Hi,

I'm taking a trip to New Zealand for ~18 days in April 2010. My plan is to rent a car in Auckland, and then do most of my traveling via driving (does that seem reasonable?) I threw together a preliminary itinerary I plan on following for this trip (city/places are planned lodging locations, one can probably infer the stops/activities I might be doing)

12-Apr Auckland
13-Apr Coromandel area
14-Apr Rotorua
15-Apr Rotorua
16-Apr Taupo/Turangi
17-Apr Wellington
18-Apr Picton
19-Apr Christchurch
20-Apr Franz Josef
21-Apr Queenstown
22-Apr Queenstown
23-Apr Queenstown
24-Apr Dunedin
25-Apr Dunedin
26-Apr Mt Cook
27-Apr Christchurch
28-Apr Christchurch
29-Apr Christchurch

Thoughts? Too ambitious? Missing some must-see spots?

Thanks!

It really depends on what you want to do in each place. How did you choose the itinerary? Packing/unpacking, driving, etc. are really time consuming and draining. If you want to do day hikes or all day activities, you're going to be exhausted in some places.

I haven't been to NZ but your itinerary does look ambitious. If the drives are only a couple hours then it is def possible, but you should be the type of traveler who really does want to be active and busy all day.

the itinerary is based off of some bus tours, i just assumed I could do the driving myself instead of a bus driver.

I mean there are a bunch of places I want to hit up, it would seem pretty inconvenient to have to fly everywhere and occasionally rent a car to go to places like Mt Cook or Franz Josef. Plus a lot of these places are quite far from each other, so its difficult to find a central place to stay a week without getting bored with one city.

So then you know what you're doing? I'm curious why you choose to spend 4 or 18 days in Christchurch, a day in Picton, 2 in Rotorua and 2 in Dunedin. There are probably much better places to spend that time. To be honest, I haven't been to Christchurch or Dunedin but I've heard very little good. I spent about 20 days in Rotorua only because I did a bunch of mountain biking. Given your schedule, I'd probably just skip it altogether. Picton is a lay over town more than anything unless you plan on doing a hike or something (probably better places though).

How old are you? It does seem a bit rushed but if you only have 18 days and I presume your young and traveling solo then your probably fine. However I wouldn't put flights out of the question from the main centres you can get flights for about $60 NZD one way eg: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch which is cheaper then petrol + car hirage and will get you there an about an hour from any of those main cities. From there you can hire a car, of course if you plan on taking the ferry from wellington to picton etc for the novelty and sights then that's fine. Just an option.

You've got the most decent spots a few people come to the hawkes bay for a bit of sun and beach, but thats where I live so I'm probably biased town life isn't that great but sun, bbq, beach and beers is good. I dunno what you want to know if you have questions ask and I'll try to respond the best I can.

Peace

Cut a couple days of Christchurch and replace with Kaikoura--it is 10x cooler. The best thing to do in Christchurch is drive out to Akaroa on Bank's Peninsula.

Add Milford sound, or another more remote sound since you have a car. Never been to Dunedin, but haven't heard there is anything remarkable. Cities in NZ are not the big draw.

Do you plan on climbing Franz Joseph without even having a full day there? It's quite far from Christchurch and Queenstown.

I haven't done the North Island so I'm not really able to critique that part of the itinerary. Maybe you could cut out a portion of driving by flying from Rotorua to Christchurch?

yeah ... i guess my brain is on information overload. I mean if you guys had 18 days in NZ, what would you do? Itll probably be the only time im in NZ, at least for another 5-10 years.

Also, i'll be traveling with the wife, but shes not really that picky about what we do.

Here's a traveling times schedule from anywhere in NZ:

http://www.newzealand.com/travel/get...ances-home.cfm

Here's some road tours you can mix an match the sites not to bad, gives you some ideas anyhow, worth a look:

http://www.newzealand.com/travel/get...ub=Find+Routes

If your coming in April you could catch a Super 14 rugby game if you enjoy sport and never been to one, it's our premier competition with NZ, Aussie and South Africa

thanks for the link, ill definitely take a look. Are there other, better, options for traveling from city to city if you dont have a car? I didnt read about an extensive rail system (like japan has), but maybe there is one? Buses?

Public transport is workable in major cities only wellington, auckland and christchurch (actually dunno about chch but I'd presume). Other than that it's pretty much all car to get around as most places are within an ok driving distance, there are buses and they are reasonably cheap to get around on and its what a lot of the backpacking type tourists use. Nakedbus and Intercity are the firms you want to look at for buses. Its not a terrible option but your freedom is limited and a car in any city other then the major ones is a necessity as taxis etc are pretty expensive. But you could mix in a bus ride for a longer trip then get another rental car at destination etc. Rail is just about non existent and ridiculously priced (for longer journeys outside auckland/wellington etc regions). From what you've listed I'd say you'll almost always need a car but remember you can fly from wellington to christchurch for less then it'll cost in petrol to drive it and it'll save time/exhaustion (plus ferry expenses to) but you miss out on a few sights along the way. You can then easily drive around to dunedin, queenstown etc from there.

I just spent 3 months in NZ but I didn't see all that much. I did Auckland, Rotorua, Taupo, Turangi, Wellington, Picton, Nelson, Greymouth, Franz Joseph and Queenstown. In 18 days, I would almost scrap the north island entirely but the Tongariro Alpine Crossing is absolutely amazing (shuttles from Taupo/Turangi). In 18 days, I would do something like this:

Land in Auckland and get a bus to Taupo as soon as possible. I wouldn't even spend an hour there if I didn't have to. Enjoy Taupo for a few days, one day being spent doing the crossing. Head straight to Wellington and spend a couple of days there to experience the nightlife. Take the ferry to Picton and go straight to Nelson. Spend a few days in Nelson, enjoying the beaches, maybe the Abel Tasman park. Head out to Franz Joseph to do the full day glacier hike and then leave for Queenstown. I personally loved Queenstown and would probably spend the rest of the trip there (which means I might take an extra day here or there in the previous list of places). From Queenstown you can do Milford Sound or Stuart Island without too much trouble.

Just my two cents...

Oh and as for needing a car, I kinda disagree, personally. All the places I would want to visit are tiny and walking gets you around just fine. If you're going to bus, then definitely go with Naked Bus.

I spent a week in New Zealand:

* If you're even kind of in shape and interested in hiking then you should do the Tongariro Crossing. It's freaking awesome.
* Unless you're interested in the kind of cheezy touristy stuff you should spend less time in Rotura.

If you're a social type, definitely look into a hop on/hop off bus service like Magic or Kiwi Experience. They stop at the major cities and tourist spots and you'll be with a bunch of fellow backpackers. Don't pay full price - there are some serious discounts going on right now!

A car might be handy in some circumstances but also a pain in others - parking in Auckland or Wellington, for example. And some rental agencies won't allow their cars to be moved between the two islands or will charge you for it.

Some people seem to really love Christchurch, I hated it. Picton is just where the ferry stops, no need to spend a day there. Tongariro crossing was awesome - it's definitely worth a day if you can spare it.

great suggestions guys, definitely will be going to tongariro. btw, whats with the Christchurch hate? dont really know much about it, but when my parents went they seemed to like it a lot (at least way more than auckland).

christchurch is an agreeable enough town, there is just nothing really there.

def go to milford sound. drive down from christchurch one day, stay at the hostel right near it and get on an early morning boat before the tour buses arrive.

I was on a study abroad trip that spent a couple weeks in Christchurch. It's not a bad place, but the downtown feels small after a while. The city is heavily suburbanized. There is a pleasant botanical garden downtown that should occupy a couple hours.

skip christchurch and add Nelson, the crossings, and abel tasman national park, imo

*currently traveling NZ as well, but in Sydney for X-mas and NY

Definitely put another day to do the Glacier hike at Franz josef.

I never went to Christchurch but i heard its just a boring, dirty city. Spend more time in Wellington, that was the "hippest" place imo.

Queenstown is awesome.

Yeah why 2 days in Rotorua? I mean the hot springs are cool, but that just takes a couple hours. Otherwise the whole town smells funny and is pretty poor.

Hating Christchurch might have been because that was the only city I did any driving on my first visit to NZ. It's kind of sprawling and annoying to drive through especially when you don't quite understand their right of way rules.. Like I said, some people really seem to like it there so don't take it off the itinerary on my account.

I agree about Wellington - very cool place. Sort of like San Francisco but much smaller and safer. Queenstown is great for partying and extreme sports.

Having not read any posts except for op..

Forget about Christchurch and Dunedin, use it for an extra day or two in Taupo/Queenstown or both.

Sorry to derail but I'm planning on spending roughly 10 days in NZ, and wanted to get some input from the experts itt.

Here's my itinerary so far:

2 days in Wellington - Te Papa, (are Parliament and Karori Wildlife Sanctuary worth squeezing into my trip?), then next day ferry into Picton.
4 days on the Magic Bus "Wild West Coast" travel pass or equivalent, starting in Nelson and going down the west coast through Franz Josef (glacier) and ending up in Queenstown. My biggest problem with this is it doesn't include Kaikoura and Tekapo... should I consider taking a side trip?
2 days in Queenstown - adventurous stuff.
1 day in Fiordland - Milton Sound or Doubtful Sound, Milton/Routeburn track.

As with all trips, it really depends what you are looking for.

Personally I think a trip to NZ should focus on outdoor activities, as nature is just amazing and has great variety. Don't spend too much time in cities, they are OK at best, but there are alot more interesting cities in the world then the NZ ones.

I would plan my trip around an overnight trekking. There are so many options to choose from, but with Milford track or Routeburn track you can really never go wrong (really enjoyed those 2). Both are 4 days / 3 nights.

Queenstown is OK. Good for some more extreme things , like a bungee jump / canyoing / ect.

Tangoriro crossing is a great day hike, if you're in the neighboorhood.

Abel Tasman NP is good for sea cannoo'ing. I would skip the 3 day trekking.

Personally, I feel the Franz Josef glacier (and the other one i forgot the name of) is somehwat of a tourist trap. It just a glacier, I have seen more impressive ones.

Lake Tekapo is just a lake. It's nice, but I wouldn't take a detour for it. Especially not if you only plan to step out of your car and visit the view points.

i really enjoyed this. it was the last day of the season, very very choppy seas, freezing cold, and incredibly hard work, and i still had fun. arriving in a small peaceful inlet to see 25-30 baby seals jumping onto the kayaks excitedly was awesome.