14-Day Foodie Itinerary for Niue
If you’ve found our foodie itinerary for Niue, then you probably already know that Niue is a food lover’s paradise. Indeed, you can fill up an entire two weeks of food tours, restaurant-hopping, bar-hopping and, of course, the other natural and cultural attractions that make Niue well worth exploring. But if you’re a bit of a foodie, this Niue foodie itinerary for 14 days will certainly help you make the most of Niue, with new sights, experiences and tastes every day. If this itinerary is too full-on, however, see a more relaxed alternative in How to Spend 14 Days on a Foodie Vacation in Niue.
Note that some activities on this Niue foodie 14-day itinerary are only available on certain days of the week. This itinerary is based on if you arrive in Niue on a Friday (local time), so be sure to move days around accordingly if you arrive on another day of the week.
How to Get Around Niue in 14 Days
Due to the lack of transport options and to make the most of this 14-day foodie itinerary for Niue, we strongly recommend hiring a car. Get advice on hiring a car in The Guide to Car Hire in Niue. Note, you will need to purchase a Niue Driver’s License to drive in Niue, which you can get from the Police Station in Alofi.
For more transport options, see the 8 Ways to Get to Niue (& Get Around Niue).
(c) niuepocketguide.comDay 1 – Arrive in Niue
You’ve arrived in Niue! After going through the simple customs and biosecurity process of Hanan International Airport, as outlined in Everything You Need to Know About Arriving in Niue, you’ll pick up your car rental outside of the airport or catch your airport transfer organised through your accommodation.
If you’re making your own food tonight, stop by the Swanson Supermarket just outside of the airport (turn left) on your way to your self-catering accommodation.
Foodie and Self-catering Accommodation in Niue
- Scenic Matavai Resort (not self-catering – restaurant on site)
- Scenic Matavai Apartments & Villa
- Turtle Lodge
- Namukulu Cottages
- Clifftop Fale
- Matapa Guest House
- Kumar Enterprise / Guest House
- Heleni Jessop’s Fatahega
- Stone Villas
- Lau’s Getaway
- Nic’s Bungalows
- Petite Hatava
- Kololi’s Motel
While all of these accommodations feature in our Accommodation Section, check out some of our top picks for foodies in the 10 Best Accommodation in Niue for Foodies.
Restaurant Recommendation
If you’d prefer to eat out tonight, start off your foodie getaway in Niue by eating out at one of the fantastic restaurants available. See a whole list of recommendations in The Guide to the Best Eats & Restaurants in Niue.
Dinner: Kaiika Restaurant – Try their fresh sushi made by a Tokyo chef! Bookings are essential.
(c) niuepocketguide.comDay 2 – Do an Orientation Tour and Explore Alofi
A great way to start your time in Niue is to take an orientation tour to get acquainted with the island. Explore Niue runs excellent morning tours, pointing out all of the highlights, as well as the hidden gems, along the west coast and shares the best time to visit them. You’ll also stop by a few attractions along the way. Get local insights into the best restaurants around Alofi and the rest of the island, and where to find them. You’ll know Niue like the back of your hand after this tour.
After visiting a snorkelling spot, you’ll be treated to some special Niuean refreshments, such as drinking coconuts and tropical snacks.
At the end of the tour, asked to be dropped off in Alofi, where you can sort out a few practicalities for the rest of your stay. Purchase a Niue Driver’s License from the Police Station, book on the tours at the Tourist Information Centre that we’ve recommended in this itinerary, and head down to the Niue Vanilla shop to book on the tour that we recommend for tomorrow.
Restaurant Recommendation
Once you’re set for the rest of your holiday, treat yourself to lunch and dinner in Alofi.
Lunch: Vaiolama Cafe – Get a fresh baguette and sip on fruity smoothies. Play a round of mini golf while you’re there.
Dinner: Jenna’s Restaurant – If you’re lucky enough to be around when they are open in the high season, check out this restaurant in Alofi serving local and international cuisine for dinner from Thursday to Saturday, as well as their Pacifika show and buffet night on Tuesdays. Bookings are essential.
(c) Niue TourismDay 3 – Spend the Day at Avatele Bay and the Washaway Cafe
If you arrived in Niue on a Friday, then today is Sunday and a day of rest in Niue. While many tours, restaurants, shops and services are closed, there is one place on the island that is open for just this day of the week: the Washaway Cafe!
Found on Avatele Beach, the Washaway Cafe is an honesty bar, where you write down your food order at the kitchen and take a table number. Then you help yourself to drinks and simply pay for everything at the end, telling the bar staff what you had. The Washaway Cafe does especially good fish focaccia where the fish is fresh and the focaccia is homebaked.
Swimming and snorkelling are also good at Avatele Beach at low to mid-tide. Watch out for rips in the channel near the boat ramp.
(c) M. Crawford - Niue TourismDay 4 – Do a Vanilla Plantation Tour
Today, you’ll head to Alofi North where you’ll get to learn the ins and outs of an organic vanilla plantation with Niue Vanilla. Wander around some 7,000 vines of vanilla, which all need to be hand-pollinated. Needless to say, it will be the most aromatic of tours you’re ever likely to experience, as well as super informative to help you understand the expensive market of these flavoursome beans.
Since you’re not too far from the capital, you can spend the rest of your day exploring some of the Alofi sea tracks in between indulging in delightful food.
Restaurant Recommendations
Lunch: Tavana’s Cafe – Have fish and chips the Niuean way, with the freshest of fish with cassava fries!
Dinner: Crazy Uga Cafe & Bar – Watch the sunset from the rustic restaurant during its Wednesday night spitroast or burgers. Bookings are essential.
(c) niuepocketguide.comDay 5 – Explore the West Coast Sea Tracks and Stop by the Hio Cafe
It’s time to check out some of Niue’s amazing coastal attractions. We’re talking about dramatic chasms, magnificent coastal arches, limestone caves and crystal clear snorkelling pools.
Drive up the west coast, stopping by attractions such as:
- Avaiki Cave – low tide
- Palaha Cave – any tide
- Limu Pools – low-to-mid incoming tide
- Matapa Chasm – any tide
- Talava Arches – low tide
Learn more about each coastal point of interest in the 10 Best Sea Tracks on the West Coast of Niue.
Restaurant Recommendations
Lunch & Dinner: Hio Cafe & Bar – Pours a wide range of drinks, as well as nachos and burgers for lunch. Book in for their Niuean Umu Night for dinner.
(c) Niue TourismDay 6 – Learn About the Food of the Forest on Misa’s Nature Tour
Learn about the food that nature provides on the island in an interactive and incredibly informative nature tour. Misa’s Nature Tours, located on the Alofi-Liku Road just opposite the Niue High School, teaches you about traditional cooking tools used by Niueans and how to husk a coconut and taste them during their different stages of life. You’ll learn how to make fire, about traditional medicinal plants, and get to hold an uga (coconut crab) and a flying fox. Misa grew up living in the Niuean forest and has some amazing insights to share on how he survived sleeping in caves, creating pits to store bananas and much much more!
Restaurant Recommendations
Lunch: Crazy Uga Cafe & Bar – Serves up salads, paninis, pasta, fish and chips, etc. for lunch
Dinner: Dolphin Restaurant at the Scenic Matavai Resort – Book in for their Taste of Niue Barbecue serving up local Niuean dishes. There is also a cultural performance.
(c) niuepocketguide.comDay 7 – Explore the East Coast and Stop by the Noni Farm
Today, hit the road to the east coast of the island, famous for its rugged coastal scenery, from deep chasms to the lush Huvalu Forest Conservation Area. You can visit the highlights of the east coast at any tide, including:
- Anapala Chasm
- Togo Chasm
- Laufoli Umu Pit
- Hikulagi Sculpture Park
- Motu Sea Track
- Uluvehi Sea Track
See the 7 Best Sea Tracks on the East Coast of Niue for full details on these tracks.
Noni Farm
One essential stop for any foodie is the Noni Farm just outside the village of Vaiea. The site was originally clear for dairy farming but has since been realised to be the ideal site for the intriguing fruit, noni. There are more than 18,000 noni trees planted here for export to the New Zealand and Asian markets.
Restaurant Recommendation
Lunch: Pack a lunch for your road trip. The picnic area of the Uluvehi Sea Track is a good place to stop for lunch.
Dinner: Gill’s Restaurant – Try aromatic Indian curries with fresh local fish, vegetarian options, beef or chicken.
(c) niuepocketguide.comDay 8 – Do a Uga Hunting Tour
Today, join Ope from Taue Uga Tours for a tour of his ancestral rainforest where his family have been hunting uga for generations. Uga is the local coconut crab, a delicacy in Niue. There are two tours available, a day tour and a night tour. During the day tour, you’ll help Ope set up coconut baits around the forest, meet some of the local uga and learn more about the Niuean legends and their connection with the forest. On the night tour, you’ll get to see uga when they are most active, see how the baits work and learn how to collect uga in a sustainable way so there are coconut crabs left for future generations.
Restaurant Recommendation
Lunch: Try a New York-style pizza for lunch at Kaiika Restaurant.
Dinner: Dolphin Restaurant at the Scenic Matavai Resort – Try their well-presented plates from their a la carte menu.
(c) niuepocketguide.comDay 9 – Catch Dinner on a Fishing Charter
Fishing is a way of life in Niue, and while you might not be joining the local fishermen on their vaka (canoe), you will have a more comfortable experience with one of the local fishing charters.
Locals and passionate expats will share techniques of fishing in tropical waters for wahoo, mahimahi, yellowfin tuna, sailfish, marlin, giant trevally and more. Equipped with the latest gear, you’ll be reeling in the big ones, whether you’re an experienced angler or a newbie.
Generally, fishing charters have a “catch stay with the boat” policy, but most will either give you some to cook up at your accommodation or deliver it to one of the local restaurants where you’ll be able to sample the fish professionally prepared for a discount.
Restaurant Recommendation
Lunch & Dinner: Head to your favourite restaurants so far!
© Niue TourismDay 10 – Free Day (Sunday)
As today may fall on a Sunday if you arrived in Niue on a Friday, today is all yours to do anything you might have missed over the past fortnight (or anything that you thought was so amazing you want to do again)!
We have plenty of inspiration for new experiences in our 101 Things to Do in Niue: The Ultimate List and the 10 Things to Do in Niue on a Sunday so get scrolling and complete your bucket list for day 14 of your foodie itinerary in Niue!
(c) niuepocketguide.comDay 11 – Niue Market
If you arrived in Niue on a Monday, then today is Wednesday where there is a lot happening in Alofi! The highlight for foodies is the Niue Market, which runs from 6am to around 12pm. Not only is it a good opportunity to mingle with the locals, but it’s an opportunity to buy fresh tropical fruit and vegetables to spruce up back at your self-catering accommodation.
Also happening on a Wednesday is the weaving group of the Niue Council of Women in Makini Hall. Watch the ladies at work making all sorts of amazing handicrafts.
Restaurant Recommendations
Make your own meals tonight using the produce from the Niue Market. Alternatively…
Lunch & Dinner: Kaiika Restaurant – Try their Middle Eastern-style rotisserie chicken. Bookings essential.
(c) niuepocketguide.comDay 12 – Go to a Niuean Umu Night
Take the day to relax and catch up on any activities you might have missed. Tonight (Thursday) is the Spit Roast and Umu Night at the Dolphin Restaurant of the Scenic Matavai Resort and at the Hio Cafe & Bar (if you missed it earlier in the week).
Try local Niuean dishes, such as takihi, povi masima, moa Niue, faikai ika and more! All of which is prepared in a traditional earth oven in true Polynesian style.
The Hio Cafe’s umu night comes with local musicians for entertainment, while the Scenic Matavai includes a fire-dancing performance.
(c) niuepocketguide.comDay 13 – Do a Niuean Plantation and Rainforest Tour
Just when you thought there was nothing else to learn about food in Niue, there’s yet another fantastic foodie tour you can get stuck into. Join Tony of A5 Plantation Tours for a 4WD tour of a local plantation and rainforest. During the experience, you will learn how to husk a coconut, meet some uga and explore a real plantation where you’ll learn about modern and traditional methods for growing cassava, taro, kumara, watermelon, pawpaw, banana and much more. You’ll even get to taste some of the fruit that is in season.
Restaurant Recommendation
Drinks: All Relativf – Sip of real-fruit cocktails and smoothies
Lunch & Dinner: Wok on the Rock – Wash down the drinks with an Asian-Pacific fusion takeaway.
(c) niuepocketguide.comDay 14 – Pick Up Some Niuean Food to Take Home
For your final full day in Niue, catch up on any activities or sea tracks you might have missed. It’s also a good time to pick up some local foods to take home with you, such as Niuean honey made from the cleanest bees in the world. Honey is available to buy at the Tourist Information Centre and Double M in Alofi.
Pure vanilla and coconut products are also available to purchase from the Niue Vanilla store in Alofi, as well as at the roadside stall of Koefaga Vanilla. The latter works on an honesty box system and can be found in Alofi South.
At the airport tomorrow, you will need to purchase a quarantine certificate for the food to make sure it passes through New Zealand customs.
Restaurant Recommendation
We don’t need to tell you. By this time, you’ll have your favourite!
(c) niuepocketguide.comDay 15 – Departure Day
All good things must come to an end and it’s the same with a Niue foodie getaway. With bellies full and your palette educated, it’s time to check-in your bags at Hanan Airport, get a quarantine certificate for any food you might be taking home with you and wait for departure as explained in Leaving Niue: The Niue Airport Departure Process.
If you still have your rental car, park it up by the “Rental Cars Only” signs at the airport and leave the keys in the car.
As your final foodie experience, there are market stalls next to the airport waiting area. Once you have gone through security, the departure lounge has the Runway Bar, serving cheap drinks and bar snacks.
More Foodie Itineraries and Trip Ideas
That’s it for the Niue foodie itinerary: 14 days. Get more trip-planning inspiration from our itinerary compilations: The Best Niue Itineraries for 2 Weeks, The Best Niue Itineraries for 1 Week, The Best Niue Itineraries for 5 Days and The Best Niue Itineraries for a Weekend.
