5 Best Party Towns in New Zealand

The party scene in New Zealand differs from the rest of the world. While the elite clubs of the world are more stringent about things like dress code, New Zealand has a more casual approach towards the clubbing and party scenes. Wellington and Christchurch are some of the cities that are proud of their diversified party culture, where you might just walk into a restaurant that turns into a dance floor after the last order and serves the locally brewed beverages. Amongst all the bars and clubs in New Zealand, Hamilton, Taupo, Rotorua, and Invercargill are some of the best, spread across various cities and towns. With the highest number of nightlife venues, Queenstown is also known as the “Party Capital” of New Zealand.

As mentioned earlier, various cities offer a different party experience in New Zealand altogether, so it is better to know about the party culture and best hang-outs of the cities in detail. In this article, we have listed the five best party towns of New Zealand that you can explore while sipping on some local New Zealand brewed beverages.

1. Auckland

Being the largest city of New Zealand, Auckland offers a bit of everything to the locals and the tourists when it comes to nightlife and clubbing. This place surely is a backpacker’s paradise as it serves as a great place for adventure and it is also filled with some of the best backpacker bars. These backpacker bars are the best to relax and grab a few drinks after a long day of exploration. That’s not all, you can meet some fellow backpackers here to accompany you on your venturesome journey the next morning. You can just rent some bicycles, grab some roof rack accessories for the SUV and explore the Hunua Ranges cycling with the squad. From karaoke bars to pubs, Auckland has it all. Some of the best party bars can be found in Viaduct Harbour and Queen Street. Some of the best pubs, bars, and nightclubs of Auckland can be found in the Ponsonby Road. Bars like 1885 are well known for their cocktails and dance floors.

2. Queenstown

This is another small town in New Zealand known for its nightlife and adventure activities. One can enjoy some of the stimulating adventure activities in the day and hop into a bar and dance till the early dawn. During winters, the town is usually packed with various apres-skiing activities and the clubs play soulful live music during the summers. Some of the best places to hang out in this town include Rhinos Ski Shack, known for its scrumptious food, drinks, and music. While on the other hand, places like Vinyl Underground and Winnies can be the best place to show off your dance moves where live music, open mics, and DJs are a part of the club routine every night. Widely acclaimed as the “Party Capital” of New Zealand, Queenstown offers a variety of nightclubs, bars, and pubs.

3. Christchurch

This town in New Zealand has some of the new and multicultural bars, pubs and nightclubs. The growth of nightclubs and bars in Christchurch has been emerging in recent years. The town is also known for some of the best gay bars and loaded with various themed and multicultural bars. You can expect a decent number of bars and nightclubs in the neighborhood of this town ranging from Irish to Mexican. That’s not all, for all the people who love gambling, the town has some elite casinos and cocktail bars. Christchurch is also known for its food joints and the varieties of fast food. Some of the best places to get a delicious meal at cheap prices are The Nook Thai Eatery, 3 cows cafe, bar and restaurant, Sushi Time and many more. Overall, the nightlife and party scene of this town is more uptown and modern with many multicultural bars and pubs.

4. Wellington

The capital city of New Zealand is a combination of all the three above mentioned cities. It has a bit of everything to offer when it comes to nightclubs and bars. The city has gained a reputation for its artsy vibe and the comedy clubs. As mentioned earlier, Wellington has a bit of everything so one can enjoy the night sipping cocktails in one of the waterfront cocktail bars, enjoy the game with close mates in one of the sports bars or just hit the dance floor. From Irish pubs to gay bars, Wellington offers everything. Also, this city is the best known for the famous New Zealand craft beer. Courtenay Place is the main party district of Wellington with the highest number and diversified bars, nightclubs, and cocktail bars. The capital city of New Zealand is not only known for its cocktails and craft beer, but also for the food joints that offer amazing meals and quick bites for cheap prices.

5. Dunedin

Often known as the “student city”, Dunedin has some of the quirkiest bars and pubs. You will more likely be meeting some local New Zealand mates in Dunedin than any other city. Most of the bars and clubs can be found around the Octagon. The party scene in this city is fun because the number of students is higher and most students and the younger generation prefer the venues like Monkey Bar, 10 Bar, and Urban Bar. These are some of the quirkiest bars. This city is absolute bliss for music lovers as it has a very vibrant independent music scene. One wouldn’t miss an opportunity to experience live music in Dunedin when visiting New Zealand. The cozy cocktail bars are best to grab a pint of the craft beer and enjoy some local live music.

Now that you have the list of 5 best party towns in New Zealand, you can plan the itinerary according to your preferences and budget.

Special Thanks to Rebecca Siggers for contributing this Great Beer Now guest post!