Less popular than Te Mata peak but much more accessible from Napier is the Bluff Hill Lookout. This looks out towards the north of the city and the Ahuriri port.
This is slightly different than your usual lookout point; everything you can see is very industrial and unnatural, but it doesn't make it any less fascinating. When I'm (seldom) back home, this is one of my favourite places to go and relax, because not only do you have a fantastic panorama of the ocean and the city, but you can spend literally hours watching the cranes and people operate the port below you, shifting shipping containers like tiny lego blocks. It's cathartic to witness.
The viewpoint is actually a grass field on the side of a hill so it's a great place to set up a picnic blanket or to take your dog for a walk. There are toilet facilities at the top and a car park, or you can park in the city and take the moderate walk up via Prietsley Road which you enter from Cootes Road, just before the entrance to the historical prison. The walk takes about 15 to 20 minutes starting in a suburban area before you descend into a small section in a grassy valley called "Sturm's Gulley" and you ascend through the forest.
If you take a walk around the streets on the other side of the hill you can also get some interesting perspectives over the Art Deco city.
