New Zealand

New Zealand, in a few days

From Auckland to the geysers of Rotorua, then Queenstown and the fiord at Milford Sound: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

Day by day

1

Auckland

Days 1-2

The City of Sails, spread over around fifty volcanic cones and wedged between two harbours. A third of all New Zealanders live here.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Sky Tower and the city, guidedHalf day · from €30
  The tallest building in the southern hemisphere at 328 metres, then the streets below it with someone to explain them.
• Waiheke Island day tripFull day · from €55
  Forty minutes by ferry from the downtown wharf, to an island of vineyards, olive groves and small bays.

✦ Free to visit

• Mount Eden, a volcanic cone
• The waterfront
• The west coast beaches
• City parks

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Attic Backpackers ↗ (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Britomart ↗ (€200 a night) · Luxury: Park Hyatt Auckland ↗ (€420 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Auckland on GetYourGuide

2

Rotorua

Days 3-4 · 🚗 Car 3h

Geothermal ground: geysers, boiling mud and a sulphur smell that never quite lifts. It is also the centre of Maori culture on the North Island.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Wai-O-Tapu geothermal parkHalf day · from €30
  Collapsed craters, a lake the colour of antifreeze, and the Champagne Pool sitting at around 74 degrees.
• Maori evening and hangiEvening · from €75
  A welcome ceremony, songs and haka, then the meal lifted out of a pit of hot stones.

✦ Free to visit

• Geysers and boiling mud
• The redwood forest
• Lake Rotorua
• Hot springs

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Rock Solid Backpackers ↗ (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Regent of Rotorua ↗ (€150 a night) · Luxury: Treetops Lodge ↗ (€380 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Rotorua on GetYourGuide

3

Queenstown

Days 5-8 · ✈️ Flight + Car 2h

The adventure capital, on the shore of Lake Wakatipu and ringed by mountains. Commercial bungy jumping started here in 1988.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Bungy jump or jet boatHalf day · from €120
  The Kawarau bridge took the first paying jumpers in 1988. The jet boats run the canyon walls instead, at speed.
• Scenic flight over the Southern Alps1h · from €250
  An hour above the glaciers and Aoraki, Mount Cook, the 3,724 metre high point of the country.

✦ Free to visit

• Lake Wakatipu
• The gondola and the view
• Arrowtown
• Walking trails

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Adventure Q2 Hostel ↗ (€45 a night) · Mid-range: Novotel Queenstown Lakeside ↗ (€150 a night) · Luxury: Eichardt's Private Hotel ↗ (€550 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Queenstown on GetYourGuide

4

Milford Sound & Fiordland

Days 9-12 · 🚗 Car 4h

A fiord under the 1,692 metre Mitre Peak, with waterfalls dropping straight off the walls. Rain falls around 200 days a year, and that is when it looks best.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Milford Sound cruiseHalf day · from €70
  Out along the fiord to the open sea and back, under cliffs that rise straight from the water.
• Kayaking the fiordHalf day · from €90
  At water level, where the scale of the walls finally registers. Fur seals often come to look.

✦ Free to visit

• The fiords
• Waterfalls
• The scenic road in
• Wildlife: seals and dolphins

🛏️ Where to sleep · Luxury: Milford Sound Lodge ↗ (€350 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Milford Sound & Fiordland on GetYourGuide

Worth sorting before you go

A van or a car · The country is built to be driven, and a camper van doubles as the bed. Distances look short on the map and take far longer on the road.

📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly

🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta

🚗 Car hire
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking

💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut

🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer

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Flavours & local habits

🍽️ Worth tasting

• Hangi: a Maori meal steamed for hours in a pit of hot stones.
• New Zealand lamb, which the rest of the world buys by the container.
• Fish and chips eaten out of paper at the edge of the ocean.
• Pavlova: meringue, cream and fruit, claimed by Australia as well.
• Marlborough wine, and the sauvignon blanc that made the region.

⚠️ Best avoided

• Driving is on the left, and the winding roads take longer than the map says.
• Mountain weather turns fast: carry layers even in midsummer.
• Book DOC huts, ferries and camper vans well ahead.
• Biosecurity is taken seriously: clean your boots and gear before you fly.

Words that help

✈️ Flight delayed by 3 hours or more, or cancelled? You may be owed up to €600. Check your flight on AirHelp.

The practical page

Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/new-zealand

Packing checklist

Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.