The Hamilton Gardens are unlike any other public garden in New Zealand — instead of a single continuous landscape, they consist of a series of self-contained walled enclosures, each recreating a specific garden tradition from a different culture and period. You move from an Italian Renaissance garden to a Japanese garden, from a Chinese Scholar's garden to a Modernist garden, from an Indian Char Bagh to a Surrealist garden, each one fully realized and immaculate.
The gardens sit on the south bank of the Waikato River and are completely free to enter, which remains genuinely surprising given the quality of the design and maintenance. Allow at least two hours to do them justice; a full afternoon is better. The cafe on site is a reasonable place to break.