Back to all articles A Matakana Day Trip from Auckland: Where to Eat and Shop in the Village
An Hour North, a World Slower
Matakana is easily accessible within a 45-minute drive of the Harbour Bridge: close enough that no one needs to pack a bag, yet far enough that the shoulders drop somewhere around Pūhoi. What waits at the end is a wine-country village that has quietly become one of the best small food and shopping destinations in the country.
Start at the Matakana Village Farmers’ Market on Saturday
If you can choose your day, choose Saturday. The Matakana Village Farmers’ Market runs every Saturday morning from 8 am to 1 pm, rain or shine, on the riverside in the middle of the village, and it is the reason half of Auckland seems to migrate north on a fine weekend.
This is a proper growers’ and makers’ market rather than a craft fair: fresh produce, artisan breads, deli counters, flowers, small-batch sweets and seriously good coffee, with live music drifting over the river and a zero-waste philosophy that asks only that you bring a basket. Arrive early, eat breakfast from the stalls and let the morning set the pace for the rest of the day. In summer, leave Auckland a little earlier; Matakana is a popular weekend destination.
The Best Shops in Matakana Village
The village shops are few enough to see in an afternoon and good enough to justify the drive on their own. Start at Matakana Village Books, the kind of small, sharply chosen independent bookshop that cities keep losing and villages seem to keep. Ask for a recommendation; leave with three.
For clothing, The Bach blends surf heritage with a considered edit of New Zealand-designed labels, a wardrobe for exactly the life this coastline suggests. A few doors away, Elle & Riley deals in timeless pieces of A-grade cashmere, designed in New Zealand and made to be worn for decades rather than seasons. It is the sort of purchase that outlasts the memory of what it cost.
Then come the edible souvenirs. Honest Chocolat makes some of New Zealand’s finest chocolate right here in the village, and its tasting counter has ended many good intentions. Stop for a coffee at Ringawera Baker, then take a croissant or freshly baked loaf home with you.
Where to Eat in Matakana: The Village Pub
For a relaxed lunch, try The Matakana Village Pub. It earns the word institution: a true village pub with a garden made for long afternoons, and fish and chips that regulars will tell you are the best they have ever had. They have a case.
The fish comes from Leigh Fisheries, twelve kilometres up the road and famous for its line-caught catch, so what lands on your plate in crisp batter was swimming in these waters remarkably recently. Add a cold glass of something local, and the day has peaked early.
Charlie’s Gelato: A Matakana Institution for the Whole Family
You do not need to venture far to find something for the entire family. Charlie’s Gelato, a short drive from the village, makes its gelato and sorbetto by hand in Matakana, much of it from fruit grown spray-free on the property itself. The judges agree with the queue: two gold medals at the Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards, one for the lemon gelato and one for the feijoa sorbetto. Order the lemon and stand in the sun. Few afternoons in wine country end better.
Matakana Wine Country: A Region Built on Boutique Vineyards
And then there is the wine, because Matakana is, at heart, wine country. The hills around the village hold more than twenty boutique vineyards, small, family-scale producers making handcrafted wines that rarely travel far beyond the region. Matakana Estate, Nola Vineyards, Omaha Bay Vineyard and Omaha Hills are among the names worth knowing, and the cellar doors between them turn a casual afternoon into a self-guided wine trail.
The vineyards deserve more than a passing mention, and they will get it: a full guide to Matakana’s wine country is coming in a future post. For now, know that the glass of local red at the end of your lunch was probably grown within sight of your table.
Rothko at Sculptureum: Matakana’s Destination Dining
When the occasion calls for more, book Rothko. Set among the gardens of Sculptureum, where several hundred artworks are scattered across ten acres of galleries and grounds, it is that rare restaurant where the setting and the plate hold each other’s standard.
The kitchen’s shared-plates menu is bold, technically serious and quietly playful, and the wider world has noticed: a One Hat award and a Best Destination Restaurant title both arrived in 2025. It trades on none of it. Lunch here, with a slow walk through the sculpture gardens on either side, turns a day trip into something closer to an occasion. Book ahead; the room is small and the reputation is not.
Leave after breakfast, return before dark, one basket heavier and considerably better fed.
Base yourself well and explore the coast
A waterfront residence or private retreat from the Stay Luxe collection makes the returning as pleasant as the setting out. And if one day starts to feel too few, you are not alone. Where to stay when Matakana refuses to let you leave is a story for the next guide.
By Stay Luxe
