Tauranga Airport has direct flights to Auckland (about 40 minutes), Wellington, and Christchurch, operated mainly by Air New Zealand. The airport sits at the Mount Maunganui end of the harbour, about 8 kilometres from the city centre.
By road, Tauranga is about two hours from Auckland on the Southern Motorway via the Kaimai Range. The drive over the Kaimais is scenic and the descent into the Bay of Plenty — with the harbour and Mount Maunganui visible from above — is genuinely dramatic.
InterCity coaches run between Auckland and Tauranga several times daily, stopping at Hamilton en route.