Visit Nelson

Richmond

Richmond is where Tasman District's people actually live and shop. It is the district's seat and its largest town — a little under 20,000 people, and the fastest-growing part of the region — sitting 13 to 15 kilometres from central Nelson along State Highway 6. Statistically it is a separate urban area. Practically it is the far end of Nelson's commuter belt.

That matters for what you will find. Richmond's hospitality is everyday rather than visitor-facing: it serves shoppers, workers and residents, and it clusters around the town centre, the mall and the big-box strip rather than a waterfront or a main street of restaurants. The council's own town centre audit counted eating-and-drinking businesses rising from 34 to 48 between 2020 and 2024, in a centre with a vacancy rate under 5%. That is a food scene growing on local trade rather than tourism — which is the honest way to describe it, and also the reason it is often the easier option. Less pressure at half past twelve on a Saturday, and parking you can actually find.

The retail draw is real. Richmond Mall calls itself the largest shopping centre in the top of the South, and is midway through a rebuild: the first stage opened at the end of 2025, with the remainder due to finish by the end of 2026. The Pak'nSave nearby is being enlarged around its customers on a similar timetable. Expect some of it to be behind hoardings.

Richmond is also a junction. State Highway 60 starts here and runs out to Māpua, Motueka, Tākaka and Collingwood — every trip to the Abel Tasman and Golden Bay begins by leaving Richmond. State Highway 6 goes north-east through Nelson toward Blenheim, and south-west toward Wakefield, Murchison and the West Coast. Five bus routes meet at the interchange.

Two things are worth a visitor's time. Washbourn Gardens on Oxford Street is a quiet public reserve with a stage and picnic space. The aquatic centre on Salisbury Road has a 25-metre lane pool, a wave pool, a lazy river and hydrotherapy pools, which makes it an easy afternoon with children. The Höglund glass studio, often listed under Richmond, is actually at Appleby about five minutes down the road, open daily, with glass blown on site most days.

One small brag that is properly sourced: the climate station at Richmond recorded the second-highest annual sunshine total in New Zealand in both 2024 and 2025. Nelson gets the reputation. Richmond quietly has the numbers.