Click HERE for a map of Palmerston North and surrounding areas

Palmerston North is located in the south-central heartland of the North Island, 325 miles (521 kms) south of Auckland and 87 miles (140 kms) north of Wellington.  It is New Zealands' seventh largest city with over 82,000 residents and is the capital city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island.

The city was named after Viscount Palmerston, the British Prime Minister, the suffix North was added in 1871 at the bequest of the New Zealand Post Office, so as to save confusion with a similarly named town of Palmerston located on the South Island.

The first recorded visit of a European to the area, was trader, Jack Duff, in 1830, with more traders and government surveys in the area in the following years.  A permanent European settlement starting in the early 1860's and the main city development started in 1866/7, after the government survey of the large clearing in a vast, dense forest.  The town was designed with long straight roads in a grid system, around a large square park in the centre, known today as The Square.

The main industry in the early days was timber, and as the timber was cut, the town and new farms expanded into the newly cleared space, until, today, there is virtually no original, old trees left.

As befitting a large, cosmopolitan city, there are numerous shops, bars and restaurants for visitors to experience, a huge selection of accommodation, to suit all tastes and budgets, and various parks, gardens, museums, galleries, theatres, aquatic centres and city walkways to explore.  Outside the city, there are walking and hiking trails, mountain biking, and, only a few miles away, wide, safe beaches with huge sand dunes.

The city has daily flight connections to Auckland and Wellington as well as  daily Citylink coach service to all the main cities on both islands.

ACCOMMODATION DETAILS AND PRICES ARE CURRENTLY BEING CREATED, IF YOU NEED DETAILS AND PRICES AT THIS TIME PLEASE CALL OUR RESERVATIONS TEAM.