Planning a 12-day trip to NZ this year from December to early January and your video has been the most helpful for planning I've come across, so thank you! I plan to fly from LAX to Queenstown, drive to Milford Sound, Dunedin, and nearby areas on the South Island for 6 days, then spend the remaining 6 days on the North Island exploring Rotorua, beaches, and ending in Auckland. Do you have any advice for first-time travelers or solo drivers, especially those new to driving on the left? Also, how common and expensive are one-way car rentals in New Zealand, since they can be quite pricey in the US if returned to a different city… hoping to avoid backtracking before flying to the next location. Again, thank you for the quality content!
Hi Demitri, with only 12 days time my suggestion is to spend 8 days in the South and 4 days in the North Island. Connect with a domestic flight to Auckland, pick-up a rental car and focus on the central part of the North Island. Yes, everything will be expensive during the Christmas/New Years peak holiday period. Also, everything will be fully booked. So you need to plan this now and make key reservations. Hope this helps! Cheers Michael
I’m planning a 4-5 week trip to see both island in November 2025. When do you advise on booking hotels and activities? If I book in advance it doesn’t offer me flexibility if weather changes the circumstances. Should I just pay when I do that activity? Or book online? Paying at the venue offers flexibility but don’t want to miss out if no open spots. For fox glacier hello hike will there be a high chance that I have to reschedule? Your advice is greatly appreciated!
Even with 4-5 weeks time you can easily run out of it. Say, you have 35 days time (5 weeks x 7 days) you want to send 12 days or so in the North Island and the rest in the South. It's a fair bit if time, but don't underestimate how fast it goes in NZ! Yes, some flexibility is ok, but you want to have a good overall travel structure. Also, if you travel in November, often places will be fully booked. Especially in places with a low population base (e.g. West Coast , Te Anau). So, my recommendation is to secure most accommodations ahead. In respect of tours, anything with ''nature' (e.g. penguin tour) will be very hard getting a seat at last minute. With heli-hiking, if the weather is sunny everyone will want to do the tour. Again, difficult the get in at last minute. Yes, those trips are often rescheduled, it's just the nature of the terrain. Overall, I recommend, even with 5 weeks, have a good structure & strategy in place and pre-book the key elements. Hope this helps :-)
Planning a 12-day trip to NZ this year from December to early January and your video has been the most helpful for planning I've come across, so thank you! I plan to fly from LAX to Queenstown, drive to Milford Sound, Dunedin, and nearby areas on the South Island for 6 days, then spend the remaining 6 days on the North Island exploring Rotorua, beaches, and ending in Auckland. Do you have any advice for first-time travelers or solo drivers, especially those new to driving on the left? Also, how common and expensive are one-way car rentals in New Zealand, since they can be quite pricey in the US if returned to a different city… hoping to avoid backtracking before flying to the next location. Again, thank you for the quality content!
Hi Demitri, with only 12 days time my suggestion is to spend 8 days in the South and 4 days in the North Island. Connect with a domestic flight to Auckland, pick-up a rental car and focus on the central part of the North Island. Yes, everything will be expensive during the Christmas/New Years peak holiday period. Also, everything will be fully booked. So you need to plan this now and make key reservations. Hope this helps! Cheers Michael
I’m planning a 4-5 week trip to see both island in November 2025. When do you advise on booking hotels and activities? If I book in advance it doesn’t offer me flexibility if weather changes the circumstances. Should I just pay when I do that activity? Or book online? Paying at the venue offers flexibility but don’t want to miss out if no open spots. For fox glacier hello hike will there be a high chance that I have to reschedule? Your advice is greatly appreciated!
Even with 4-5 weeks time you can easily run out of it. Say, you have 35 days time (5 weeks x 7 days) you want to send 12 days or so in the North Island and the rest in the South. It's a fair bit if time, but don't underestimate how fast it goes in NZ! Yes, some flexibility is ok, but you want to have a good overall travel structure. Also, if you travel in November, often places will be fully booked. Especially in places with a low population base (e.g. West Coast , Te Anau). So, my recommendation is to secure most accommodations ahead. In respect of tours, anything with ''nature' (e.g. penguin tour) will be very hard getting a seat at last minute. With heli-hiking, if the weather is sunny everyone will want to do the tour. Again, difficult the get in at last minute. Yes, those trips are often rescheduled, it's just the nature of the terrain. Overall, I recommend, even with 5 weeks, have a good structure & strategy in place and pre-book the key elements. Hope this helps :-)
@@virtualjourneysnz yes it did thanks!