NEW ZEALAND · AOTEAROA
Fiords, glaciers, geysers, and the open road.
Two islands packed with mountains, fiords, geothermal valleys and coast. Milford Sound and Queenstown, Rotorua and the West Coast glaciers, Hobbiton and the Bay of Islands, with the open road in between.
Only in New Zealand
Three things you can’t do in any other country.
Mountains, lakes and coastline turn up on any big trip. A glowworm galaxy, the only Middle-earth left standing, and a haka at arm’s length do not. Build the rest of New Zealand around these three.
Underground
The Waitomo Glowworm Caves
Arachnocampa luminosa lives nowhere else on earth. Drift in silence on a boat through a limestone cave beneath the Waikato and the ceiling turns into a galaxy of thousands of tiny blue-green lights. It is a New Zealand species you simply cannot see outside these islands.
- 1 Waitomo: Glowworm Caves Guided Tour by Boat
- 2 Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Guided Day Trip from Auckland incl lunch
- 3 Te Anau: Glowworm Caves Guided Tour
Middle-earth
Walk Into the Shire at Hobbiton
The only Lord of the Rings film set left standing whole, kept exactly as it was built into the green Waikato farmland near Matamata. Forty-four hobbit holes, the Green Dragon Inn, the Party Tree. The country played all of Middle-earth, and this is the one corner you can actually walk through.
- 1 Hobbiton Movie Set: Guided Tour Ticket
- 2 Hobbiton™ Movie Set Walking Tour from Shires Rest
- 3 From Auckland: Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Day Trip with Lunch
Tangata whenua
A Powhiri, a Haka and a Hangi
A welcome at the gate, a haka close enough to feel, and a feast lifted steaming from a pit in the ground. Maori culture here is living rather than staged, and Aotearoa is the only place on the planet you can be welcomed onto a marae and share a meal cooked under the earth the way it has been for centuries.
- 1 Mitai Maori Village: Cultural Experience and Dinner Buffet
- 2 Mitai Maori Village Cultural Experience in Rotorua
- 3 Lake Taupo: Maori Rock Carvings 10.30 AM 1.5-Hour Cruise
The South
Where the road runs into the mountains.
The South Island is one long drive between lakes and mountains. Glacier-fed water the colour of greenstone, passes that climb into the snow, and a different alpine town at the end of every valley. Wanaka, Tekapo, Te Anau and Queenstown all sit within a day of each other.
Into the national parks →Start here
If you only book one, make it this one.
Across the whole country, this is the experience travellers book the most. If you are not sure where to begin, begin here.
The classics
New Zealand's Most Popular Tours
Milford Sound, Hobbiton, the Waitomo glowworms, the Kaikoura whales. The experiences that fill up first.
By region
Pick your part of New Zealand.
Fiordland for the sounds. Queenstown for the lakes and the adrenaline. Rotorua for the geysers. The West Coast for the glaciers. The Bay of Islands for the warm north. Hobbiton for the Shire.
By activity
Or pick the kind of day you want.
A cruise if you want the fiords. A jet boat or a bungy if you want the adrenaline. A helicopter if you want the alps from above. Whales, wine, kayaks, hot pools and the rest.
The first big decision
North Island or South Island?
It is the question every New Zealand trip starts with. Two islands, a short flight or a ferry apart, and genuinely different trips. Here is how they split.
Milford & Fiordland
The fiord worth the long drive in.
Milford Sound sits at the end of a famous road through the Fiordland mountains, two hours past Te Anau and a long day from Queenstown. Rock walls a kilometre high, waterfalls dropping straight off the cliffs, seals and dolphins in the dark water. Doubtful Sound, next door, is bigger and quieter again.
- 1 Milford Sound: 2-Hour Small Boat Scenic Cruise
- 2 Small Group, Award Winning Milford Sound Day Experience & Cruise
- 3 Milford Sound Fly-Cruise-Fly Tour from Queenstown
On the West Coast
Up on the glaciers.
Franz Josef and Fox push almost down into the rainforest, the only glaciers you reach through fern and moss. Land high on the ice by helicopter, or climb up into the blue on foot. These three get you onto the ice.
Cellar doors
Wine country, three regions over.
Central Otago for pinot noir at the edge of the Alps. Waiheke for syrah a ferry ride from Auckland. Marlborough for the sauvignon blanc that put the country on the map. Hand the keys to a driver and taste the lot.
On foot
The walking country.
Some of the best of New Zealand has no road to it. The Great Walks through Fiordland, the Tongariro crossing over red volcanic craters, day hikes under Aoraki Mount Cook. The country you have to earn with your legs.
The road trip
Two islands, three weeks.
First time, and you want to see the lot? Here is how the classic loop breaks into three legs, top to bottom.
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