New Zealand

New Zealand is a year-round destination, but the best time depends on what you want to do.

December to February is summer, with the warmest weather and long days. It’s excellent for walking, cycling, sailing and exploring, although it’s also the busiest period.

March to May is one of our favourite times to travel. Autumn brings beautiful colours, particularly around Central Otago, and there are generally fewer visitors.

June to August is winter and is ideal for skiing and spectacular snow-capped mountain scenery, while September to November brings spring and generally fewer crowds.

For a first trip combining both islands, we’d often look at February to April as the sweet spot or October to early December.

We recommend at least two weeks, although three weeks gives you much more freedom.

New Zealand looks relatively compact on a map, but driving times can be surprisingly long because of winding and mountainous roads.

If you have 10–14 days, we’d often recommend concentrating on one island. With three weeks or more, combining North and South Island becomes much more comfortable.

Both have something very different to offer.

The North Island combines Māori culture, geothermal landscapes, beaches, volcanic scenery, wine and cities.

The South Island is famous for its mountains, lakes, fiords, glaciers, vineyards and spectacular scenery.

If you have enough time, we’d combine both. If you have less than two weeks, we’d usually choose one island and explore it properly.

Yes.

The Wellington to Picton ferry is a particularly scenic way to travel between the islands, while flying can save time if your itinerary is tighter.

The secret is not trying to see everything.

We’d rather create a trip where you have time to enjoy the places you visit than spend your holiday constantly packing and unpacking.

Absolutely.

Self-drive is one of our favourite ways to experience New Zealand because it gives you the freedom to stop when you want and explore beyond the main tourist routes.  We’ve never been brave enough to drive a motorhome but some of our customers have.

We’ve travelled extensively around the country ourselves and know that the driving distances on a map don’t always tell the whole story.

We build our itineraries around realistic driving times, scenic stops and time to actually enjoy the destinations.

For a first visit, we’d look at a combination of places such as the Bay of Islands, Rotorua, Wellington, Marlborough, Abel Tasman, Wānaka, Queenstown and Fiordland.

But you don’t need to visit all of them.

Our job is to work out which places best suit you and create an itinerary that flows naturally rather than simply collecting New Zealand’s most famous destinations.

Walking, cycling, sailing, kayaking, wine tasting, wildlife watching, scenic drives, mountain adventures, exploring Māori culture and simply enjoying the scenery all belong on the list.

We’ve trekked Abel Tasman and the Queen Charlotte Track, cycled through vineyards, sailed on Lake Wakatipu and the Marlborough Sounds, climbed Tongariro and cruised through the fiords.

But don’t underestimate the pleasure of doing very little. Some of our favourite New Zealand memories are simply sitting beside the water, enjoying a meal or taking in the view.

It depends on the time of year, accommodation, vehicle, activities and how much of the country you want to cover.

New Zealand isn’t generally a budget destination, but you don’t need to spend a fortune to have a fantastic experience.  Prices are very similar to things here at home.

Because we create and package our own itineraries, we can help balance accommodation, transport and experiences to create a trip that works for your budget.

Definitely.

For travellers coming from the UK, combining the two can make a lot of sense.

We’d recommend creating a shorter, carefully chosen New Zealand itinerary rather than trying to see the whole country, then adding Australia.

The result is a much more enjoyable holiday than attempting to cover huge distances simply because both countries are on the same trip.

For most travellers, we’d recommend a self-drive holiday, often combined with other forms of transport where they add something to the experience.

The Wellington–Picton ferry, scenic rail journeys, boat trips and domestic flights can all be excellent parts of an itinerary.

We’ve travelled the scenic railway from Picton towards Christchurch, sailed the Marlborough Sounds and driven extensively throughout the country ourselves.

That means we can help you decide where the journey is part of the adventure and where it makes more sense to save time.