New Zealand High and Low: The Amazing Mountains and Beaches of Middle Earth

New Zealand is one of the world's all-time greatest and most underrated vacation hotspots. Very few places have the range of scenery and holiday amenities New Zealand boasts, and almost none have them all so close together with a standard of safety and comfortable living you'd expect in a developed country. Whether it's the mountain peaks of the Southern Alps or the many sandy beaches, New Zealand has more to offer revelers than almost anyplace else.

New Zealand's Amazing Mountains

Mount Taranaki is notable for being possibly the world's most symmetrical volcano. Its unique silhouette makes it the darling of picture postcards and tourists' selfies, and it's definitely a must-see on any trip. Mount Cook is New Zealand's highest peak, standing an impressive 12,200 feet over the South Island. Somewhat shorter than these, but far more distinctive, is Mitre Peak, which you can find in the exotic southern landscape of Fiordland, where ice cathedrals dot the glaciers and steep cliffs plunge directly into the clear blue sea.

Make Time for Lots of Beaches

Just as impressive in their own way as the mountains, New Zealand's beaches are so diverse you probably couldn't say you've experienced them all on a single trip. Northland's Maitai Bay has bright sapphire water that's so clear you can see straight to the bottom of the lagoon from your kayak. While you're there, skip over to Ninety Mile Beach, which is actually 55 miles long. Finally, since the only thing better than an awesome beach is two more of them, Maunganui Beach, on the Bay of Plenty, has a narrow spit of land with four-star accommodations on it, bounded by some of the Southern Hemisphere's best surfing on both sides.