Planning a trip to New Zealand?

New Zealand is one of those places that entices people to want to explore it for themselves.  With its’ unspoilt and dramatic scenery, warm and friendly people and intriguing cultures it is easy to see why it is so popular.  But the very nature of it being on the other side of the world, as far away as possible from us in the UK, means that to go there you want to do it justice.  You want to spend as much time as possible and hopefully see everything you want to see in one trip.  And that’s the problem; there’s so much to see and do, where do you begin?

Well, as it’s a very compact country you can get around easily and distances between places aren’t too huge – it’s not like neighbouring Australia which is so vast!  If you’ve got lots of time, then you can do everything you want to and spend some time in each place.  But if you’ve only got 2 weeks that’s still very do-able too.  Make the most of your trip by drawing up a shortlist of your must-see destinations and then add the main cities and more stops in between to give you a full itinerary. For some inspiration of what’s possible, take a look at our most popular New Zealand Multi Centre Holidays.

The main cities of Queenstown, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland all have so much to offer and are all attractively situated either in the mountains, by a lake or on the coast.  Queenstown and Christchurch are both on the South Island, Queenstown is known for its adventure sports and Christchurch for its attractive parks and gardens.  Wellington and Auckland are on the North Island and as well as being the country’s capital, Wellington is known as the culinary capital.  The cosmopolitan city of Auckland is known as the city of sails due to the number of yachts that sail into its’ two harbours every day.

You could never come to New Zealand and not see some of the country’s incredible natural landscapes.  With its volcanoes, glaciers, fiords, rainforests, miles of beaches and geothermal wonders there’s something for everyone, so it’s a matter of choosing what you want to see and how much time you can spend there.

You’ll also want to admire some of the fantastic wildlife; from the birds on Stewart Island to the whales at Kaikoura, or even swim with dolphins at the Bay of Islands!  Then there’s all the activities that you can have loads of fun doing; extreme sports in Queenstown, sailing in The Bay of Islands, trekking along the Abel Tasman coastal path, heli-hiking up the Franz Joseph glacier or surfing at Tauranga.

If you’re into your wine then why not visit some of the country’s world-class vineyards?  In fact, with so many wineries on both the North and South Islands you could base your holiday around a wine-trail.  What could be better than visiting Hawke’s Bay with its seventy-plus wineries, then Martinborough with its award- winning Pinot Noirs, followed by Blenheim at the heart of the Marlborough region with its world famous Sauvignon Blanc?

If you’d rather spend more time getting out amongst the incredible scenery then this must be one of the top locations in the world for walking trails.  There are so many great tracks that explore the varied terrains you’ll be spoilt for choice.  There’s the rainforest and coastal track along the Coromandel peninsula on the North Island, the Abel Tasman National Park, the Kaikoura peninsula, Mount Cook National Park, Marlborough Sounds and the Fiordlands to mention a few!

So with 2 weeks or more you can visit the main cities, then decide where you want to go, is it visiting the wine regions, or are you more excited about seeing the natural wonders?  Then, would you like a few days on a beach or more time seeing the fiords or sea-life?  Or is it a bit of everything; a couple of cities, a couple of natural wonders, a vineyard, spotting the whales and a beach too?  Whatever you want, we can help you design the perfect itinerary to fit in with your timescale and making sure you see everything you want – we’ll help you design the holiday of a lifetime!

We have various itineraries for New Zealand and we can always put together something that suits your needs. Browse our New Zealand Multi Centre Holidays page for inspiration.