judilie

If one's been to Yellowstone, is it still worth going to Rotorua?

Thanks!

Judilie

Jed

We've been to both, and enjoyed them. They geothermal formations are similar, but with moderate differences. We also saw boiling mudpots in Iceland, and would not miss seeing them in other areas if available.

Whether it is 'worth' it, depends on how much you enjoy seeing nature's variations.

Also, Rotorua has much of the native Maori culture.

someotherguy

If you type "yellowstone rotorua" (without the quotes) into the search box you'll get some previous threads on this topic. This one seems the most comprehensive: http://fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?tid=34671309

Neil_Oz

Having also visited both I've decided that once you've seen one boiling mud pool you've seen them all, except maybe for Old Faithful. To me Yellowstone is more about the wilderness and its hairy inhabitants, even though the herds of bison are outnumbered by the herds of German tourists looking very silly in cowboy hats. And yes, Rotorua is more about learning something of the Maori culture, even if the hangi experience we had was just a wee bit hokey - and the feast not too dissimilar to Sunday dinner with my Auntie Dot.

If you're going to be in the North Island I'd certainly recommend a visit to Rotorua. For what it's worth, the rotten egg smell from the geysers is very pervasive in the town, but you get used to it.