / South Australian Tourism Commission

There’s a joyful madness that takes hold when you point your car towards a food destination and surrender to the hunger building with every kilometre. These South Australia food road trips will feed that madness generously.

After decades of eating my way across this country with my family (and now with two teenagers who can treat every meal like it might be their last), I’ve come to believe SA’s food road trips are a masterclass in reading a place through what it grows, ferments and feeds you. You learn how German settlers didn’t just build Barossa Valley’s stone churches; they shaped the Barossa Valley‘s culture. You discover why McLaren Vale’s climate produces wines that taste like liquid sunshine. And that the best oysters come straight from farmers who know each bivalve personally.

Its rolling vineyards bleed into coastal vistas. Cellar doors materialise out of nowhere like mirages. And there are enough culinary treasures buried along the road to justify an entire boot stuffed with Eskies and wine cartons.

So let’s pack the car, load up road trip essentials and eat our way through South Australia.

Adelaide Central Market: The launchpad

Before wheels hit country roads, spend a morning at Adelaide Central Market. This 150-year-old institution is where chefs and food-obsessed families navigate fresh produce, artisan cheeses, smallgoods and pastries that are worthy of sonnets.

We always start with Lucia’s coffee, partly for the caffeine and partly because it’s one of those rituals that makes a trip feel properly underway. Then we drift through cheese tastings and seasonal fruit. Then we get serious about picnic supplies. Fresh sourdough from Pasadena Bakery and a paper-wrapped bundle of local charcuterie that will carry you through the first stretch of road in a way no servo sandwich ever could, and the gap in quality between those two options is so vast it borders on philosophical.

Barossa Valley: German Heritage

An hour north-east, the Barossa Valley unfolds like a European day-dream. German settlers arrived in the 1840s, bringing Lutheran churches, butchers who understood sausage as an art form, and winemaking traditions that produced some of the world’s oldest continuously producing Shiraz vines.

The Barossa’s 80+ wine cellar doors range from household names like Penfolds to boutique family operations where you’ll taste wines while hearing three generations of winemaking stories. And then there is the food.

Don’t miss…

Barossa Farmers Market (Saturdays, 7:30 am): Rise ridiculously early for this Angaston institution. Stalls overflow with pastries, fudge, charcuterie, preserves, cheeses and breads that smell like heaven.

Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop: Even if you’re not a massive fan of celebrity chefs, Maggie’s place offers tastings of her famous pâté, her famous verjuice and delightful preserves. The kids go feral for the ice cream made with her quince paste.

Hentley Farm: This 1840s homestead serves mystery degustation menus, with four or seven courses revealed only when you’re seated. Culinary storytelling at its finest, this is a true celebration of Barossa’s seasonal bounty.

McLaren Vale: Mediterranean Vibes

Forty minutes south of Adelaide, the vibe shifts. McLaren Vale delivers Mediterranean ease, coastal breezes, relaxed cellar doors and that Australian coastal vibe where everyone’s sun-drunk and extremely friendly. There’s a Shiraz Trail that winds between cellar doors and is best tackled by bike if your family is the cycling type. We are not. We are, however, eternally hungry.

Don’t miss…

The d’Arenberg Cube: This place can only be described as what happens when Willy Wonka decides wine beats chocolate. This five-storey architectural marvel resembles a giant Rubik’s Cube perched among vineyards, housing wine tastings, an 11-course degustation restaurant, and the Alternative Realities Museum.

The Currant Shed: A restored heritage building flanked by lime groves and vineyards, the Currant Shed offers seasonal menus that treat McLaren Vale’s coastal proximity as the asset it is. Seafood landed that morning is paired with wines grown minutes away. It’s a simple formula executed with real conviction.

Adelaide Hills: Cool Climate Charmer

Twenty minutes from Adelaide and the temperature drops, the trees thicken, and suddenly you’re winding through the Mount Lofty Ranges wondering why you don’t do this every weekend. The elevation here creates cooler microclimates that suit Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir beautifully. These wines are crafted with a precision and freshness that feel entirely distinct from the warmer valleys below.

Don’t miss…

Hahndorf: Australia’s oldest surviving German settlement, Hahndorf’s main street overflows with bakeries selling pretzels and strudel, smallgoods shops stacked floor to ceiling, and cafes serving schnitzels that could comfortably double as a coffee table. Not to mention a chocolate shop that my teen declared her spiritual home.

Bird in Hand: The cellar door here pairs cool-climate wines with local cheese and charcuterie, but the real draw is LVN Restaurant where a weekend tasting menu from ex-three-hatted chef Jacob Davey, showcases Hills produce alongside Bird in Hand’s finest bottles.

Shaw + Smith:  Shaw + Smitht makes you want to cancel your afternoon. Their cellar door opens onto sweeping lawns designed, it seems, specifically for the purpose of sitting with a glass of Riesling and letting time get away from you entirely. Pack a picnic. Surrender the schedule.

Fleurieu Peninsula: Ocean meets orchard

Stretching south from Adelaide, the Fleurieu Peninsula delivers coastal beauty, beaches, and seafood so fresh it practically swims onto your plate.

The Fleurieu Peninsula sits just south of Adelaide and somehow feels like a different world entirely. The area delivers coastline, farmland and seafood so fresh it practically swims onto your plate. Sitting on a beach jetty, eating freshly caught King George whiting while seagulls plot their theft strategy? That’s South Australian summer perfection.

Don’t miss….

Willunga Farmers Market: The market happens on Saturday mornings, delivering Fleurieu’s best produce directly from farmers, seasonal fruits, vegetables, pastries, olive oils and small goods.

The cherry on top: Between Willunga and the coast, cherry orchards and almond groves sell fresh produce roadside during harvest. Loading the car with fruit picked that morning while kids devour samples is peak family road trip energy.

Clare Valley: Riesling region

The valley has staked its reputation on Riesling, and with good reason. Thirty-plus cellar doors produce a range that runs from searingly bone-dry to lusciously sweet, and the best examples age with a grace that converts even committed red drinkers. It’s worth buying a mixed case and discovering this for yourself somewhere down the road.

The towns themselves – Auburn, Mintaro, Clare – move at a pace that feels almost confrontational after the city. Heritage stone buildings line streets that haven’t been in any particular hurry since the 1800s, and the hospitality is the unstudied kind that’s impossible to fake. Stop for longer than you think you need to. The Clare Valley rewards the unhurried.

Don’t miss…

Sevenhill Cellars: Established by Jesuit priests in 1851, this cellar door operates from stone buildings with a working church next door. Tasting wines made by priests while admiring 170-year-old architecture feels appropriately reverent.

Penobscot Farm: This is the kind of experience that resets your relationship with where food actually comes from. An organic, biodynamic working farm, enjoy a tour through the property before sitting down to a degustation dinner built almost entirely from what was growing that morning.

Eyre Peninsula: Seafood heaven

Seven hours west of Adelaide, the Eyre Peninsula exists at a scale that recalibrates your sense of distance. It is, by any reasonable measure, a long way to drive. It is also, by any reasonable measure, worth it.

This is where Australia’s seafood story reaches its most compelling chapter. Port Lincoln supplies bluefin tuna and King George whiting to Sydney’s best restaurants, which fly it in daily and charge accordingly, which makes eating the same fish right at the source, often cooked by the fishing families who pulled it from the water that morning, feel like the most sensible arbitrage available to a travelling family.

The oysters deserve their own mention. Grown in the cold, pristine waters of Coffin Bay, they arrive tasting less like seafood and more like the ocean itself… clean, briny and utterly delicious. Some experiences stick because they’re spectacular. Some stick because they connect you to a place and the people who actually live there. The Eyre Peninsula, at its best, manages both simultaneously.

Don’t miss…

Coffin Bay Oyster Farm Tours: Wade into pristine waters, pluck oysters directly from racks, shuck them on the boat and consume the ocean’s finest within minutes of harvest. Nothing compares to oysters this fresh, briny and sweet, tasting exactly like the clean Southern Ocean they came from.

The Fresh Fish Place: Exactly as advertised, this factory-direct seafood processor and café at 20 Proper Bay Road has been feeding Port Lincoln locals and road-trippers since 2000. The all-local menu runs from King George whiting in tempura batter to pepper squid, tuna sashimi, and oysters pulled from Eyre Peninsula waters. And you can pick up fresh fish to cook that night while you’re at it.

Santi’s: A South-east Asian and Filipino-influenced kitchen using Eyre Peninsula seafood as its raw material – tuna collar, chilli crab and other fresh catches from local boats – with a Feed Me banquet option that hands the decision-making entirely to the kitchen. In a town this far from a capital city, it’s the last thing you expect and exactly what you want.

Road Trip Essentials

Before the Esky is packed and the first cellar door plotted, there’s one less glamorous box to tick. Accidents happen even on beautiful scenic routes, and budget-conscious families should consider protection without breaking the bank. Getting a third-party car insurance quote with NRMA provides peace of mind if you’re driving an older vehicle through wine country, where accident risks exist.

Pack your car smartly with:

Multiple Eskies for different food temperatures
Wine cartons or boxes (you’re going to buy more than you expect)
Reusable water bottles
Emergency snacks for hangry teenagers.
A properly stocked first aid kit, including travel sickness remedies (these tips help if your kids struggle on winding roads)

Making memories beyond meals

What stays with you after a South Australian food road trip isn’t really the wine list or the produce haul, impressive as both tend to be. It’s the conversations. A fourth-generation Barossa winemaker explaining why his grandfather chose one hillside over another. A McLaren Vale olive farmer describing how the coastal fog changes everything. These exchanges connect you to landscape, history and people who genuinely care about what they’re making.

The kids might grumble about another winery in the moment. But ask them about it later, and they’ll describe the Cube, the oyster farm and the schnitzel in Hahndorf with a clarity that suggests it landed somewhere deeper than they’d admit at the time. That’s what SA does. It teaches you, quietly and deliciously, that food is never just fuel.

So load the car, plot the route loosely and prepare for South Australia to feed both your stomach and your soul. Just know that whatever you brought to carry things home in almost certainly isn’t big enough.

The post South Australia’s best food road trips appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Hamilton Gardens in New Zealand’s Waikato region is one of the country’s most unique attractions. Located in Hamilton City, here’s why we think this award-winning garden is a must-visit.

There’s a museum in Hamilton, New Zealand, where you can soak in 4,000 years of human civilisation before lunch. Not the rushed, behind-glass-case kind of museum, but the slow, sensory, stop-and-smell-the-papyrus kind.

What makes Hamilton Gardens so unique?

Hamilton Gardens does what no other garden in the world does. It tells the entire story of gardens as expressions of human culture, from ancient temple courtyards to surrealist fantasies, and it does so with such intelligence and beauty that you forget you’re essentially getting a doctorate in garden history while wandering around in the sunshine.

This isn’t a botanical garden in the traditional sense. You won’t find endless Latin labels or obsessive plant collections organised by genus. Instead, what Dr Peter Sergel and his team have created over the past four decades is something far more ambitious… a living museum of ideas, where each of the 18 enclosed gardens represents not just a style but an entire worldview. Which is precisely why Hamilton Gardens wins International Garden of the Year awards and repeatedly lands in TripAdvisor’s top 1% of global attractions.

Guided tours at Hamilton Gardens

With 18 gardens, organised into six themed collections: the Paradise Collection, the Productive Collection, the Fantasy Collection, the Cultivar Collection, the Landscape Collection, and the Tropical Garden Collection we could wander through on our own, map in hand, squinting at interpretive signs, but if we did we would probably miss the fact that the entire Picturesque Garden is an elaborate 18th-century puzzle based on Mozart’s Magic Flute… complete with sphinxes and Masonic symbolism. We wouldn’t have known the sandwiches in the Mansfield Garden are made of concrete and resin, and the piano on the tennis court is a fake, painstakingly crafted to recreate the exact moment before guests arrive at a 1907 Wellington garden party from Katherine Mansfield’s short story The Garden Party. And we might have walked right past two rose bushes without realising they were grown from cuttings taken from Mansfield’s actual childhood garden in Wellington.

With so much meaning packed into every pathway, wall and water feature, it quickly becomes clear to us that beauty here is only the surface layer. The real story lives underneath, in symbols you could walk straight past and design choices that make sense only when someone points and says, look closer. And that’s exactly why we didn’t want to wander through it guessing and instead booked a Private Highlights tour, not for directions, but for context.

Our gorgeous guide not only knows the shortcuts from garden to garden but can explain that Te Parapara Garden sits on a site that was at one time home to Haanui, a famous Ngati Wairere chief; why there’s a Taihu rock imported from China that we can see but never reach in the Chinese Scholars Garden; and that everything planted in the Egyptian Temple Garden was grown specifically for death rituals and preparing souls for the afterlife. Seventy-five minutes of someone decoding symbols, explaining why fresh kumara were stored in covered pits while dried kumara went into elevated storehouses and pointing out the Masonic references hidden in eighteenth-century landscapes.

The traditional Māori Garden at Hamilton Gardens

Te Parapara Garden, the world’s only traditional productive Māori garden, sits on land that was once Te Parapara Pā, home to Haanui, a famous Ngāti Wairere chief. Our guide explains that before Europeans arrived, the Waikato riverbanks were lined with extensive Māori gardens, so renowned that the produce reached markets as far as England and the California gold fields. The garden is fascinating. Every element, from the elaborate ochre-painted carvings and the pātaka (elevated storehouse) protecting kūmara from prowling rats to the carefully modified soil keeping sweet potatoes warm and dry, has been designed by local Māori experts. It’s fascinating and grounding, giving my daughter and me a real sense of place.

Hamilton’s Asian gardens

We have plenty of favourites among the 18 gardens, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Asian garden design, and Hamilton Gardens does not disappoint. In the Chinese Scholars’ Garden, we cross the just-beginning-to-bloom Wisteria Bridge and discover the Island of Whispering Birds. A hidden philosopher sits tucked in the greenery. A bronze turtle guards the stone bridge while bamboo rustles overhead, and suddenly we’re thousands of miles from New Zealand.

In the Japanese Garden of Contemplation, minimalism becomes an art form. Every rock, each carefully raked stone, and each precisely placed tree invites you to slow down and just breathe. But as we step into the Indian Char Bagh Garden, the volume turns right back up… as bright marigolds carpet the ground in vibrant oranges and golds.

Ancient Egypt via Waikato

The Ancient Egyptian Garden stops us cold. This is believed to be the first recreation of its kind anywhere in the world, a Middle Kingdom temple garden from around 2040 BCE that archaeologists know existed but that vanished beneath desert sands millennia ago. You step through high walls into a sacred space where ancient Egyptians would have come to ensure their souls’ safe passage through the underworld. There’s a central rectangular pool, hieroglyphics telling stories of gods and kings, pergolas heavy with grapevines, and rows of papyrus and sacred plants. The attention to historical accuracy is staggering, yet it never feels academic or dry. My daughter, who has been studying Egypt in history, is so entranced she reads every interpretation panel like it holds the lottery numbers.

European beauties at Hamilton Gardens

My daughter and I are both smitten with the Italian Renaissance Garden, which bursts with symmetry and divine order. Based on 15th- and 16th-century gardens that drew on Greek, Roman, medieval and Islamic traditions, it’s all about humanity’s attempt to rationalise and control nature. The geometric perfection, the classical statues including Romulus and Remus at the entrance, and a sense of mathematical harmony create a completely different concept of what a garden should be and what it should mean. We walk through the Prato orchard, and the smell of oranges hits us, sweet and sharp. The Medici families displayed these precious potted citrus trees as status symbols, moving them to heated orangeries each winter to protect them from the cold. The scent alone transports us to 16th-century Tuscany faster than a direct flight to Florence.

The Tudor Garden is theatre and politics disguised as landscaping. One of my absolute favourite spaces at Hamilton Garden, this interpretation of a 16th-century English Renaissance garden celebrates the Tudor dynasty’s obsession with intricate designs, fantasy beasts, and secret symbols. The centrepiece is an elaborate knot garden based on drawings by Didymus Mountain (the pen name of mathematician Thomas Hill), with geometric patterns filled in with red clay brick and black coal. But it’s the mythical creatures perched atop green and white striped poles that steal the show… a phoenix for Sir Francis Drake, a griffin for Henry VIII, a dragon for Elizabeth I, a unicorn for Mary Queen of Scots, and most charming of all, Bottom from A Midsummer Night’s Dream representing Shakespeare himself. The Tudor Rose, that symbol of unity between the houses of York and Lancaster, appears throughout. It’s a coded message about power, patronage and the personalities who shaped an era.

Surrealist and steampunk gardens

Hamilton Gardens really captures the attention of my whimsical weirdo of a child in its fantasy spaces. In the Time Court, there’s an Alice in Wonderland statue complete with the Mad Hatter, their eternal tea party captured in bronze. From there, we make our way to the Concept Garden, where a 19th-century steampunk-inspired airship named The Huddleston hovers in its permanent berth amongst a thicket of trees.

Then we turn a corner and fall down the rabbit hole into the Surrealist Garden, and suddenly nothing makes sense in the most delightful way possible.

Everything here is five times normal scale… a giant wheelbarrow, an enormous garden gate, and furniture that makes is feel like we’ve been shrunk to doll size like Alice after the wrong mushroom. The lawn curves up at the edges like a sheet of paper someone’s lifted from the corners. More unsettling are the “trons”, mysterious biomorphic topiary shapes that loom over the garden looking slightly sinister and that I swear moved when we weren’t looking. Inspired by the 1920s Surrealist movement and Sigmund Freud’s theories about the subconscious, it’s playful and unnerving, like stepping into a Salvador Dalí painting where you can smell the grass.

A living museum of cultural connection

Hamilton Gardens isn’t trying to be Versailles or Kew. It’s doing something no other garden attempts by showing us ourselves across millennia, garden by garden, revealing how ideas, plants and people have crossed paths for centuries, borrowing, blending and reshaping each other. Italian herbs found their way into French kitchens. Japanese design quietly shaped modern architecture. Standing there breathing in citrus and centuries, you realise that nothing exists in isolation. It grows through connection. And at a time when our differences are increasingly being weaponised to divide, Hamilton Gardens is a gloriously green reminder that we flourish because of them.

Need to know

Accessibility and all-age appeal

What makes Hamilton Gardens genuinely exceptional is how it works for absolutely everyone, from families to those with limited mobility. During our visit, there are toddlers chasing each other through the treehouse and slides of the garden-themed playground. A school group sits in the Chinese Scholar’s Garden, absorbing lessons on Ming Dynasty aesthetics. An elderly couple rest quietly on benches in the Japanese Garden of Contemplation, surrounded by foliage. And a group of art students are making sketches in the Rogers Rose Garden, one of only 62 rose gardens worldwide to receive an Award of Garden Excellence from the World Federation of Rose Societies.

Hamilton Gardens has also been designed to be as inclusive as possible. Most pathways are paved or all-weather, making them suitable for wheelchairs, prams and those with limited mobility. Key attractions, including the main gardens, Te Parapara Garden, and the Japanese Garden of Contemplation, are wheelchair accessible. There’s plenty of accessible parking near the entrance, and seating is available throughout for rest stops. While some of the more intricate garden features involve steps or uneven terrain, most of the site allows almost everyone to enjoy the experience comfortably.

Hamilton Gardens entry fees

At NZ$20 entry into the enclosed gardens for adult visitors (over 16) from outside Hamilton, it’s absurdly good value for what amounts to time travel, art installation, history lesson and peaceful nature escape all rolled into one extraordinary experience. Entry is free for Hamilton City Council ratepayers and residents, showing genuine commitment to community wellbeing. An audio tour is available with your ticket for an extra NZ$5. Public highlight tours run every Saturday and Sunday at 2.00pm and cost NZ$39 per person, while private tours for groups of one to six people start from NZ$175.00. (Prices correct at time of writing.)

How to Get to Hamilton Gardens

Hamilton Gardens is a short, easy drive from central Hamilton, about 10 minutes via Cobham Drive. If you’re coming from Cambridge, allow roughly 25 minutes along State Highway 1.For those preferring public transport, local bus services connect Hamilton city centre with the gardens, though a car is by far the easiest way to explore at your own pace.

Jetstar now flies directly from Australia (Sydney and Gold Coast) to Hamilton, making a visit to Hamilton Gardens, and the entire Waikato region, fast and easy.

If you are travelling from Auckland, it’s a straightforward drive south of roughly 1.5 hours depending on traffic, sticking mostly to State Highway 1. There’s ample parking on-site, and the gardens are well signposted from all main routes.

Hamilton Gardens 
Hungerford Crescent,
Hamilton 3216, New Zealand
Tel: +64 7 838 6782

For more North Island New Zealand inspiration, tips and travel guides, try these…

Why Novotel Hamilton Tainui is the perfect Waikato base
Flight Review – Jetstar Economy Sydney to Hamilton, NZ
Visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set in Waikato
The Sculpture Park at Waitakaruru Arboretum
A day trip to Raglan, Waikato’s boho surf town
10 reasons to visit Cambridge in Waikato, New Zealand
Best scenic routes for self-driving day trips from Auckland
Wētā Workshop Unleashed with kids, Auckland, New Zealand

The post Hamilton Gardens Waikato: A Visitor’s Guide appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Shimogamo Shrine. Photo by Akira on Unsplash

The ancient capital of Japan is breathtaking, historic and utterly spellbinding. So much so that it’s in danger of being loved to death. So here are 40 things to do in Kyoto without contributing to the problem.

We loved Fushimi Inari as much as the next person, and were lucky enough to visit many, many years ago when beside a smattering of tourists, the only faces we saw were on the kitsune (fox statues). But today? Standing behind 47 selfie sticks waiting to photograph the same orange torii gate that’s already been Instagrammed 3.2 million times, Kyoto starts feeling less like magic and more like an exercise in crowd management.

But Kyoto’s soul isn’t in crowded attractions. It’s in the quiet sake district where grandmas still bow on cobbled streets, in bamboo groves where you can actually hear the bamboo rustling instead of wannabe influencers discussing their ring light angle, and along riverside paths where the only other humans are locals jogging to work.

Yes, the iconic attractions in Kyoto like Nishiki Market, the Philosopher’s Path, Kinkaku-ji and Kiyomizu-dera absolutely deserve the adulation, but right now they’re being crushed by their own popularity. And if we want Kyoto to survive in all its quiet, magical glory, it’s up to us to help resuscitate them. That doesn’t mean staying away. It means becoming more mindful visitors by visiting the attraction early, slowly or better yet… going somewhere else entirely.

Here are 40 things to do in Kyoto where your visit helps instead of hurts.

Temples & Shrines

Otagi Nenbutsu‑ji. Photo by David Greer on Pexels

1. Kifune Shrine

This mountain shrine north of the city becomes magical at dusk when stone lanterns light the forest path upward. In summer, people float paper lanterns down the river carrying wishes. The steps, about 300 of them, are steep but worth it for the atmosphere and the much quieter alternative to more famous shrines. The surrounding forest smells of cedar, and in winter, the snow makes everything hushed and pristine. Few tourists make this trip, which is exactly why you should.

2. Kamigamo Shrine & Traditional Village

This UNESCO-listed shrine predates Kyoto itself and is surrounded by historic streets that feel quietly untouched by time. Narrow lanes wind past traditional homes, small streams run alongside paths, and the shrine itself sits in spacious grounds under ancient trees. Walk the neighbourhood slowly, and you’ll find machiya (traditional wooden houses) open as shops and galleries, and the whole area moving at a pace the modern city forgot.

3. Ujigami Shrine

Japan’s oldest existing shrine building sits quietly in Uji, about 30 minutes south of Kyoto. This UNESCO World Heritage site predates most of Kyoto’s famous temples but sees a fraction of their visitors. The simple wooden architecture and tranquil grounds offer a glimpse of ancient Shinto design without the crowds. Combine it with a visit to nearby Byodo-in Temple and Uji’s famous tea shops.

4. Mikane Shrine

This small shinto shrine tucked into the Nakagyo district has a striking golden torii gate and is visited by those seeking financial luck and prosperity. It’s tiny, but the gleaming gate catches your eye. Local business owners come here regularly to pray for success. Its quiet backstreet location and the shrine’s very specific purpose give it a neighbourhood-secret feel. If you’re in the area, or at the stage of your holiday when you might need to pray for a little extra yen in the coffers, it is worth popping by.

5. Okazaki Shrine

The bunnies here have done what bunnies are known to do. Multiply. Rabbits are literally everywhere here in the form of stone statues, carvings and decorations. This adorable shrine in a quiet neighbourhood near Heian Shrine is dedicated to safe childbirth, with the rabbit as a fertility symbol. Surrounded by small gardens and trees, the abundance of bunnies makes it playful and photogenic. It’s not profound or historically crucial, just charming and sweet, particularly if you’re travelling with children.

6. Yasaka Koshindo

This tiny temple in Higashiyama is covered in hundreds of colourful kukurizaru – cloth balls representing bound monkeys and symbolising wishes or resolutions. People write their wish on a ball and hang it up, creating a crafty explosion of colour against the temple’s red walls. It takes only about ten minutes to visit but photographs beautifully, and the atmosphere is joyful rather than solemn. It’s on the walk between Kiyomizu-dera and other Higashiyama temples, so it’s easy to stop at as you pass by.

7. Otagi Nenbutsu‑ji

Up a gentle hillside in western Arashiyama lies Otagi Nenbutsu‑ji, a Buddhist temple unlike any other in Kyoto. The main draw is its extraordinary collection of about 1,200 stone rakan statues, disciples of the Buddha, each carved with its own character and expression. Some are contemplative, others cheeky, some caught mid‑gesture, and all enchantingly moss‑touched amongst the forest paths and small shrines. This blend of devotion and whimsy makes a stroll here feel like wandering through someone’s thoughtful, slightly surreal daydream.

8.. Shimogamo Shrine

Shimogamo Shrine, officially Kamo Mioya Jinja, is one of the oldest and most significant Shinto shrines in Japan, with roots stretching back over a thousand years. The approach to its vibrant vermillion gate winds through Tadasu no Mori, an ancient forest whose towering trees soften street noise and give the grounds a natural, woodland hush. Along its shaded paths you’ll see small shrines for the zodiac, historic torii gates and stones associated with song and legend, making it a peaceful and photogenic alternative to some of the more crowded Kyoto shirnes.

9. Kennin-ji Temple

Kyoto’s oldest Zen temple sits in Gion but somehow dodges the crowds. The twin dragon ceiling painting is spectacular, but the real draw is the gardens, most notably the karesansui rock garden that you can contemplate from tatami rooms. Unlike busier temples, you can sit here in actual silence. Its subtemple, Ryosoku-in, has a beautiful moss garden that feels completely private, and nearby Kodai-ji’s bamboo groves are similarly peaceful if you visit after 4pm.

10. Entoku-in Temple

Right alongside the popular Kodai-ji, Entoku-in remains mysteriously empty. The moss garden here is one of Kyoto’s finest, with lanterns emerging from green carpets and maples providing dappled shade. The temple’s connection to Samurai lord Hosokawa Tadaoki gives it historical weight, but mostly it’s just peaceful. Late afternoon light through the leaves creates patterns on the garden paths.

11. Komyō-in Temple

Near the tourist-heavy Tōfuku-ji but worlds apart in atmosphere, Komyō-in specialises in quiet contemplation. The garden slopes gently around a central pond, and gravel paths lead to secluded viewing spots. Ivy climbs stone walls, and the sound of water features provides a gentle soundtrack. It’s small enough to explore in thirty minutes but compelling enough to keep you for an hour. Few people make it here, which means you get to experience the actual Zen a Zen garden should provide.

12. Gio-ji Temple

Kyoto’s boss of moss, this small temple in Arashiyama is carpeted in lush green moss that covers the stones, ground and paths that rest under a canopy of maples. It’s one of Kyoto’s most photographed moss gardens, but few tourists come here because it’s off the main paths. The thatched temple building and the way light filters through leaves create an almost otherworldly atmosphere. Autumn adds red maples to the green, making it even more stunning.

13. Daigo-ji Temple

This sprawling mountain temple complex in southeastern Kyoto remains blissfully uncrowded despite being a UNESCO World Heritage site. One of Kyoto’s largest temple complexes and best-kept secrets, the grounds stretch across the hillside with multiple temple buildings, pagodas and gardens connected by forest paths. Spring brings spectacular weeping cherry blossoms to the lower Shimo-Daigo area, while autumn maples set the mountains ablaze. The hike to upper Daigo takes about an hour but rewards you with mountain views and near-total solitude.

Gardens & Bamboo Groves

Kyoto Gyoen National Garden. Photo by Pourya Gohari on Unsplash

14. Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Bamboo Path

On Arashiyama’s far edge, this hillside temple is famous for its 8,000 stone statues, but the bamboo grove leading to it is equally stunning and virtually empty. The path winds through towering bamboo that creates the same cathedral-like atmosphere as its famous counterpart, but you’ll have it mostly to yourself. The temple is surrounded by bamboo and forest, isolating it from the city. Every August 23-24, there’s a ceremony lighting candles among the statues, which is hauntingly beautiful but does draw the crowds.

15. Kodai-ji Temple Bamboo Grove

Right in Higashiyama but mysteriously overlooked, Kodai-ji’s bamboo corridors offer the classic Kyoto bamboo experience without the selfie sticks. The grove is smaller than Arashiyama’s but perfectly formed, with lit pathways that make evening visits particularly atmospheric. The temple grounds also feature beautiful rock gardens and tea houses, and if you visit after 4pm, you’ll often have the bamboo grove entirely to yourself.

16. Okochi Sanso Villa

This 1930s villa in Arashiyama’s hills offers what Kyoto promises but rarely delivers… space and silence. Stone paths wind through meticulously kept gardens where koi drift in ponds and tea houses perch on hillsides with sweeping views. Your ticket includes matcha and sweets served with a view over the Hozu River valley. Visit mid-morning when soft light filters through the pines. The garden takes about an hour to explore properly, and you’ll likely have whole sections to yourself.

17. Kyoto Gyoen National Garden

This massive walled park in central Kyoto surrounds the Imperial Palace but is relatively peaceful despite being right in the city centre. Wide gravel paths wind past centuries-old pine trees, ponds and shrines, with enough space that even when people are present, they dissolve into the landscape. The park is particularly beautiful during plum blossom season in early spring and when the maples turn in autumn, but it’s lovely year-round for a quiet walk or picnic.

18. Kyoto Botanical Gardens

Japan’s oldest municipal botanical garden sits north of downtown and remains relatively uncrowded despite being gorgeous year-round. The massive greenhouse holds tropical plants and orchids, while outside, themed sections transition between cherry blossoms, roses, hydrangeas and autumn maples depending on the season. The conservatory alone needs an hour and the garden deserves a lazy afternoon. Bring a bento and picnic under the trees like the locals do.

19. Garden of Fine Arts

The Garden of Fine Arts in northern Kyoto isn’t a traditional strolling garden of moss and koi but an open‑air art space built around large reproductions of world‑famous paintings on ceramic tiles. Conceived as the first permanent outdoor museum of its kind, its concrete terraces and shallow pools are studded with faithful ceramic versions of masterpieces by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh and more, their colours shimmering in light and reflection. It’s a quiet, modern counterpart to Kyoto’s ancient gardens, and perfect for a reflective stroll.

20. Hakuryu-en Garden

Open only during spring cherry blossom season and autumn foliage, this private garden near Tenryu-ji requires advance booking, which is why it works. Limited numbers mean you can actually photograph the meticulously landscaped grounds without strangers in every shot. ,. Spring brings weeping cherry blossoms; autumn delivers fiery maples. Next door, riverside café Kajikasō  offers authentic matcha and seasonal Japanese sweets, which are best savoured while taking in the garden’s tranquil views. Advance booking required via their official site or partner booking platforms.

Walks & Neighbourhood Strolls

Pontocho Alley. Photo by Julien on Pexels.

21. Kamogawa River Paths

While everyone crushes onto the Philosopher’s Path, locals escape to the Kamogawa. Walk north from Shijo Bridge and you’ll find joggers, cyclists and people picnicking on the wide stepping stones that cross the river. In the early evening, couples sit along the banks watching herons fish. The path continues for miles, passing under willow trees and past small cafes that open onto the water.

22. Horikawa Promenade

This tree-lined canal walk in central Kyoto gets overlooked because it’s not ancient or famous… just lovely. Small shrines nestle between residential buildings, local cafes serve breakfast to neighbourhood regulars and stone lanterns reflect in the water at dusk. In spring, the canal becomes a tunnel of cherry blossoms. Walk it early morning when shopkeepers are sweeping their storefronts and you’ll see the Kyoto that actually lives here, not the one performing for tourists.

23. Pontocho Alley

This narrow lane running along the Kamo River lights up at dusk when lanterns glow and restaurants open their riverside platforms. It’s touristy but undeniably atmospheric with its traditional wooden facades, the sound of the river and the possibility of glimpsing geiko heading to appointments. Walk it early evening before dinner crowds peak, then pick a restaurant based on what smells good or looks welcoming. Many places display English menus. The alley gets packed after 7pm, so either arrive early or embrace the crowded charm.

24. Fushimi Sake District

Fifteen minutes south of Fushimi Inari’s torii gates, the crowds vanish and you’re left with narrow lanes lined with sake breweries. The air is thick with fermented rice, and historic wooden buildings lean towards canals where willows dip their branches. Stop by Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum to learn the brewing process, then sample amazake (sweet sake) and crisp ginjo at small tasting rooms. Many brewers speak enough English to share their craft, and the unhurried atmosphere is a world away from tourist Kyoto.

25. Kamishichiken District

Kyoto’s oldest geisha district operates quietly north-west of Kitano Tenmangu, and most tourists never find it. Wooden ochaya teahouses line the streets, and you might see maiko (apprentice geisha) heading to evening appointments if you’re here around dusk. You can’t just walk into the exclusive teahouses, but you can walk the atmospheric streets, peek through gates at beautiful courtyards, and soak up the traditional architecture. In spring, the Kitano Odori dance performances offer a rare chance to see geisha arts.

26. Nishijin Backstreets

West of the Imperial Palace, Nishijin is all narrow lanes, old workshops and houses that still hint at the area’s textile past. There’s no set route here. Just wander and see what turns up. You’ll pass kura storehouses, tiny neighbourhood shrines and elderly residents tending plants outside their doors. It’s quiet without feeling empty, and you’re far more likely to hear a radio playing than another language. This is Kyoto at its most domestic and unpolished and perfect for a slow wander rather than a snap for the ‘Gram.

27. The Kurama to Kibune Trail

This mountain hiking trail passes through several pristine bamboo groves that see only hikers, not tour buses. The bamboo grows naturally along the forested path, creating spontaneous tunnels of green between the cedar trees. It’s bamboo as part of a living ecosystem rather than a manicured attraction, which somehow makes it more magical. The two-hour hike connects Kurama and Kibune villages, and the bamboo sections provide cool, shaded relief during the climb.

Markets & Shopping

Displayed Fermented Radish on a Stall. Photo by Eva Bronzini on Pexels

28. Demachi- Masugata Shopping Street

Skip the Nishiki Market crowds and visit to Demachi-Masugata Shopping Street, a genuine Kyoto neighbourhood market street where locals shop for dinner. In this covered local shopping street, you’ll find stalls selling mochi shaped like seasonal items, fresh mountain vegetables, roasted chestnuts in autumn and pickles of every description. Demachi-Masugata Shopping Street sits where the Kamo and Takano rivers meet, and you can grab breakfast (the mitarashi dango are excellent) and eat by the water. It’s open daily until around 2pm.

29. Kitano Tenmangu Flea Market

On the 25th of each month, this shrine hosts Kyoto’s best flea market with hundreds of stalls selling vintage kimono, antique ceramics, old toys, vinyl records and curiosities spanning decades. It’s crowded but not touristy, as most shoppers are locals hunting bargains. Arrive early for the best selection, bring cash and be ready to dig through piles of stuff. Even if you buy nothing, wandering past vermillion gates while vendors call out deals feels distinctly Kyoto.

Immersive Experiences in Kyoto

Samurai Kembu © Aleney

30. Traditional craft workshops

Kyoto’s craft heritage lives in small workshops tucked down backstreets. Taikenkobowaraku in Gion offers sessions making traditional incense, kanzashi hair ornaments or Japanese sweets. Marumasu-Nishimuraya near Nijo Castle teaches Kyo-Yuzen silk dyeing, where you paint designs onto silk using traditional techniques. Classes run in English, last 1-2 hours and  you keep what you make as a cultural, and way more memorable, souvenir. Reserve online beforehand.

31. Private cooking classes

Several companies offer small-group classes where you learn to make traditional Kyoto cuisine like yuba (tofu skin), vegetable tempura and dashimaki tamago and popular Japanese treats like Hanetsuki Gyoza. Cooking Sun and Wak Japan run excellent sessions in residential kitchens where you shop at local markets first, then cook and eat together. You’ll learn actual techniques you can recreate at home, hear stories about Kyoto food culture and eat something more memorable than any restaurant meal.

32. Samurai Kembu Theatre

This small venue teaches choreographed samurai sword dancing in hour-long sessions where you dress in traditional hakama and learn actual kata movements. It’s theatrical, slightly ridiculous, and genuinely fun. You’ll stumble through the forms, then perform together at the end. From experience, we can attest that The Samurai Kembu instructors are patient and encouraging, and you leave with photos of yourself looking unexpectedly badass. Classes hold about ten people maximum.

33. Early morning zazen

Several temples offer zazen (seated meditation) sessions for visitors, usually starting around 6 or 7am. Kennin-ji, Shunkoin, and Kodai-ji run regular sessions with English instruction. You sit on cushions in temple halls as morning light filters through shoji screens as a monk explains the basics, then meditate in silence. Legs will go numb and thoughts will wander, but there’s something profound about starting your day this way. Sessions last 30-60 minutes and some temples request advance reservations.

34. Nishijin Textile Centre

Kyoto’s textile district centres on this building where you can watch traditional looms create the intricate silk brocades used in kimono. Demonstrations run several times daily and show how weavers translate patterns into woven fabric through impossibly complex sequences. The gift shop sells everything from full kimono to small accessories. Daily kimono fashion shows at specific times demonstrate different wearing styles. It’s free to visit and fascinating even if you’re not into textiles.

35. Funaoka Onsen

This vintage public bathhouse in north-west Kyoto has operated since 1923, and the beautiful tile work and carved wooden details remain intact. If you do visit, you’ll have to follow proper onsen etiquette. And yes, that means nude. (check out our etiquette guide here). The water is mineral-rich and gloriously hot. Locals come regularly, so observe what they do and you’ll be fine. It’s closed on Tuesdays and offers an authentic slice of local Kyoto life tourists rarely see.

Museums

Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art. Photo by Dmitry Romanoff on Unsplash

36. Kyoto Railway Museum

Yes, a train museum! But even if you’re not a trainspotter, it’s genuinely fascinating. Fifty-three locomotives, from steam engines to bullet trains, fill the halls, and you can climb into driver’s cabs, operate turntables and ride a steam locomotive on a short loop track. Kids love the hands-on exhibits and train simulators, while adults appreciate the beautiful restoration work and the rooftop terrace overlooking the tracks. It’s a different side of Japanese precision and nostalgia and completely unlike anything else in Kyoto.

37. Kyoto International Manga Museum

This museum holds 300,000 manga volumes and many are available to read on the spot. Sprawl on the lawn with a stack of comics, explore exhibitions on manga history and techniques or join drop-in drawing workshops. It’s housed in a converted school building, which gives it a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere. English manga selections are limited but growing. The museum café serves themed food. It’s a window into a big part of Japanese culture and hours will vanish effortlessly.

38. Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art

Located in Okazaki Park, this recently renovated museum hosts rotating exhibitions alongside permanent collections of Japanese and European art. The architecture alone, a 1930s building updated with contemporary elements, is worth seeing. The sculpture garden and café terrace overlook a peaceful courtyard. Unlike Tokyo’s museums, this one rarely feels crowded. Exhibitions change regularly, so check what’s showing.

Day Trips From Kyoto

Sagano Scenic Railway. Photo by Emiliano Lara on Pexels

39. Ohara Mountain Village

An hour north by bus, Ohara feels like Kyoto exhaling. Sanzen-in Temple has moss gardens that put most famous spots to shame, and the surrounding village sells homemade pickles, crafts, and mountain vegetables. Stone paths climb past Jizo statues into forests where you might see exactly three other people. The air is noticeably cleaner and the pace noticeably slower, so pack a lunch, take your time and resist the urge to rush back to the city.

40. Sagano Scenic Railway

This 25-minute train ride along the Hozugawa River feels like travelling through an old woodblock print. Open-air carriages let mountain air and birdsong pour in as you pass bamboo forests, shrines and rocky gorges. Go midweek and you’ll have the carriage to yourself. The spring cherry blossoms and autumn foliage are stunning, but honestly any season works. Book ahead online, as the romantic train ride sells out on weekends, but weekday tickets are usually available.

How Kyoto is helping visitors do tourism more thoughtfully

Kyoto hasn’t just thrown up its hands at overtourism. It’s actually doing something about it. Working with the Kyoto DMO, local businesses and residents, the city has launched a comprehensive strategy to preserve what makes it special while keeping it liveable for the people who actually live there.

Find out more about what stepos you can make to ensure your visits are better for everyone involved here.

The post 40 things to do in Kyoto without the crowds appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Kyoto – photo by Gavin Li on Unsplash

Through a series of smart strategies to protect its living history, Kyoto is getting tourism right, and it means you and your family will have an even better time exploring Japan’s ancient capital.

A city that has been Japan’s cultural heart for over a thousand years, Kyoto is the birthplace of tea ceremony, kaiseki cuisine, geisha culture and virtually every traditional Japanese art form you can think of. And with its 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites and more than 2,000 temples and shrines, Kyoto is a literal living museum.

Except that unlike a museum, everything here is still alive, still practised and still genuinely part of daily life. Which is why Kyoto remains one of the world’s most extraordinary cultural destinations.

Here’s what you need to know before visiting Kyoto.

The problem of popularity

Let’s not pretend there isn’t an issue. Kyoto’s been a victim of its own success. Like Venice, Barcelona and other beloved destinations, the city faces a paradox. People come to Kyoto precisely because it has maintained its authentic character… yet too many visitors concentrated in the same iconic spots at the same times can threaten their authenticity and, in some cases, their very existence.

Those same narrow laneways in Gion that make the area so atmospheric? They were never designed for thousands of tourists a day. The bamboo grove at Arashiyama that looks so magical on Instagram? Try visiting at 11am and you’ll be in a queue just to take a photo. You end up spending your holiday fighting crowds instead of experiencing anything.

Why Kyoto is doing tourism differently

Rather than simply accepting this as the inevitable price of popularity or telling visitors to just sod off, Kyoto has created a plan. A really good one. Working closely with the Kyoto DMO, local businesses and residents, the city has launched a comprehensive strategy to ensure that Kyoto remains Kyoto.

For the city, it means preserving its beauty and culture with care and keeping it liveable for locals. For us travellers, it means better information for planning, less time stuck in crowds and more time having actual experiences, opportunities to engage more deeply with incredible culture and the satisfaction of knowing your visit helps rather than harms.

Kyoto’s approach to smarter tourism

Instead of trying to keep people away, Kyoto City and the local tourism organisation have built a whole strategy around getting visitors to spread out more, stay longer, visit at different times and genuinely engage with the culture instead of just photographing it. It sounds almost too simple, but the initiatives they’re rolling out are genuinely clever.

The Tourism Morals Code – These are not rules, but a shared understanding of how to be a good visitor. Practical stuff like not blocking streets in Gion for geisha photos, keeping your voice down in temples and being aware that real people live in these neighbourhoods. It’s explained in English (and multiple languages) through signs, pamphlets and a really good website.

Hidden Gems Program – Kyoto is promoting incredible places that get a fraction of the crowds that the famous attractions do. But we’re not talking about second-tier consolation prizes here. We’re talking UNESCO World Heritage sites, master craftspeople’s workshops and neighbourhoods that are every bit as beautiful as the Instafamous spots, but without the queue.

Live Crowd Forecasting – The city has installed webcams at major sites and created a congestion prediction tool. Before you leave your hotel, you can check exactly how busy places are right now and plan accordingly. This is a particular game changer for families with kids, as they can find the crowds overwhelming.

Off-Peak Campaigns – The city encourages dawn and evening visits (some temples now open early or late specially), promoting winter and summer travel (traditionally quieter seasons) and offering special events to spread demand.

The Traveller’s Promise – There are also programs that link your tourism spending (accommodation, dining) directly to heritage preservation. For example, a meal at a participating restaurant could help fund temple restoration. This is tourism that gives back and doesn’t just take.

The Kyoto accommodation tax

One of the ways Kyoto is getting tourism right is thhough the implementation of the Kyoto accommodation tax. From March 1, 2026, Kyoto’s changing its accommodation tax, but they’re not trying to price anyone out. Instead, they are charging a fair tax per person (regardless of age), per night on a tiered basis, depending on how much your accommodation costs.

As of January 1st, 2026 (but subject to change), the taxes are as follows.

Budget stays (under ¥6,000—about $59 AUD per person per night): ¥200 tax (about $2 AUD)
Mid-range (¥6,000-19,999—about $59-$197 AUD per person per night): ¥400 tax (about $4 AUD)
Upper mid-range (¥20,000-49,999—about $197-$493 AUD per person per night): ¥1,000 tax (about $10 AUD)
Luxury (¥50,000-99,999—about $493-$986 AUD per person per night): ¥4,000 tax (about $40 AUD)
Ultra-luxury (¥100,000+—about $986+ AUD per person per night): ¥10,000 tax (about $99 AUD)

So if you’re a family of four staying somewhere mid-range at around $80-100 per person per night (so $320-400 total per night for the room), you’re paying an extra $16 a night in tax. That’s a couple of coffees. But if you’re a couple staying in a $1,000 per night luxury ryokan suite, you’ll be paying significantly more tax.

The big increases really only kick in at the luxury end with the people dropping $1,000+ per person per night. And honestly? They can afford to contribute more to preserving the city they’re visiting.

It’s important to know that this is not simply some cash grab. It is a well-considered investment in making sure Kyoto remains Kyoto 20 years from now… when your kids want to bring their kids. It does this by funding heritage preservation (those temples don’t maintain themselves), better infrastructure for visitors such as multilingual signs, information services and transportation improvements, programs to help local residents and businesses adapt to tourism, crowd management initiatives, and all the tools and services that make your visit better.

8 smart ways to plan your Kyoto visit

1.     Stay longer, stress less
Don’t try to smash through everything in two days. Give yourself five or six days minimum.

2.     Time things right
If you must visit the more popular temples, do it early in the morning or late afternoon and dedicate whole days to quiet neighbourhoods and experiences.

3.     Think about Kyoto’s seasons
Summer’s hot but has festivals and night illuminations. Winter is cold but clear with smaller crowds and nearby onsens. Spring and autumn are lovely, but expect a whole lot of company. Shoulder seasons (June and late January to February) can be brilliant.

4.     Use the official Kyoto City Official Travel website
Bookmark the Kyoto City Official Travel Guide (kyoto.travel) as it offers crowd forecasts, hidden gems and transport info. And everything is in English.

5.     Get around like a Kyoto local
Kyoto’s bus and subway system is excellent. Download the app. Or rent bikes. Kyoto’s surprisingly flat and bike-friendly, and many places offer family-sized rentals.

6.     Look for Kyoto preservation programs
Accommodations and restaurants participating in heritage programs usually advertise it. Your stay literally funds conservation.

7.     Be respectful of Kyoto’s culture and people
Following the tourism code isn’t just being nice. It’s ensuring these places stay open to visitors. Nobody wants to see temples close to tourists because people can’t behave.

8.     Make better tourism choices in Kyoto
Beyond the big-name attractions like Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and the historic Gion district, there are so many things to do in Kyoto that deliver all the magic without the human traffic jams. Click here for the best things to do in Kyoto without the crowds.

For more information, visit the official Kyoto City Travel Guide, where you’ll find real-time congestion forecasts, hidden gem recommendations and comprehensive planning resources for your family’s visit.

The post How Kyoto is getting tourism right appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Photo by BBC Creative on Unsplash

Raising a child is a constant, evolving challenge, and it is one that shifts alongside them as they grow. One question many parents find themselves asking is, “When is the right time to introduce their child to day care?”

Each child goes through different stages of growth, and while one kid may adjust quickly to a new environment like the daycare facility, another similar-aged child could find themselves struggling to adjust as easily. 

That variance in experience and preparedness is completely normal, which is why parents need to stay observant and considerate of their child’s own unique growth patterns.

The truth is, there’s no fixed period to put a child through the childcare process. It all comes down to looking at the signs and assessing their readiness on an individual level.

If you’re at the crossroads of determining whether to enroll your child now rather than later, you’re in the right place. We’ll walk you through the most common signs to help you ascertain whether your child is truly ready for a childcare facility… and what to look out for along the way. Let’s jump right into it!

1. They’re in the right age range

While there’s no single age that a child must be to be accepted in a childcare centre, there are ideal age ranges where they’ll be far more likely to succeed and thrive in this new environment.

Arguably, the best age for childcare falls between 12 months and three years of age. Children can technically be enrolled before then, but their motor skills and communication skills are not usually adequate to truly benefit from the structure imposed by this facility.

Once a child falls within that ideal age range, they’ll typically have already passed through key developmental milestones that allow them to participate in various activities within the childcare facility… interacting with peers more easily and adjusting to new faces and routines with greater flexibility.

That said, this age range isn’t set in stone. Every child develops at their own pace, and it’s not unlikely for children within the early stages of this age range to not be completely fitting for a childcare environment just yet. Parents should always consider their child’s emotional readiness and comfort with new environments before making the transition to childcare.

2. They can handle short periods of separation

Putting your child through the childcare process essentially means changing their environment and entrusting them to qualified professionals for a couple of hours. 

This structured absence may seem like a short amount of time on your part, but it can feel like an eternity for a child who has not experienced such a drastic degree of separation before.

One practical sign of readiness is whether your child can tolerate short periods of separation without becoming overly distressed. Some ways to tell that your child isn’t ready for childcare yet include extreme separation anxiety, difficulty calming down without a parent present, and persistent distress when left with other caregivers.

Fortunately, these behaviours can be reversed and trained to create the opposite effect. The best way to build this skill is to start small and increase separation gradually. Short, predictable absences that help your child learn that you always come back.

Once they learn to cope better, you can extend the separation time and allow the secondary caregiver to introduce fun yet familiar routines during their sessions—think play time or story time. Once your child associates your separation with something positive and safe, they can look at childcare more favourably.

They show curiosity about other children and activities

Another useful indicator that your child is ready for childcare is when they themselves are curious about the idea of meeting other children and engaging in new activities. 

As your child grows up, they naturally become more interested in doing a wide range of things. This may differ from child to child, but naturally, many find the idea of socialising with other children and participating in group activities and play sessions a fun time.

So if your child generally enjoys looking at other kids in the park, playing with their relatives, and approaching others to play or interact, then that’s a great signal that they’re ready to partake in a childcare environment.

Childcare facilities are built to facilitate safe and cooperative interactions where young children can hone their social skills. They’re also designed and structured to help your child develop other age-appropriate skills that can make them more creative and cooperative during their early years.

As this is the case, a child demonstrating signs of natural curiosity is a good way to tell that they’re ready to be enrolled in a childcare centre sooner rather than later.

They can follow simple routines

Another sure sign that signals a child’s readiness to be enrolled in childcare is their ability to follow simple routines. 

Childcare environments tend to follow strict schedules of when a child can play, eat, nap, or engage in group activities. As this is the case, it’s important to prepare your child to transition into this new environment by giving them simple routines to follow at home, too.

The good news is that most children love predictable activities and structure—and they naturally pick up on it at home. As such, promote their familiarity with simple routines by maintaining consistent schedules for meals, naps, and playtime. 

Over time, these small patterns help children understand what to expect throughout the day, making it easier for them to transition into the structured environment of a childcare centre.

When children are already comfortable moving between activities at home, such as tidying up toys before meals or settling down for nap time, they’re far more likely to adapt smoothly to the daily rhythm of childcare.

They can communicate basic needs

One additional indicator that your child can thrive in a childcare environment is when they’re confident and capable of communicating their basic needs. 

While your child may not be able to speak in full sentences yet, they can use their body language or say simple phrases that communicate their needs and wants. This is crucial, as it ensures that their experience in the childcare facility is positive and that they won’t be ignored or overlooked if they need help in some form.

In a childcare setting, educators are generally receptive to their class’s needs and wants. However, they’re also handling multiple children simultaneously. 

If your child is unable to signal or communicate their needs, then this could hinder the educator’s ability to provide them the quality comfort and care they need to be set up for success. This is because their needs may be overlooked by other children who are more expressive communicators than they are.

As this is the case, it’s crucial for parents to ensure that their child is able to properly communicate with sounds and gestures to ensure that their needs can be met without their presence. If they can signal that they’re hungry or need to go potty inside and outside the house, then that’s a good sign that they’re ready to go to childcare.

As long as your child can communicate at a basic level, they can transition into childcare more smoothly and get the support they need to do well there. We hope this helps you identify signs of childcare readiness in your child.

All the best in navigating childcare with your little one!

The post How to Know If Your Child Is Ready for Childcare appeared first on boyeatsworld.

© Novotel Hamilton Tainui

From its riverfront location to thoughtful family facilities and a celebration of Waikato-Tainui culture, Novotel Hamilton Tainui is the ultimate base for exploring Hamilton and beyond.

When the travel gods aligned with both the school holidays and Jetstar’s new Sydney to Hamilton service to ferry my daughter and me to New Zealand, we found ourselves checking into the Novotel Hamilton Tainui, and it honestly exceeded every expectation.

A Cultural Welcome

© Aleney de Winter

What makes Novotel Hamilton Tainui truly special is its deep connection to Waikato-Tainui culture. This riverfront Hamilton hotel greets you with a traditional Māori totem gate at the entrance. And it isn’t just a token “let’s stick a carving in the lobby” effort; it’s a genuine welcome to the rohe (region) that sets the tone for everything that follows.

The hotel’s distinctive façade was designed by Waikato-Tainui Head of Carving, Renata Te Wiata and Taroi Rawiri, and tells the story of tuna (eel) migration in the Waikato River. Every year, these eels make their epic journey, and that’s woven right into the building’s design. The interior continues this theme with colours, materials, textures and art that reflect the Waikato-Tainui people’s deep relationship with their tupuna awa (ancestral river). It is cultural storytelling done brilliantly… contemporary and cool but still rooted in place and meaning.

Location, location, location

© Novotel Hamilton Tainui i

Perched right on the banks of the Waikato River in the heart of Hamilton’s CBD, the hotel is strategically positioned for exploring all the best things to do in Waikato. Hobbiton is just 45 minutes away. Raglan’s beaches and boho vibe are a scenic 45-minute drive. And getting to Cambridge’s charming cafes and antique shops takes only twenty minutes. You are genuinely in the sweet spot for day-tripping to all of Waikato’s incredible attractions, then returning to comfort and style each evening.

And when it comes to Hamilton CBD family activities, the 16-kilometre riverside walkway bike and walking trail is right there for morning runs or evening strolls, you’re just steps away from great dining and entertainment offerings, and it’s only a ten-minute drive to the extraordinary Hamilton Gardens, which is one of the region’s not-to-be-missed delights.

Rooms at Novotel Hamilton Tainui

© Novotel Hamilton Tainui

We stayed in a Superior Room with two double beds and river views, and it was absolutely perfect for our mother-daughter adventure. At 29 square metres, there was space to spread out without tripping over suitcases… an absolute essential when travelling with a teen whose luggage situation could rival Lady Gaga’s tour wardrobe (though thankfully minus any meat-made apparel).

Modern and clean, with that signature Novotel vibe that feels both contemporary and comfortable, it was everything you’d want after a day of exploring Waikato. The beds were super snuggly (and trust me, I’m fussy about hotel beds). A 42-inch flat screen came with children’s channels (if you’re travelling with littlies) and free movies, which was great for winding down after big days, though the teen was more invested in texting her friends back home. The bathroom was fully accessible and on the spacious side, so there was room enough for us both to get ready in the morning.

In-room coffee and tea facilities were brilliant for early morning wakeups before heading out on adventures, with a kettle and mini-fridge perfect for keeping snacks and drinks cold. And delicious welcome chocolates on arrival were a thoughtful touch that made us feel genuinely valued as guests.

Dining at Novotel Hamilton Tainui

© Aleney de Winter

The hotel’s Restaurant on Alma is a genuine highlight. With its ambient riverside location, it’s the perfect spot whether you’re fuelling up for adventures or winding down after them. Breakfast is a generous spread with excellent hot options, quality continental fare, fresh fruit and good coffee that sets you up perfectly for a day exploring. The dinner menu celebrates local Waikato produce beautifully with a fusion of Pacific Rim and European cuisine. Special shout-out to the kumara fries with smoky chipotle aioli… they earned high praise and a possible lifetime addiction from my teen!

Novotel Hamilton Tainui service and facilities 

© Novotel Hamilton Tainui i

Polished without being precious, the hotel is relaxed and very family-friendly. The Novotel team deserves major praise. From the warm welcome at check-in to helpful goodbyes, everyone was genuinely lovely and full of fantastic local tips. They also made excellent recommendations for our Waikato adventures, and nothing was too much trouble.

The hotel facilities tick all the right boxes too. There’s a gym if you’re feeling virtuous and a slick business centre for anyone juggling work. And if you’re travelling with kids, thoughtful extras, including a dedicated children’s play area tucked between the restaurant and bar, will keep them entertained.

Entertainment next door

© Aleney dr WInter

Speaking of entertainment, the hotel sits right alongside SkyCity Hamilton, a world-class entertainment complex and casino, which also houses Bowl and Social, and it proves brilliantly fun going head-to-head with the teen after dinner. Even if she did beat me. By a lot. The bowling alley’s state-of-the-art tech is impressive and proves a fun diversion whether you’ve got kids in tow or just fancy a laugh with mates. Having entertainment like this literally next door makes the Novotel Hamilton Tainui even more perfect for families or groups.

The Ibis connection

© Aleey de Winter

Here’s another tip for families and foodies. Right across the road is Ibis Hamilton Tainui, the Novotel’s sister hotel, which boasts MAAKONA, an extraordinary open-air restaurant overlooking the Waikato River. Head there for tasty tapas-style in a casual, vibrant atmosphere with plenty of space for games (supplied) and indoor or alfresco dining.

© Aleney de Winter

It’s an ideal spot for a relaxed meal where kids can move about freely while parents enjoy the riverside and bridge views. It genuinely makes dining by the Waikato River a breeze for families who want great food without the worry of keeping the kids still. Oh, and they make a mean marshmallow espresso martini.

The verdict

The Novotel Hamilton Tainui is the perfect accommodation for exploring the Waikato. Whether you’re hitting Hobbiton, surfing Raglan or discovering Hamilton’s own surprises like the incredible gardens, the historic Art Gallery of Hamilton, Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato and the exceptional dining and shopping along Victoria Street in Downtown, you’ll love returning here each night.

Novotel Hamilton Tainui
7 Alma Street, Hamilton,
Waikato, New Zealand
Tel: (+64) 7 838 1366 

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For more North Island New Zealand inspiration, tips and travel guides, try these…

Flight Review – Jetstar Economy Sydney to Hamilton, NZ
Hamilton Gardens Waikato: A Visitor’s Guide
Visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set in Waikato
A day trip to Raglan, Waikato’s boho surf town
10 reasons to visit Cambridge in Waikato, New Zealand
The Sculpture Park at Waitakaruru Arboretum: A Hidden Waikato Gem

The post Why Novotel Hamilton Tainui is the perfect Waikato base appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Photo by Ethan Hooson on Unsplash

Lured by my teen to Raglan on a day trip, I expect surfboards and sand. But what I find instead is a seaside boho wonderland that makes us both want to linger longer.

I’d heard all the hype about Raglan but was still on the fence about a visit. It’s just another surf town, I figured, so how different could it be… especially when I do not surf! But dragged here by my teenager from our digs in Hamilton, I get it. With its sparkling harbour, too-cool stores and unhurried energy, Raglan’s charm goes well beyond its waves.

The road to Raglan

We head 45 minutes west of Hamilton and the scenery starts bending into big rolling hills and farm country. We pull over at Bridal Veil Falls, or Wairēinga, where water plunges 55 metres over columnar basalt cliffs before smashing into the pool below. The walk, through native bush down to multiple viewing platforms and up again, is easy enough that I can manage it with minimal huffing and puffing, as the teen bolts ahead. The sight is spectacular.

About 2 km from Raglan, we spot a detour sign and pull in at the Out of Ubud Bali Shop. This place is heaven for my maximalist kid, filled with Balinese furniture, trinkets, jewellery and homewares. She goes nuts for the jewellery and hair accessories, eventually walking out with both and a boho door hanging. I have to physically restrain myself from buying a massive carving that I have nowhere to put. The shop is only open Tuesday to Thursday and closes over winter, so we luck out with our timing. It’s the kind of place where you could easily spend an hour just browsing and imagining how to Bali-fy your entire house.

Finding our rhythm on a day trip to Raglan

Chai Wallah in Raglan © Aleney de Winter

Then it’s on to Raglan, where black sand beaches stretch out under moody skies, op shops brim with opportunity, the air smells faintly of salt and chai and the town hums with a relaxed, boho energy that feels real rather than manufactured for tourists. It’s exactly my daughter’s kind of happy place, and it’s winning me over too.

We stumble across The Chai Wallah, a purple food truck radiating full boho vibes, where I order the Chaicofski (espresso meets chai and utterly genius) while my daughter goes for an iced chai, and we head to the beach to drink them. We settle in to watch surfers come in from the famous breaks, with the detached appreciation of people who never really mastered how to stand on a board (but are expert at checking out cute guys on surfboards).

Limestone Express Tour © Raglan Kayak & Paddleboard

Kayaks, though? We can manage those. We book a Limestone Express kayak tour with Raglan Kayaks, a must on any day trip to Raglan.

I confess to being a little on the uncoordinated side, and while I’m still figuring out how to paddle in a straight line, the teen is already 500 metres away. The crew are patient and friendly and set us up with proper life jackets and a dry bag for our phones as we paddle around Whaingaroa Harbour, a nationally recognised conservation area and designated bird sanctuary with over 140 km of coastline.

Puppet in La La Land Raglan © Aleney de Winter

After kayaking we’ve worked up quite an appetite, so head straight across the road to La La Land, a too-adorable-for-words café filled with too-adorable-for-words people… and loads of sugar! My girl loads up on homemade cakes, waffles and steaming European-style hot chocolate like she’s preparing for the apocalypse, and we grab a table outside to indulge.

We end up sitting there for an hour, just talking and watching an eclectic mix of surfers and locals drift through, soaking up that rare community energy you just don’t find everywhere.

Bow Street browsing

© Aleney de Winter

Between adventures we meander down Bow Street, stopping wherever catches our eye. We check out surf shops and galleries and lose an hour in The Raglan Community House op shop, where rails of second-hand clothes and quirky bric-a-brac have my vintage-loving teen in full treasure hunt mode, tossing things over her shoulder and squealing at little finds.

Then we hit ULO and holy wow. It’s tiny and colourful and brilliant all at once. Vintage shirts hang like a rainbow, hand-painted artworks and stacks of vinyl. My daughter disappears behind a pile of tees, and I lose myself in the racks, flipping through records, as jazz spins softly in the background. It smells faintly of incense and old paper and is utterly alive. A few doors down, Everyone’s Store and Groovy Rags keep the mood rolling.

Sunset on Whaingaroa Harbour

As evening falls, the weather turns overcast and windy, and the teenager isn’t all that keen on our pre-booked harbour cruise, but the Raglan Boat Charters sunset cruise turns out to be a a perfect bookend to our day trip to Raglan.

I pre-order fish and chips through the cruise company, and they’re delivered fresh and piping hot straight to the boat as we depart. As we motor around Whaingaroa Harbour, demolishing our crispy fish and chips, the crew points out royal spoonbills wading in the shallows and shags perched on the limestone rocks. We learn that little blue penguins breed along this shoreline and that the harbour is home to rare and threatened species, including international migratory birds that stop here on their journey. The famous limestone pancake rocks are wild up close, rising out of the water like surrealist sculptures.

As the crew shares fascinating local stories, the sun puts in a mighty effort, giving us a few minutes of golden hour glow. The cruise goes for about 90 minutes, there’s a bar on board (I have a wine, she has a lemonade), and we huddle in blankets, surrounded by fairy lights on the top deck. Everyone on board is relaxed, chatty and easy company, and despite the less-than-ideal weather, the whole experience feels kind of perfect.

We dock back at the wharf as the sky darkens, the dusky pinks and purples bleeding into deep navy. The harbour is quiet now, only the faint slap of water against the hull and the hum of the engine keeping us company. My teen leans back, cheeks flushed from the wind and salt, and grins. We’ve spent the whole day moving at our own pace, discovering little corners of the town and harbour, laughing at missteps and just quietly soaking in everything.

I’m big enough to admit when I’m wrong. Raglan isn’t just another surf town. It feels familiar, like a place we’ve known forever, even though we’ve only been here a day. And as we drive back to Hamilton under a blanket of stars… we’re both a little lighter, a little looser and somehow, a little more in sync.

Maybe chasing waves isn’t my thing, but chasing days like this, I could totally get the hang of.

For more North Island New Zealand inspiration, tips and travel guides, try these…

Flight Review – Jetstar Economy Sydney to Hamilton, NZ
Why Novotel Hamilton Tainui is the perfect Waikato base
Visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set in Waikato
10 reasons to visit Cambridge in Waikato, New Zealand
The Sculpture Park at Waitakaruru Arboretum: A Hidden Waikato Gem

 

The post A day trip to Raglan, Waikato’s boho surf town appeared first on boyeatsworld.

A hidden gem where art and nature collide, we explore why The Sculpture Park at Waitakaruru Arboretum deserves a spot on every Waikato itinerary.

We arrive at The Sculpture Park at Waitakaruru Arboretum early, my 14-year-old daughter firmly in teenager mode, earbuds in and convinced that any suggestion involving art and nature is just code for a very long walk that’s cost her a sleep-in.

But her mood shifts the minute we find ourselves at the entrance to 17.5 hectares of living, breathing magic.

A place so off the radar that even my sister, who lives in Hamilton, had no idea it existed, Waitakaruru Arboretum was created from a derelict greywacke quarry near Tauwhare in the Waikato. The stunning park is the three-decade labour of love by John and Dorothy Wakeling, who saw potential where others saw abandonment. The towering rock faces and raw landscape spoke to them, and what they coaxed from that conversation is nothing short of extraordinary.

Within minutes of starting the two-kilometre trail, my daughter’s earbuds migrate to her pocket. Native birds, including tūī, bellbirds, kererū, and the park’s emblem, the ruru (a small native owl), provide the soundtrack to our wandering, and the sculptures demand attention. There are more than 100 pieces, both permanent and temporary, each positioned with such thoughtful intention that you can’t help but slow down, lean in, and study the details.

At Waitakaruru, which translates to “place where the owl drinks,” the art-in-nature concept isn’t just marketing speak. The sculptures don’t sit in the landscape; they engage with it. A metal figure emerges from native bush.  A ceramic piece nestles beside a pond. The park’s collection of more than 20,000 trees and shrubs from around the world creates distinct geographic zones, and the sculptures shift personality as you move between them, like actors adapting to different stages. The ponds throughout the park, including the quarry pond with its perfect reflections, add another layer of beauty to an already extraordinary walk.

Standout sculptures at Waitakaruru Arboretum

The artworks themselves are extraordinary, and the conversations they spark between my teen and me shift constantly… sometimes silly, sometimes serious. There’s contemporary steel beside whimsical wood carvings, monumental stone works that seem to grow from the earth itself, and pieces so unexpected they make us laugh out loud or stop us dead in our tracks. Often both.

Rebecca Rose’s “Swimmingly” captivates us both. The figures in vintage bathing suits, cast in concrete mixed with greywacke from the quarry itself, sit contemplatively by the ponds as if deciding whether to take a dip. There’s something remarkable about seeing sculptures born from the very land they inhabit, like the earth itself lends them form and voice.

Marcus Tatton and Sharlene Broughton’s Portal Project, crafted from trees felled by Cyclone Gabrielle, speaks of renewal and transformation. But it’s Bernie Harfleet’s 14 Caskets that lingers longest in my mind… the haunting installation of caskets symbolising deaths from domestic violence is a stark, necessary reminder that art can comfort and confront in equal measure.

Kid-friendly activities at Waitakaruru Arboretum

The Ruru Scavenger Hunt sends families searching for the 15 hidden owl sculptures scattered throughout the park, and my daughter becomes obsessed with tracking down all of them. It turns into a full-blown quest… until she gets distracted by a neighbouring paddock full of cows and decides instead to test their taste in jazz. Kiwi cows lean towards Miles Davis and think Kenny G is best left for elevators.

We continue ambling through the park, pointing out plants and hidden figures tucked between the leaves. If you’re visiting in the school holidays, the park also runs special programs, with the standout activity being raft making. Kids build their own rafts and test them on the park’s ponds. There’s something brilliantly old-school about watching children figure out buoyancy and engineering principles while getting their hands dirty in such a beautiful setting.

Other workshops and creative activities run throughout the holiday periods and are typically included with regular park admission, making them an affordable day out.

Eat and retreat at the Waitakaruru Arboretum

After wandering up and down through fields of cone-shaped purple flowers, we stumble across the adorable Ruru Retreat, a cosy family-friendly cottage tucked alongside the lily pond that you can book for overnight stays. It’s a tempting thought.

At the end of the route, we linger at the Roosting Ruru Café, where we demolish Duck Island ice cream, a gorgeous artisan brand created by three Waikato chefs. The flavour combinations, like white chocolate with macadamia and pomegranate, are basically edible genius, and we savour every mouthful. In the gift shop, my daughter finds a rustic handmade bracelet that she absolutely has to have. But as it’s the kind of locally made treasure that supports actual artists, I acquiesce and buy it for her as a memento of this special place.

Sometimes the best family moments happen when you stop trying so hard and just let beauty do its job. And Waitakaruru Arboretum is very, very good at its job.

The Sculpture Park at Waitakaruru Arboretum
207 Scotsman Valley Road
Tauwhare, Waikato, New Zealand
Tel +64 7 824 0733

For more North Island New Zealand inspiration, tips and travel guides, try these…

Why Novotel Hamilton Tainui is the perfect Waikato base
Flight Review – Jetstar Economy Sydney to Hamilton, NZ
Visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set in Waikato
A day trip to Raglan, Waikato’s boho surf town
10 reasons to visit Cambridge in Waikato, New Zealand

 

The post The Sculpture Park at Waitakaruru Arboretum: A Hidden Waikato Gem appeared first on boyeatsworld.