Nelson is a beautiful coastal city set amongst some of New Zealand's most stunning scenery.
The city is the economic and cultural centre for the Nelson-Tasman region and offers an excellent range of shopping, eating and cultural experiences with an abundance of parks, rivers, beaches and nature trails to explore.
Nelson i-SITE at Millers Acre Centre
Nelson is named after British Admiral Lord Nelson and is New Zealand's second oldest city, being settled in 1841.
Nelson is New Zealand's sunniest city with over 2,500 sunshine hours per year.
The Nelson region covers five distinct geographic areas:
The urban centres of Nelson & Richmond
The highways of Mapua, Motueka, Moutere, through rolling horticultural land
The idyllic coastline of Abel Tasman National Park
The heart of the parks, Golden Bay between Kahurangi and Abel Tasman national parks
The alpine lakes and rivers around St Arnaud - Nelson Lakes & Murchison including Nelson Lakes and Kahurangi national parks
The Nelson economy is based on the ‘big four’ industries; seafood, horticulture, tourism and forestry. Port Nelson is the biggest fishing port in Australasia. There are also a range of growth industries, including art and craft, aviation, engineering technology, and information technology.
The region's official tourism organisation is Nelson Tasman Tourism , which operates i-SITE Visitor Information Centres in Nelson City, Takaka in Golden Bay and in Murchison.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Nelson (New Zealand)
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Nelson (New Zealand) - updated May 2024
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Nelson (New Zealand) Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
