Two islands, one short summer, and the good boats fill first.
Which Milford cruise actually sails from Milford. What a Hobbiton ticket costs once the coach from Auckland is in it. Whether Kaikoura or Akaroa is the better morning on the water. Reviews of every tour you can book in New Zealand.
New Zealand splits in two, and so does the trip.
Every region on this map →Three hours of flying separates a geothermal plateau from a glacier coast. Most first visits pick one island and do it properly. These are the bases worth building days around.
North Island: geysers, the Shire, the harbours
South Island: fiords, glaciers, the Southern Alps
In New Zealand the best day usually ends at a wharf.
A fiord that only opens from a hull, a whale canyon a kilometre off Kaikoura, lake steamers under the Remarkables and a jet boat that turns inside a canyon. Choose the water first and the rest of the week arranges itself around it.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Cruise Milford NZ Small Boutique Cruise Experience
The fiord daySheer walls, fur seals on the rocks, spray off Stirling Falls.
The whale coastSperm whales off Kaikoura, dusky dolphins on the ride back in.
The lake dayThe Remarkables from the water, by coal-fired steamer or catamaran.
The river runShotover and Kawarau at speed, canyon walls an arm’s length away.
All 267 days on the water →
Rotorua smells of sulphur, and that is the whole point.
Silica terraces the colour of antifreeze, mud that boils at the roadside, a hangi lifted out of the ground at dusk and a hot pool under the trees afterwards. Three hours south of Auckland, the ground does the work.
New Zealand’s most booked days out.
Every New Zealand review →The days out more travellers take than anything else here, and what earns each one its place.
1
Hobbiton Movie Set: Guided Tour Ticket
Join an English-speaking guide for a 150-minute walk through Hobbiton’s 12-acre Shire set near Matamata. See Hobbit Holes, the Mill, and the Green Dragon Inn, then enjoy a complimentary drink. Guides such as Sam, Wyatt, James, and Liam are known for lively stories, while new interior spaces add extra detail. Wear sensible shoes and prepare for changeable weather.
From · $71
Read our review →
2
Hobbiton™ Movie Set Walking Tour from Shires Rest
from $74
3
Whale Watching in Kaikoura by Boat
from $111
4
Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Guided Day Trip from Auckland incl lunch
from $229
5
Glowworm Caves Guided Tour
from $77
6
2-Hour Small Boat Scenic Cruise
from $101
7
Rotorua’s Ultimate Zipline: 6 ziplines, 400 m Tandem, Cliff Walk
from $166
8
Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Day Trip with Lunch
from $221
The Shire is a working sheep farm outside Matamata.
Forty-four hobbit holes on a Waikato hillside, planted and kept in flower all year, with a pint at the Green Dragon at the end of the walk. Wellington holds the other half: the workshop that built the armour, and the hills that stood in for Rivendell.
Every Middle-earth day →
Marlborough poured the sauvignon blanc the rest of the world copied.
Cellar doors sit within a bike ride of each other outside Blenheim, Waiheke is a forty-minute ferry from downtown Auckland, and Central Otago grows pinot noir at the end of a gravel road. All three take lunch seriously.
What a New Zealand day out really sets you back.
Every tour on the site grouped by price. A cable car, a tram ride and most of the geothermal parks come in under the price of dinner. The helicopters do not.
Park entries, cable cars, city trams, glowworm walks and the short harbour hops.
The full-day standards: Milford by coach and cruise, Hobbiton, whale watching, a cellar-door lunch.
Heli-hikes onto the ice, scenic flights into the fiord, skydives and private guides.
Three things New Zealand has that almost nowhere else does.
A dark-sky reserve over a turquoise lake, a glacier you step onto from a helicopter, and a coastline where the wildlife still outnumbers the people.
The Southern Sky at Tekapo
The Mackenzie Basin is one of the largest gold-rated dark sky reserves on earth, which is why the town lights point at the ground. On a clear night the Magellanic Clouds and the Milky Way’s core sit overhead, and the observatory on Mount John puts telescopes on them. Cloud kills a session outright, so most operators run a rain check rather than a refund.
- 1Alpine Stargazing Experience with a Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 626 reviews
- 2Stargazing Experience★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 607 reviews
- 3Chameleon Stargazing Shared Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 181 reviews
Franz Josef and Fox
Two glaciers come down through rainforest almost to sea level, which happens in very few places outside Patagonia. The terminal faces have retreated past safe walking access, so the ice is now reached by helicopter, five minutes up and a couple of hours on foot in crampons. Weather cancels roughly one day in three, and that is the honest number.
- 1Franz Josef Glacier: Helicopter Flight & Alpine Landing★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 619 reviews
- 2Franz Josef Glacier Heli-Hike★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 618 reviews
- 3Heli Hike Fox Glacier★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 563 reviews
Penguins, Seals and Albatross
Otago Peninsula is the only mainland albatross breeding colony in the world, and the little blue penguins come ashore there at dusk. Further north, Kaikoura’s canyon drops a kilometre close in, which keeps sperm whales, dusky dolphins and fur seal colonies within an hour of the wharf all year.
- 1Clearwater Wildlife Tours (small group 10max) Otago Peninsula★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 531 reviews
- 2Wildlife Sea Kayaking Tour – Kaikoura★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 467 reviews
- 32-Hour Wildlife & Nature Cruise★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 418 reviews
Four New Zealand days you book before you fly.
Most of this country can be sorted over breakfast. These four run on boat timetables, helicopter weather windows and one movie set outside Matamata that takes only so many people a day.
- 01Hobbiton Movie Set: Guided Tour TicketEntry is by timed tour only, in fixed group sizes, and summer slots go weeks out.
- 02Premium Milford Sound Small Group Tour & Cruise from QueenstownThe road in is long and the cruises leave on a timetable. Coach seats go before the boat does.
- 03Franz Josef Glacier Heli-HikeHelicopter access runs on a weather window. Book early in your stay so there is a second chance.
- 04Whale Watching CruiseKaikoura sails on sea state, and a cancelled morning pushes everyone into the next boat.
Fiordland takes seven metres of rain a year. Plan around it.
The West Coast and Fiordland are wet by design, and every alpine flight cancels on an hour’s notice. Each of those days has an answer underground or indoors: a glowworm cave, a geothermal park that is better in drizzle, a hot pool in the rain, or the workshop in Wellington that built Middle-earth.
Christchurch to Milford Sound, the drive almost everybody ends up doing.
Queenstown
Te Anau
Milford SoundNewly reviewed, from both islands.
Carry on through the new ones →
Cruise, Walk, and Sail in Abel Tasman National Park
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Small group – Napier Premium Winery , Beer & Cider + 5.5h to 6h.
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Napier and Hawkes Bay Scenic and Art Deco Tour by VW Kombi
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National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier General Admission
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Napier Gourmet Winery Luncheon + tastings at 3 Great Wineries
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Shore excursion – Napier sight seeing/Art Deco Tour,
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Deco Napier, Te Mata Peak, Garden Walk and Wine Tasting Tour
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Napier Shore Excursion: City Sights and Hawke’s Bay Tour
Read our review →