Best places to visit in New Zealand?

Question

I'm going to New Zealand for 3 weeks in February next year. What should I definitely do whilst I am out there?

Answer 1

February is the hottest part of summer down in the southern hemisphere - so much of the snowy majesty of the South Island could well be absent. If you are a tramping/hiking nut then the South Island is a great destination with world class tracks like the Milford Track, the Heaphy, the Routeburn.

If you decide to check out the diversity of the Nortth Island instead, then here's a list of locations I gave to someone who was visiting the North Island:

*Cape Reinga (most northen tip of NZ - and spiritually important to the Maori)
*Ninety Mile Beach - a long white sand beach - tours available usually as part of a Cape Reinga package.
*Bay of Islands (KerikeriPahia/Russell) - relevant to Maori/European history of NZ - and game fishing available.
*Orewa/Waiwera (water parks popular with the locals - some geothermally heated pools)
*Kawau Island (historic mansion on the island)
*Great Barrier Island - if you like hiking/camping.
*Auckland - which includes:
- Waiheke Island (artistc types and wine growers populate this place - makes a nice visit)
- Rangitoto Island - hike up Auckland's freshest volcano
- Piha (a classic west coast black sand surf beach)
- West Auckalnd region wineries.
- Waitakere Ranges (hiking and waterfalls)
- Sky Tower/Casino (downtown Auckland)\
- Queen Street - for shopping
- Auckland University Campus
- Princess Park (nice roses)
- Mt Eden (nice views of Auckland city and the harbours)
- One Tree Hill (U2 sang about it)
- War Memorial Museum
- M.O.T.A.T. - Museum of Technology and Transportation
- Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World

*Thames - gateway to the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula.
* Hot Water Beach, Coromandel - take a spade and dig your own hot pool in the sand.
*Waihi - catchup on some of New Zealand's gold rush history.
*Whakatane - leaving point for trips out to NZ's most active volcano - White Island.
*Rotorua - geothermal activity and Maori culture along with a lot of tourist activities and adventure sport type activities.
*Napier - rebuilt after being levelled by an earthquake - in Art Deco style - nice beach town
*Whirinaki National Forest - some nice hiking/tramping
*Taupo - nice place to go if you like Fly Fishing for trout.
*Mt Tararewa - tours available of the volcano that destroyed the Pink & White Terraces - many claimed worthy of Wonder of the World status
*Mt Tongariro - nice one day crossing available
*Mt Ruapehu - nice skiing in the winter - go climbing or play golf at the Chateau in the summer.
*Mt Taranaki - nice tramping available and the adventurous can climb to the summit.
*Wellington - a great small cosmopolitan city nestled in the surrounding hills - NZ's capital city and place where you catch the Cook Strait ferry to take you to the South Island. Has a great atmosphere and very nice downtown area - along with NZ's parliment buildings and Te Papa - the Museum of New Zealand. ( a must see)

I also suggest you make use of the tools available to you at these sites:
http://www.newzealand.com/travel/
http://www.aaguides.co.nz/main/index.shtml
http://www.airnewzealand.com/gateway.jsp

If you are a member of the AAA in the USA or a lot of other qualifying Automobile Associations around the world, you can sign up with a sister-relationship membership with the AA in New Zealand ahead of your trip and have them send you their travel quides and maps and you are also then eligible for discounted car rental rates, roadside assistance, discounted accomodation rates and discounted rates at many sight seeing activities. See:
http://www.aa.co.nz/Section?Action=View&Section_id=127

I've yet to see a travel agent tell anyone that gem :)

Answer 2

I live in Christchurch and it is a wonderful place. Very nice and clean city and most people are very friendly and laid back. Christchurch also has many beautiful beaches and there is also plenty of opportunities to go on stunning walks around The Port Hills and Banks Peninsula. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants to choose from and the shopping is good by NZ standards. The climate is reasonably pleasant and we have great summers but the winters are horrible unfortunately. Christchurch has a very small population of only 330,000. Housing is great ranging from the most modest state house to the biggest mansion. Christchurch is also very well located with many brilliant things that you can reach quite quickly like: Mt Cook ( NZ's largest mountain) Kaikoura ( whale watching) Hamner Springs ( hot pools) and a whole lot of other great things that can be made into a good day trip. Christchurch is also dubbed The Garden City Of The World. You should definitely come and live over here! All of New Zealand is also just as beautiful and stunning! Good Luck on coming over!

Answer 3

For 3 weeks? I would choose one of the islands, trying to do both in 3 weeks will mean you see almost nothing properly. The north island has more variety in the sights in my opinion, whereas the south is more breathtakingly beautiful.

In the north:
Lake Taupo - do a skydive. http://www.skydivetaupo.co.nz/ is my favourite, they pick you up in a limo and you get a personalised video, unlike other companies
Go see the Bay of Islands in a boat, you can swim with the dolphins
Glow worm caves in Waitomo - http://www.waitomo.com/waitomo-glowworm-caves.aspx
Rotorua for bubbling geothermal mud pools and some of the best white water rafting in the world - http://www.kaitiaki.co.nz/ are my favourites

Down south:
You HAVE to see Queenstown, do a bungy jump if you can handle it! So much stuff to do there, it's an awesome place and eye-wateringly beautiful!
Milford Sound - http://www.realjourneys.co.nz/index.cfm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_Sound
Fox or Franz Josef Glacier - ice walking

There's loads more (New Zealand is amazing) but that's a selection of my favourites.

Oh, and take in some of the Lord Of The Rings film locations by car or helicopter if you're interested.

Answer 4

I spent 3 weeks in NZ a few months ago - loved it!
The South Island is gorgeous. Go a day boat trip at Milford Sound, visit Queenstown, Franz Josef glacier is a must too. Oh and Lake Tekapo was great ..... so many places i loved there, the list could go on. I'll definately go back to NZ in the future!
Some good places on North Island too but not as scenic.
Hope this helps.

Answer 5

So much to do....

The Bay of Islands are beautiful
Milford Sound is inspiring
The Whales of Kaikora are mind blowing
Queenstown exteme sports are scary

Must Do's
1. Whale Watcing
2. Stay in the Hermitage at the base of Mount Cook
3. Watch the hot springs at Rotarua. Go to the Polynesian Spa and the visist centre for a Haka and a tradition Maori meal
4. Go to Milford Sound
5. Spend time in the Bay of Islands
6. RELAX

Answer 6

Do not miss Milford or Doubtful sounds. They are some of the most spectacular places Ive ever seen, and the drive out to Milford Sound from Te Anau is just amazing.

Waterfalls, lakes, and sheer cliffs. It's brilliant. Try and organise a trip out there on a day when it's raining (this'll be easy because it's classed as one of the wettest places on earth!), but it makes it far more spectacular, with waterfalls gushing down the cliffs all over the place.

One note of advice, you need to book a cruise a few days in advance at the best of times, and during Xmas time, you need to book several weeks in advance.

Most importantly, remember the bring a raincoat. Dont buy one in Te Anau, or in Southland itself. Being one of the wettest places on earth, AND a tourist spot, the local raincoat racket make quite a healthy profit on naive visitors, who forgett to bring one.

Answer 7

Lake Tekapo and The Church of The Good Shepherd are breath-taking, just like most of the scenery in the South Island. Queenstown, Arrowtown, Glen Orchy, Alexandra, Dunedin (Speights Brewery), Oamaru, Christchurch, Hamner Springs - so many places your 3 week will fly by - hope you have a good time

Answer 8

buy a travel ticket to tour both the north and south island. 3 weeks is long enough to do both. Go inside the little church at Te Anau as the view of the cross and lake is breathtaking. Queenstowns a must. Avoid Greymouth.

Answer 9

hire a car and drive drive drive. The roads are geerally empty making it a pleasure to drive, I did whirlwind tour of the south and North in 13/14 days. It was a little rushed but i enjoed it. Buy a guide book, but i would recomend a place refered to as "Crators on the moon"- a place of much geothermal activity, which was amazing to see. Franz and Fox Glacier, Mount Cook. Ahhhh I want to go again.
Have fun

Answer 10

If you'd like some ideas, check out my panoramic photos from a recent trip: http://www.360travelguide.com/listimage.asp?StartNum=1&CountrySelect=New+Zealand&LocSelect=All+Locations - just follow the link and click on the thumbnails to view the full images.
Have a great time.

Answer 11

We spent a month there last Nov. Flew in to Auckland and got a connecting flight to Christchurch - lovely place, it has it's own charm and is a nice place to walk around. It's probably the most built up area we visited on the South Island.
On to Dunedin via Timaru, not much in the way of attractions in Timaru but it's a good stop off on the way to Dunedin. Good social scene in Dunedin.
We went to Te Anau from Dunedin (see advice on previous post) this was probably one of my favourite places of the whole visit. There are a couple of tourist info offices in Te Anau and you make the journey to Milford Sound from here PUT THIS ONE ON YOUR DEFINITE LIST. You can also visit the Glowworm Caves from Te Anau, it's a boat trip across the lake and is a nice thing to do later on in the day. It's also a good opportunity to chat to other tourists and exchange advice on what to see!!
Queenstown is lovely, and apparently a great place for Bungees - we wish we had spent an extra day or two here.
From there we went to Franz Joseph, via Wanaka and Haast, lovely scenery on the way but we couldn't get to the Glazier as it was thick with cloud and throwing it down with rain.
Lovely scenery all the way to Picton via Greymouth and Nelson, have a look at your guidebooks for things you want to see on your way around the South Island as you can get carried away just looking at the scenery - and i'm not joking!!
Ferry crossing to Wellington (if i ever move out there i would stay here), lots to see here so cram in what you can, there is a bus tour - i loved Te Papa and the Cable Car ride give you great views. Can't remember what the cafe was called but the pancake breakfast with banana and bacon was yummy!!
Up to Napier next and again lovely, didn't spend enough time here.
On to Rotorua via Taupo (gorgeous in Taupo) and lovely in and around Rotorua. Hell's Gate has it's own charm but it wasn't as bubbly as when Billy Connolly visited, it definitely stank though!!
We made our way to The Coramandel Peninsula (via Tauranga - i liked it there but we didn't stay) A DEFINITE TO DO on the North Island, you get a hint of the mountain scenery you saw on the South Island.
We stayed a night in Auckland then done a circuit up to Kerikeri then back down (the boat trip out to Russell was good), as we had come back too early - it's a nice tour and it was almost worth the visit to Dargaville just to see the Chocolate River from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (if you ever see it you will know what i mean). I would put Dargaville on you definitely don't do list - apologies to all you Dargavillians!!!
And finally Auckland - have a ball do everything you can cram in there, it's not till you get there that you realise how huge the place is compared to everywhere else in NZ!!

When we landed in Christchurch we visited the information stand, they have lots of AA accommodation guidebooks - these are really all you need. You don't need to buy any before you leave and there is tons of accomodation once you get here. Most hotels have really good self catering facilities (cheap/expensive alike) so you can save a bit of money by getting a cool box and buying breakfast cereals and food for packed lunches, dinners even.

The roads are a lot different to over here, and it can get a bit tight in the mountain areas so if you you're driving, get the best car you can afford and take out insurance that covers you for chipped/smashed windscreens. There are loads of loose chippings everywhere (you'll see why when you see the road maintenance teams working) and we needed our windscreen replacing before we even got to Timaru, it chipped again later on in the visit.

Have a great time and get the Billy Connolly World Tour of New Zealand to get you in the mood - it might even inspire you to do a naked bungee jump!!

Oh, and if you have an inclinations at the minute to move out there - cause you may very well be thinking about it once you visit, there is a New Zealand Expo in Manchester in October that costs about £10. Don't say i didn't warn you!!