Hotels, Pubs, Bars and Taverns New Zealand-wide by Publocation
Publocation is a site dedicated to the Hotel industry, its employees, patrons, travellers and those just interested in all things "Pubs". See more about Pubs and Publocation here.
We have provided a comprehensive list of all Hotels, Pubs, Bars and Taverns in New Zealand. Browse through our pub listing with the map above 'cause We'll tell you where to go!
Explore pubs by region
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Canterbury
Otago
Wellington
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Waikato
Bay of Plenty
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Manawatu-Wanganui
Northland
Hawke's Bay
West Coast
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Southland
Taranaki
Marlborough
Nelson
Tasman
Gisborne
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Chatham Islands
Featured pubs
JD's Sports Bar
AUCKLAND, Auckland
The Woolshed Restaurant & Bar
WANAKA, Otago
Berkenhoff Lodge
TAUPO, Waikato
Bushmere Arms
GISBORNE, Gisborne
Port Fitzory Boat Club Tavern
GREAT BARRIER ISLAND, Auckland
Chapel Bar & Bistro
AUCKLAND, Auckland
Sports Bar
AUCKLAND, Auckland
White Horse Inn
MILTON, Otago
Did you know?
History and yarns
Puhoi's Bohemian pub
The Puhoi pub first got its liquor licence in 1879 as the German Hotel. Puhoi was settled in 1863 by German-speaking migrants from Bohemia, and the current building opened in 1900.
History and yarns
The last dry suburbs
The King Country became New Zealand's first major dry district in 1884. The last dry areas, Eden and Roskill in Auckland and Tawa in Wellington, only went wet in 1999.
History and yarns
Cardrona's one-drink rule
The Cardrona Hotel (est. 1863) says long-time publican Jimmy Patterson rationed drinks by direction of travel: one for those about to tackle the Crown Range, two for those heading to Wanaka.
History and yarns
The great West Coast beer boycott
When West Coast publicans put the price of a 10-ounce beer up from sixpence to sevenpence in 1947, locals boycotted the 'sevenpenny pubs'. The dispute gave birth to the Coast's workingmen's clubs.
History and yarns
Wellington's sloping survivor
The Thistle Inn opened on 10 October 1840 a few yards from the sea, before the 1876 reclamation. Sailors were said to brace themselves against the tilt of the bar floor 'as though on a deck sharply lifting in Cook Strait'.
What's in a name
Colourful names
40 pub names have a colour in them. Red is the favourite (8), then White (7) and Golden (6).
What's in a name
Hotel, inn or tavern?
"Bar" is in 27% of our pub names, "Hotel" in 25% and "Tavern" in 12%. The rest go by other names.
History and yarns
The Duke got the first licence
On 30 October 1840, New Zealand's first liquor licence was issued to John Johnson of the Duke of Marlborough Hotel in Kororareka, now Russell. The Duke has burned down three times since, and is still pouring.
Record breakers
Island hopping
We list four pubs on Waiheke Island, four on Great Barrier Island, and one each on Kawau Island, Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands.
Record breakers
The ends of the earth
Our furthest flung pubs: the Waitiki Landing Hotel in Waitiki Landing, Northland is furthest north, the South Sea Hotel in Stewart Island, Southland furthest south, the Hotel Chathams in Chatham Islands furthest east and the Manapouri Lake View Motor Inn in Manapouri, Southland furthest west.
Record breakers
New Zealand's oldest pub? Depends how you count
The Duke of Marlborough holds the first licence, and the Thistle Inn (1840) claims to be the oldest pub still trading on its original site. The Moutere Inn near Nelson claims to be the oldest in its original building (1850), and Horeke on the Hokianga has had a hotel on the same spot since the 1830s.
What's in a name
A royal touch
45 pubs have a royal touch to their names. Royal is the most popular (14), then Crown (9) and Duke (6).
What's in a name
Meet you on Main Street
35 of our pubs are on a Main Street, in 17 different places. Main Road is next, with 33.
History and yarns
The barmaid ban
New barmaids were banned from New Zealand pubs in 1910, and the ban wasn't fully lifted until 1976.
Record breakers
Our busiest pub street
Victoria Street in Hamilton, Waikato has 19 pubs, more than any other street.
History and yarns
No bedrooms, no pub
An 1881 law required pubs to provide meals and at least six bedrooms. Pretending to have guests staying became a handy way around six o'clock closing.
What's in a name
Bar beats hotel
In New Zealand, 'Bar' has overtaken 'Hotel' as the word of choice in pub names. Across the Tasman, 'Hotel' is still in more than seven in ten Australian pub names.
Record breakers
Beer o'clock comes first in the Chathams
Hotel Chathams is the most easterly pub we list and the only one we list on the Chatham Islands. Chathams time runs 45 minutes ahead of the mainland, so the clock strikes five there first.
What's in a name
Our most common pub name
The Empire is our most common pub name: 11 pubs are called the Empire, whether hotel, inn, tavern or bar. Next come the Masonic (10) and the Commercial (9).
What's in a name
Numbers on the sign
47 pub names have a number in them, like the 123 Karaoke Bar and the Shed 5.
By the numbers
Speight's country
Fifteen of the pubs we list are Speight's Ale Houses, from Auckland to Invercargill. Speight's itself has been brewing on Dunedin's Rattray Street since 1876.
Record breakers
Picture perfect
Three Furlongs Bar & Grill has more photos than any other pub, 8 of them.
History and yarns
Captain Cook, brewer
The first beer brewed in New Zealand was made by James Cook at Dusky Sound in 1773, from rimu and manuka, to ward off scurvy. Golden Bay's Mussel Inn has brewed its Captain Cooker manuka beer since 1995.
History and yarns
Saved by the soldiers' vote
In the April 1919 referendum, prohibition was ahead by 13,000 votes until the special votes of nearly 40,000 soldiers, many still overseas, were counted. Most voted to keep drinking, and 'continuance' won 264,189 to 253,827.
What's in a name
A right menagerie
68 pubs are named after animals. The Bull and the Horse lead the pack, in 10 names each, ahead of the Dog (9).
History and yarns
The six o'clock swill
Six o'clock closing arrived in December 1917 as a 'temporary' wartime measure and was made permanent the next year. Barmen filled jugs from hoses for drinkers standing four or five deep.
Record breakers
The happiest punters
Of all the regions, Taranaki's pubs get the best ratings from our members, 3.6 beers out of 5 on average.
History and yarns
Formerly the Blackball Hilton
In the 1990s Blackball's old hotel was renamed the Blackball Hilton. After protests from a certain international hotel chain it became 'Formerly the Blackball Hilton', though the pub really does sit opposite Hilton Street.
Record breakers
A mouthful, and a quick one
Our longest pub name is The Northern Steamship Co. Brewery Bar & Restaurant in Auckland, at 51 characters. The shortest is the Lyme in Christchurch, Canterbury.
By the numbers
Queenstown punches above its weight
Queenstown has 54 pubs listed, more than Hamilton (51), a much bigger city.
What's in a name
Alliteration is alive and well
What's in a name
Native names on the sign
Look out for the Pukeko and Bull at Atiamuri, The Flying Moa in Auckland and Tui HQ in Pahiatua. Six pubs we list have 'Kiwi' in their name.
History and yarns
Pubs owned by the community
When Invercargill voted to end its long prohibition in 1943, the Invercargill Licensing Trust Act 1944 created New Zealand's first licensing trust, which returns liquor profits to the community.
By the numbers
One-pub towns
Auckland has the most pubs listed, 305. At the other end, 282 towns and suburbs have just the one pub, 62% of the places we list.
What's in a name
The luck of the Irish
40 of the NZ pubs we list have 'Irish' in their name, more than in Australia (36), from a list about a third the size.
History and yarns
The hellhole of the Pacific
In the 1830s Kororareka (Russell) was a rowdy whaling port, long remembered as the 'hellhole of the Pacific'. By 1838 it had 20 hotels, most of them probably little more than grog shops.
History and yarns
Ten o'clock, at last
After 64.4% voted for later closing in the September 1967 referendum, pubs began opening until 10pm on Monday 9 October 1967, ending 50 years of six o'clock closing.