Lava Glass - Glassblowing Studio, Sculpture Garden, Art Gallery, Café

We were very excited to visit the place . And tickets were not high appreciate that. The art is nice though. But staff we felt was not welcoming. Only one thin lady was good to talk rest we felt ignored by the other lady.. Garden is really nice to visit and feel the connection between nature and human art.

Great experience. Loved watching the glass being made — fascinating to see the process up close. The sculpture garden is beautiful and well worth a wander, and the café was excellent too. Highly recommend stopping in.

Show rm and items for purchase. Cafeteria which looked lovely meals, we however did not part take. The out door lava glass is beautifully displayed, and is an easy walk taking as little as 15 to whatever time you want to spend looking at displays. Plenty parking

It's primarily a shop with custom blown glass. I'm only reviewing this store. They have strict no photography rules inside so, my photos are limited. I would say it's "rich"ly priced. There are $55,000 NZ glass vases in there. Nothing really to write home about. The cafe was nice though.

Lava Glass has some truly amazing works of art and I love that many of them have descriptions and pictures of the landscapes that inspired the creations. The garden is absolutely worth wandering around and they have a cafe as well. While I wouldn't recommend this as something to go out of your way to visit, it's definitely a place to stop into if you're visiting a nearby hot springs or waterfall hike.

We visited lava glass during the school holidays and as a family we all loved the place. The place was really well set out and the art work we saw in both the store and the garden blew us away. the amount of effort that has gone into these pieces are really top notch. we also had a look at the glass blowing and highly recommend it for people wanting to see how the different pieces are made. the artists were very happy to engage with us and answer the different questions we had. highly recommend the place.

Overall an amazing experience. Especially the workshop and art gallery. The glasses are a real art there and seeing the glass master magicians in the process of making with comentaries really helped us to understand just how much work it is to make these art worth their price tag. However overall things a really expansive there a palm sized glass vase is around 300 nzd. Where as the large vases thats about 40cm high is 4500 nzd. Staffs are really friendly here guided us and showed us the way to each area. The garden however is really lacking compared to the main area, the glass here felt more like a half finish and dull compared to the gallery. Though most are nicely trimmed and well maintained it wasn't the highlight of this place. Highly recommend anyone to visit the workshop!

Such a fun stop. It only took about 15-20 minutes to walk the art garden. Inside the store they had many pieces on display and everything in the garden was for sell.

Stunning glass sculptures. Incredible creativity and design inspired by natural nz landscapes and flora. Prices can be from super high to affordable. Gorgeous sculpture garden and glassblowing studio to watch master artists at work

I love glass pieces! So I was very happy visiting this studio and especially the beautiful garden. We bought a vase, mushrooms, nature stone, and postcards. Everything was wrapped well for travel.

As we drove from Rotorua to Taupo, we saw Lava Glass on the side of the road and decided to drop in. We were impressed with the glass pieces they had. They were very colorful and artistic and quite beautiful. I liked how each group (they were often grouped by color palette) was inspired by colors from a local place in New Zealand. Walking through the shop was quite pleasant. I think the glass started a little under $100 (maybe you can find something very small for $30-50), with the vases going for several hundred to a thousand. All in all, I liked the place. They also had a small cafe attached to the store, but it seemed to be a bit high end. We did not know you could watch the glass blowing and did not know there was a garden until after we left. But if you are looking for a diversion while driving between Rotorua and Taupo, stop in and check this place out!

Cool glass sculpture garden and great activity in Taupo on a rainy day. However, this garden can't compete with the details and skill of Chihuly's sculpture garden in Seattle, US. Tickets are 10NZD per person for both the glass blowing demo and the visit to the sculpture garden. The demo lasts for about 1-2 hours but is mainly repeating making one item the entire time, so you'll get the flow down after about 30 mins watching. The sculpture garden is not too large and will take less than 30 mins to go through. Plenty of pieces for sale in the gift shop, ranging in price from 100NZD to 10,000+.

Very cool stop while in Taupo! The garden was pretty and worth a stroll. Watching the glassblower was a good experience as well. We ate a late breakfast in the cafe and it was delicious!

Beautiful glass art and garden. Nice demo by the glass blower. Pieces remind me of Chilhully art. Too heavy to put into my luggage to carry home, however. Please stop and check it out!

Of your going in between Rotorua and taupo this is a must stop and see!!! Glass blowing and a cafe all in one! How awesome! The glass blowing items cost anywhere from $30 up to $1000s depending on what you want and what it is but they are so pretty and worth it. And the cafe is awesomely priced 2 cappuccinos 2 brownies and a sausage roll all for $22 is pretty good if you ask me and they are all home made! Yum yum yum.

This is a lovely place to spend a few hours, with pleasant, helpful staff. The glass blowing demo and talk was amusing and interesting. Though the prices for the beautiful glass art may have been justified, we could not afford anything! The restaurant prices were rather expensive too but the surroundings pleasant. Worth a visit.